With Super Tuesday just behind us and the general election in the not-too-distant future, the election is in full swing. I love elections. They’re the fundamental way we, as citizens, can participate in our political system. Not all of us will make laws, lobby for causes, or institute public policies. However, we can all decide who will do those things – through voting.

Elections give us our power, but certainly aren’t perfect. Often it seems we aren’t even choosing to elect people we think will do the best job; we elect someone from a pool – the lesser of two evils, the person who may not do a fantastic job but who will do better than the other guy or gal.

And elections seem to becoming less perfect. In the now infamous case Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, which the Supreme Court of the United States decided two years ago, SCOTUS ruled corporations have the same First Amendment right to speech as any person and the government doesn’t have a compelling interest to restrict spending on political-related independent expenditures.

From what I understand, this means that while corporations can’t directly contribute unlimited funds, they can do so to groups not directly affiliated with a candidate – and thus we have exorbitant amounts of money being spent on advertisements by Super PACs.

I am a fierce supporter of the First Amendment, especially one’s freedom of speech. Before the government can prosecute or stop a person from speaking, I think there must be an extreme chance that violence will ensue or grave danger to someone’s life because of the speech. And while I don’t necessarily view corporations as people, I think they should be able to voice an opinion.

However, speech is an open opportunity to voice diverse opinions. Allowing corporations to spend unlimited funds only further illuminates the divide between haves and have-nots. It gives extreme advantage to corporations which can give unlimited funds because they have unlimited funds. Those who should have the loudest voices in elections – the people who will be represented by the elected and whose lives will be affected by the elected – are drowned out and swayed by corporations. A single voice can be louder than a chorus, especially if that voice is backed by several million or billion dollars.

Allowing this influx of money by a few gives those few far greater access to the political system. While average citizens still have the ability to elect leaders, they are bombarded by an obnoxious onslaught of advertisements by these few which must certainly have some influence on how they vote – if not merely by imprinting some negative or positive impression of a candidate. This financial power of the few almost seems to take some power out of the action of voting, as though we are herded towards the conclusion to which the few want us to come.

I don’t foresee SCOTUS reversing this decision, certainly not any time soon. However, my hope is that the growth of social media, to which average citizens have the same access to as the corporation, will restore that power of the vote. Perhaps social media will change elections as it has revolutions and movements. Perhaps social media will make speech more of the equal opportunity it should be – and I think is meant to be.

The interview was interesting, but not earth shattering by any means. Rick Santorum has views I don’t agree with, but it’s not news to me. What I found particularly interesting was the discussion during the roundtable segment. Steve Schmidt, a Republican strategist who ran John McCain’s campaign in 2008, mentioned that Santorum has been losing momentum because he’s had to backtrack to explain and defend statements he’s made, rather than focusing on his campaign’s message.

Kathleen Parker, a columnist for The Washington Post, further honed in this point. She said, “[Santorum has] that lack of prudence in selecting your battles and choosing your words wisely […]” This, she said is his biggest flaw.

These points got me thinking about what role communication plays not only in campaigns, but government as a whole.

Anger, distrust and confusion ensue when leaders and politicians fail to competently communicate to people what they mean and what they do and why they do it.

I think Santorum is a good example of not communicating well. Because he does not pick his battles or words well, he ends up off message and on tangents. This past week, while at a tea party event in Michigan, Santorum mentioned President Obama once said he wanted everyone in America to go to college. Santorum then said, “What a snob.”

In defending his statement afterward, Santorum said he meant that everyone should have the opportunity to attend college but that it isn’t for everyone and we as a nation shouldn’t look down upon those who attend trade schools instead.

In defending his position on multiple news programs afterward, he better communicated his position. But by this time what people were talking about was his snob comment. I don’t necessarily agree that we shouldn’t set a goal to get all people to attend college; I think it has a greater value than simply attaining a degree. But his view that not all people should attend college is just that – his view – and perhaps one that others share. Effectively communicating his view and explaining why he thinks that way would better serve him. Explain to people how it will benefit them and society.

I don’t want to pick only on Santorum. Many fall prey to the pitfalls of bad communication.

Take the health care law, for example. I think that health care is important for all to have. As a student, I particularly like being able to stay on my parents’ insurance longer.

However, what I remember most clearly when the law passed was the mob-like town hall meetings. While I think the law was an important step in health care, I think the White House and Democrats did not do their jobs in effectively communicating to people what the health care law entailed or how it would benefit them.

Communication is fundamental to human existence. It’s how we relate to one another. If our leaders don’t communicate with us effectively, how can they effectively lead us? Aside from having policy ideas, our leaders need to have good communication skills. A person may be the smartest person in the world, but I don’t think he/she would accomplish much if they could not successfully explain their ideas and plans to people.

Maybe it’s because I’m a communication minor, maybe it’s because I fancy myself a good writer, but I think communication skills are the most important skills a person can have. If you can’t communicate to someone what you want, you won’t get it.

I remember when I first discovered this love. I was in fourth or fifth grade and was walking down the hall, past the various classrooms, on my way somewhere.

In my grade school, like many others I’m sure, each of the classrooms had a display of some sort outside its door. The display was usually students’ artwork or something on which they had been working.

I was struck by the display outside of the eighth grade classroom. It was the picture of a young girl, a girl really not that much older looking than me, and a picture of a cool, plaid-covered book. Below these pictures were drawings by the eighth graders of a room. I didn’t comprehend any of it until I asked, either my parents or aunt, and found out just who Anne Frank was and what the attic was all about.

From that point, I became fascinated about reading and watching people’s stories from history.

I think I was drawn in by Anne Frank’s story because at the base she was much like me, albeit a little older and in the midst of perhaps the greatest human tragedy of all time. But that aside, she was a girl with a love of reading, writing and questioning who was trying to figure out how to grow up.

I decided right then and there I wanted to read “The Diary of Anne Frank.” So I read Anne Frank’s inner thoughts about growing up in hiding during WWII, and then I read about one of her protectors, Miep Gies. I watched as Margaret Thatcher struggled as a woman in British politics to become a world leader in the biopic, “The Iron Lady.” Another story I loved was that of little Amir and Hassan in Kabul, Afghanistan in “The Kite Runner;” it has stayed with me since I read it in high school.

Each of these is the story of both great and ordinary people in times past. I love them because they give a face to history.

However, more than that, I love having a window into the lives of people of a different time period.

My recent obsession is Britain’s “Downton Abbey,” which is now playing on PBS. It’s the story of a fictional family and their servants on a grand estate. The show in any other context would be a soap opera, but what draws me to it is its historical time period. So far the show has spanned the time between the sinking of the Titanic and World War I.

It is amazing to me to think of people who are just like you, with some of the same fears and thoughts, but who are growing up in entirely different worlds in entirely different circumstances. It leads me to believe that, at the end of the day, people are people, but it sure is all the more interesting with a historical backdrop.

There are different types of bad decisions, too. Some are life-changing bad decisions, which substantially alter your life. Then there are the other bad decisions that make for a bad day, but don’t cause too much damage. Bad decisions are inherently not good – obviously, they’re called “bad”– but the one positive aspect is that they teach the decision-maker a lesson.

I’ve been lucky enough to not make any life-changing bad decisions yet, but I have certainly made my fair share of the lesser type of bad decisions. I don’t regret them, however, because it seems to be the only way I really learn.

Others may try to tell me that a plan will backfire, or that my decision will have negative results, or that doing it another way would work better, but I don’t always listen. Often, I think that my way will work just fine, or that I can deal with whatever could go wrong. Usually when something does go wrong it is exactly as people (like my parents) warned it would. It’s more difficult to understand their wisdom they try to impart upon me, if I don’t experience it for myself.

I’ve been reflecting on some of these bad decisions and many are now quite funny. At the time, it ruined my day but with the distance of time, I can laugh at them.

For example, in high school, it’s a tradition that the senior class takes a class picture together. The entire class is supposed to dress up for the picture and I chose my favorite crème-colored turtleneck sweater. That same day I had to be at school early for a meeting and, of course, needed coffee. My mother warned me to either leave the coffee or wear something over the sweater. I responded, “I’ll be fine.”

Surprisingly, I made it all the way to school without spilling anything on myself. However, in the middle of the meeting I spilled half of my coffee down the front of my beautiful sweater. I had to call my dad in a panic to bring me something else to wear. I should have listened to my mother. I now never drink coffee when I’m wearing white and always carry Tide to Go wherever I go.

Another time as a freshman at JCU, I was warned to not wear flip-flops because it was going to rain. I thought to myself, “Even if it does rain, I’ll be fine.” Thus, I wore the flip-flops anyway and it did rain. As I walked past the wall-length window of Einstein Bros. Bagels, despite my careful walking, I slipped and fell flat on my butt. (And since it was the middle of the day, the counter behind the wall-length window was full.) It was painful and extremely embarrassing.

Last winter, I had an internship the mornings after deadline night for The CN. On one particular Wednesday, I didn’t get out of The CN until 7 a.m. That meant I only had time to change clothes before I had to leave for work. It was also snowing that day, so when I told my mother I had no sleep, she told me to call in sick that day. I told her I couldn’t and I’d be fine. She didn’t need to worry.

Well, that was a bad decision, if I’ve ever made one. I was miserable the entire day, and felt a little sick. When I finally made it home at the end of the day, all I could think about was going to sleep. But, since it had been snowing, the driveway was covered and I couldn’t get up the driveway. I also couldn’t get down; I was stuck. In calling my parents to ask what to do, I did something I never do: cry. I was in tears for no reason – I could have avoided it all by just staying home and taking care of myself that day.

My bad decisions have made for some bad days, but from them I have learned to listen to advice when it’s given to me, learn from past experiences, and always be prepared … I’ve also learned to laugh at myself.

For the longest time, I thought I just couldn’t do it. I figured I would burn cupcakes, disgust people with my cookies and actually make them sick with my brownies.  I thought it would be too hard. Plus, I was a little worried I would start a kitchen fire.

I grew up watching my mom bake. She would make delicious-smelling treats for family parties, friends at work, birthdays, etc.

For family members’ birthdays, she would make them whatever they requested. (For me, it was and still is a Boston cream pie, which my brother now also annually requests.)

Although she made all kinds of different desserts – pineapple upside down cake, caramel brownies and pumpkin roll, just to name a few – I never really got into baking with her. It just wasn’t something I was interested in and I thought it took a skill I didn’t have.

It became even more difficult to try baking once I got to college.Living in the residence halls, even though there was a kitchen in the basement, made baking inconvenient. I also didn’t really have the time to try.

However, while perusing Pinterest last fall, I stumbled upon a recipe for peppermint mocha cupcakes and I simply could not resist. This cupcake recipe combined all of my favorite things: sugar, chocolate and coffee. So, I finally decided to give baking a go while I was home one weekend.

The recipe was a disaster in the making. I probably should’ve started with something easier. It was a complicated recipe and it was messy – very, very messy. Chocolate ended up everywhere. My mom is still finding chocolate in various nooks and crannies in the kitchen.

I must say, though, that despite the mess, the cupcakes turned out pretty well. Granted, they didn’t look good, but they were tasty.

I even made my own homemade peppermint icing.

Also, I had a good time making them – playing Christmas music, while trying to figure out this recipe was fun. It was a lot of work, but getting to taste the finished product made the work worthwhile.

I’ve since tried making a pumpkin oatmeal cookie recipe, but I tried to improvise when I couldn’t find one ingredient and it didn’t turn out too well. So I think I will try this recipe again before unleashing it on other people.

I now love when I get the chance to turn on some music and just bake. I don’t have an extensive recipe book yet, but I’m working on it. I’d like to try something red velvet next, and maybe my mom’s Boston cream pie at some point.

Baking is a work in progress for me. My desserts may not be as beautiful as a professional’s, but I’m hoping if I keep trying, they will be pretty someday. In the meantime, I’m looking forward to trying out new recipes. If you have suggestions, send them my way.

I can never fathom why anyone would want to ban any book, but I was especially shocked to hear the great bard had fallen victim.

Curious as to what other books were thought unfit for students, I looked it up. Among the banned and challenged classics listed on the American Library Association’s website were F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby,” Joseph Heller’s “Catch-22” and Zora Neale Hurston’s “Their Eyes Were Watching God.”

Also on the list: “To Kill A Mockingbird” by Harper Lee (one of my all-time favorite books). I read it for the first time in sixth grade and many of the themes were difficult to comprehend completely. It’s a story that confronts major issues: racism, rape, treatment of the mentally ill, and injustice.

It was a difficult first read, but because it was challenging I went back to read it for a second, third and fourth time.

Many of these books are censored for various reasons: violence, sexuality, language, or controversial viewpoints. They make people uncomfortable and I think that is exactly why they shouldn’t be banned.

The best works are those that make their readers or audience a bit uncomfortable. They take us out of our comfort zones and teach us something new.

Some of my favorite works were those that made me a bit uncomfortable, but they gave me a new perspective. Sometimes they teach me about a different culture or group of people, transport me to a new world or make me confront difficult issues.

I think it’s funny that in a country where we espouse the value of free speech, we ban literature. If we allow students to read these books, expose them to viewpoints that perhaps aren’t orthodox, but teach them to read it critically, we teach them to evaluate other points of view. Isn’t that what an education should do? Shouldn’t we teach students to challenge what they think they know? Censorship only undermines that goal.

Censorship is a slippery slope; we risk losing that right which we hold most dear (speech) and by banning books, rather than protecting students, I think we harm them.

We should challenge them to read controversial books critically. It tends to be in the controversial works that the most powerful statements are made.

I am grateful to have been exposed to great works that may be questionable to a few. These are the ones that taught me the most about life, the world and human beings.

It became much less abstract and much more real to me, however, while home on break. At all of the family holiday functions or when I would run into a family friend, everyone asked me about my senior year in college. The popular question was, “Are you excited to be graduating?”

It’s a simple question, right? To be honest, I really don’t know how I feel about this being my last semester. (This is the second thing I‘ve realized.) When the idea of leaving my bubble that is John Carroll was an abstract thought – something that would eventually happen someday – it was exciting.

It became more real and a little scarier as I was buying my last set of books and unpacking from winter break for the last time. It became scarier because immediately after asking if I’m excited to be graduating, everyone asks, “So what are you doing after you graduate?”

My answer may be the same as many of my fellow seniors: not a clue. It’s this unknown that scares me most. I have no idea what I will be doing after May or where I will be.  I’m someone who likes to have a plan. Although I’m good about adapting to last-minute changes, new environments and new personalities (at least I think so), I like to have some sort of idea about what I’m doing.

I do know a few things I won’t be doing. I began applying for jobs over break and have already received my first rejection. Oh, well. It was a long-shot job anyway but it confirms my fears that it will not be an easy task finding a job I like. My parents keep reminding me that I won’t get my dream job right away (which I know), but I would like to find something that at least interests  and stimulates me.

I also know I won’t be attending graduate or law school (at least not now). Post-graduate education is something I could accomplish and would squelch this fear of the unknown after graduation. Although school is something I do fairly well, I have a feeling similar to the one I had at the end of high school: I’m ready to move on to something new and different.

In fact, this is exactly how I felt toward the end of my senior year of high school. I was afraid because I didn’t know exactly what my life would be like next, but I was excited for the adventure. So while I will most likely feel anxious for the rest of the semester, I’ve decided to embrace the adventure and the challenge that the “unknown” presents. I could be doing anything after graduation.

Who knows where I’ll be next fall? I may be somewhere awesome. I may be on my parents’ couch. Now, isn’t that exciting?

For adults, this is annoying but not really a danger. I hate commercials, but I understand them. I know they don’t tell me some truth because I’ve been taught to analyze what people tell me.

Children don’t necessarily know this. They haven’t learned yet to not simply believe what they see. This is why many are against advertising in schools. They say children should have at least one place they can be creative and think for themselves without being harassed by messages telling them what to think.

This is the stance I’ve always had on the issue. Schools should always be a safe zone for students to explore new ideas and concepts, develop opinions and analytical skills and learn about themselves and the world. School should be the one place they don’t have to be bombarded with advertisements, but instead learn how to critically evaluate the messages they are shown.

My opinion, however, is for a perfect world where schools aren’t facing drastic cuts.

Some schools are looking to use advertising on school property to balance budgets so they don’t have to make such deep cuts to curriculum and social activities.

Some schools in North Carolina are allowing advertisements within their stadiums, and are thinking about expanding that to school buses.

WKYC Channel 3 News ran a story last week that some schools are allowing advertisements on lockers and in school cafeterias.

Is this too far? Is this harming students?

In a perfect world, I would say yes. However, the alternative may be worse.

All you need to do is look at Cleveland schools and their cuts.

Last year, the school district laid off more than 600 teachers and closed schools. This year, they recalled 300 of them to avoid making classes so large they would resemble many college seminar classes.

I think small classes are important – it’s one of the reasons I chose John Carroll. Small classes help prevent students from falling through the cracks.

However, this recall will require $11 million budget cuts. On the district’s chopping block are textbooks, preschool, athletics, security and transportation.

I know this must be a tough choice for school administrators, and it’s sad that it has come down to this. So, what is the right choice? I’m not sure there’s a win here. Small classes are important for struggling students, but textbooks should be up to date and schools as secure as possible. School should also be an all-around experience, and although athletics should not be the most important thing, they teach valuable skills and should be offered.

Facing a decision like this makes me reconsider my opinion of advertising. It should be a last resort, but when you’re cutting a student’s educational experience, it may be necessary.

However, there is one countdown above all else I am excited about. That is the 36 days that stands between me and the beach.

Obviously I’m excited about traveling down to the Outerbanks, North Carolina just because of the simple fact that I will be in the Outerbanks with (hopefully) sunshine, warm weather and the beach. It will be a fun, relaxing week and I will have absolutely no work to do. This is my perfect kind of summer vacation.

Vacations, in and of themselves, are fun. It’s a change of scenery,  a chance to escape the drudge of school and work; an escape from your everyday life for a week. Maybe you go somewhere brand new, or somewhere exotic, or just somewhere different. Maybe you go by yourself, or with a few friends, or a big group.

Although there are other cities I love more, the trip to the Outerbanks is my absolute favorite vacation.

I go every other year with family and when it’s an Outerbanks year it’s something I look forward to months in advance. It’s what gets me through the long, cold, dreary Cleveland winter.

The best part of this trip is that my entire family goes and we’ll all be staying in one house for a week.

And I’m not talking about mom, dad and brother when I say my entire family will be going. I mean my entire family. This includes my dad’s six brothers and sisters, spouses, their kids and my grandmother.

In total there will probably be 34 people. That is 34 people in one house for an entire week.

This may seem crazy. It is indeed crazy, but it’s also the best part of the trip. It’s what makes it my favorite vacation.

It’s hard to describe the chaos and fun to be had on our family vacations unless you know my family. When we’re together we’re loud and funny and ridiculous.

There’s almost a 100 percent chance at least one of my aunts will dance through the house singing at least once, and almost as great a chance that all several will do so.

It’s likely that an intensely competitive game of water volleyball will ensue and it’s almost guarenteed that someone will end up getting hit in the face with the ball.

At least one person will fall asleep in a common area and embarrasing pictures will absolutely be taken of them.

Chances are someone will end up sunburned and they will be made fun of. That person is usually me, but I’m hoping someone else gets that honor this year.

The point is this trip is a family tradition. The location and number of travelers has changed, but it has always been my favorite summer vacation and always lends itself to a slew of great memories.

It’s that point in the semester when all of the papers, projects, tests, etc. begin piling up in anticipation of the final stretch.

Multiple nights without sleep, piles of homework and an internship on top of that can accumulate stress very quickly I’ve found. My schedule and workload aren’t even as difficult as that of other people I know; I can’t even imagine the overwhelming feeling they probably have right now.

It’s all too easy to succumb to such stress, but what good does that do? If you do nothing to combat it, it gets worse and you end up getting absolutely nothing done. Trust me, I’ve tried.

I have found that when I take a break from what I’m doing and let go of some of that stress, the work gets done a lot faster.

So, I thought I would share a few things that I’ve found to be helpful in relieving stress.

One of the best things to do is, of course, to get a good night sleep. You’re able to learn more and remember more, which is essential to getting school work done and doing well on tests. It also makes you a much more pleasant person (ask anyone who speaks to me on a morning following a CN deadline night – I’m not very nice).

If you’re not getting a good-night’s sleep, maybe try taking a 20-minute cat nap. I hear they’re wonderful, but I’ve never been able to limit my sleep to that. My 20-minute naps turn into 4-hours naps, which leave me disoriented and lethargic when I wake up. This doesn’t work very well because then I get even less work accomplished, leaving me more stressed and my nap an epic fail.

Sleep and college students don’t seem to coincide very often, and if you’re like me and incapable of cat naps, it’s important to find some other way to relieve stress.

One of my favorite ways is to workout. I love to run or do power yoga. Both get your blood moving, which helps you concentrate and focus on your work. Take 30 minutes or so to do some sort of exercise you enjoy. You’ll feel better afterward.

It is also extremely important to have some fun, at least in my opinion it is.  A couple of weeks ago, my roommates and I were sitting at home, all of our heads buried in some sort of work. I think it would suffice to say we were all a little stressed.

Then my one roommate popped her head into my room and asked, “Want to get some ice cream?”

My response, “Absolutely!”

We ended up having to drive to three separate stores for ice cream, but it was fun and we laughed. It was nothing super exciting, but it made my night more fun and took away some of the stress for a while. Doing something simple like that with friends can make all the difference in the world.

So, if you’re like me and feeling a little overwhelmed at the moment maybe give one (or all) of these tips a try. Maybe they’ll work for you, too. If not, Easter Break is less than a week away and the end of the semester is less than a month away.

I’ve always justified it by telling myself that I do a lot and I have a lot on my plate.

It would be wrong for me to complain if I did absolutely nothing with my life but sleep all day, eat cereal and watch television. It would be unacceptable for me to complain if I wasn’t incredibly busy.

However, this is certainly not the case so I have every right to complain. Right?

Well, when I put my troubles in perspective, my complaining is really not justified at all.

A few days ago I met a woman named Connie Culp and I can’t help but feel that my complaints are miniscule in comparison to what she has been through and weathered with nothing but a positive attitude.

You may or may not recognize the name Connie Culp. She has been in the news, but not as much now as she was a few years ago; she’s probably in the medical history books as well. Connie was the first person in the United States to receive a face transplant, which she needed after her husband shot her in the face seven years ago.

After she was severely injured, Connie lost much of her face to the injuries. She couldn’t eat solid food, smell or taste.

She underwent 30 surgeries to help her heal, but none of them helped her. Finally she came to the Cleveland Clinic where doctors performed the first face transplant in the United States, a grueling approximately 23-hour surgery.

You would think she’d be bitter or at least angry about what happened to her. Her life was forever and dramatically changed, and it was beyond her control. It wouldn’t be difficult to imagine that someone who survived such an ordeal would be depressed or not want to talk about it. No one would blame her for complaining.

She doesn’t complain, though. She acted neither bitter nor angry, self-pitying nor depressed.

She was simply thankful to be alive, happy to be able to be with her children and grateful for the donor whose organs she received.

When someone asked about whether she had grandchildren, Connie lit up. She was thankful she had the opportunity to know them and to reconnect with her family.

She’s also had to deal with the pointing and stares from passers-by who don’t know or understand what she has been through.

Connie said she would rather people ask her what happened rather than simply leer.  She seems to be okay with telling her story, sharing her experiences. She prompts others to become organ donors so that they too might positively change a life, as someone did hers.

Connie has every reason in the world to complain about everything. She has every reason to complain, but she doesn’t.

Meeting Connie has made me reevaluate my complaining. Do I have a lot of work to do? Yes. Do I wish I had more sleep? Absolutely. But these are stressors I have brought upon myself; they’re choices I have made. In the grand scheme of things, losing a little sleep isn’t that big of a deal. So here’s to not sweating the small stuff in life.

I love a good story. Whether it’s a news article, a book, a movie or a play, I’m fascinated by stories. However, there has always been something about reading books that has captured my interest and my imagination above all else. I love that I can be totally enraptured by a good book, lost in the lives and stories of its characters.

If I have a good book, I can literally sit in the middle of a noisy and bustling public place and not hear a sound. I become enthralled in the whole world the author created for me.

Having said this, however, it’s hard for me to describe exactly why I love reading so much. There’s not one particular genre that I gravitate to (although I will say for the most part science fiction is off the table) and there is not one specific author I strictly read.

In fact, I’ve read and equally loved very different stories. Some of my favorites include Harper Lee’s “To Kill a Mockingbird,” Tim Russert’s autobiography “Big Russ and Me,” the best-selling “Harry Potter” series and Elie Wiesel’s “Night.”

So you can see my slight confusion. Some of these stories are radically different from one another.

I love Harper Lee’s tale which deals with serious issues including crime, racism and stereotypes, all of which we see through the innocent eyes of a precocious child. I will also never forget the heartbreaking recount of Elie Wiesel’s Holocaust experience.

But then again, I can’t tell you the number of hours straight I spent engrossed in the fantastical world of Harry Potter and his friends or the lessons and bits of wisdom Tim Russert incorporated into “Big Russ and Me.”

However, I think I may have nailed down a reason for why I love reading.

A couple of weeks ago, I happened upon a special USA Network ran about its “Character Approved” honorees, people who impact our  society or are agents of change. One of the honorees was author Nicole Krauss.

She’s won laudable awards and recognitions, but it was something she said that stuck with me. She noted that reading is possibly the least passive of arts. Klauss said, “50 percent of reading is the writer and the rest the reader brings herself.”

A writer may describe a setting, a character or a situation, but then leaves it up to readers to interpret or make of it what they will.

As a reader, the writer gives you a story, but exactly what you take from that story is completely up to you. When you’re reading, you’re alone with your imagination even though you have the writer’s words in front of you. I may read something differently than you do, and to me, that is the beauty of reading.

I sometimes take stories and I make them my own or think about them in terms of my own life. When I was younger and reading “To Kill a Mockingbird” for the first time, I imagined myself having the same integrity as Atticus Finch. I’ve also wondered if I’d have the strength to survive the same things Elie Wiesel has. Occasionally, I’ve imagined different endings for some of the books that had conclusions I disagreed with.

I know I will continue to evolve as a person. I think personal evolution in inevitable. We can’t help but change with our experiences and the people we meet and come to know, but I think reading will always be something I love. Hopefully, some things never change.

I’m sure most people have heard by this point about Charlie Sheen’s recent lunacy and slight break from reality. Yep, after being basically fired by CBS and having the 10th season of his hit TV show “Two and a Half Men” canceled, Charlie Sheen did what any sane-minded, reasonable individual who has recently been embroiled in scandal involving both drugs and hookers (America’s favorite kind of  scandal) would do – he went on the talk show circuit.

This week he’s done interviews with the “Today Show,” “Good Morning America” and “Piers Morgan Tonight.”

Listening to him talk to these journalists was, in a word, interesting. A couple of other words I would throw out there to describe the interviews include confusing, disturbing and hilarious.

Sheen declared he wasn’t on drugs during the interviews. My intial thought: yeah, right.

However, Charlie voluntarily opened the results of his drug test on camera, and they revealed a negative test result.

Don’t get me wrong here, but I was seriously concerned by the fact that Charlie was apparently clean. At least  if he were on drugs it would explain his behavior.

Although drugs are certainly bad (and illegal), I think I was more concerned by the fact that good old Charlie was clean at that moment because he sounded absolutely high.

Among his declarations were the assertion that he had “tiger blood” and that he was a “winner.”

Charlie also stated, “I’m tired of pretending I’m not special.” He made the statement in regards to his demand for CBS to raise his per episode salary to $3 million once he returns to “Two and a Half Men.”

In all of these interviews he sounds like a raging lunatic, but he maintains that he’s happy with his life right now (other than his apparent unhappiness with CBS, who he claims wished they had his life).

Based on my vast experience in  psychology (I’m being facetious), I would say Charlie needs some serious help.

However, his delusional attitude is only fueled by the fact that shows compete for the exclusive interview with him, and there’s no doubt that all of the major networks did so. The news media that I love and want to be a part of is not helping this man so clearly in need of help.

And why would they? They are competing for viewers and thus must give us viewers what we want. We love watching these celebrities fall to pieces.

We continuously follow the on-going drama that surrounds Lindsay Lohan’s addictions, jail stints and court dates. We devoured the stories about Tiger Woods’ many, many affairs and loss of sponsorships. We took in every word of Mel Gibson’s myriad of ridiculous rants. We followed the mental breakdown of pop star Britney Spears. We seem to revel in other people’s demise.

I thought Lady Gaga said it really well in her “60 Minutes” interview with Anderson Cooper.

He was asking about the performance when she acted out her bloody death on stage at the MTV Music Awards. She simply said that people want the drama. They want to see what she’ll look like when she overdoses on drugs she’s supposedly using or when she falls on stages. “Everyone wants to see the decay of the superstar,” she said.

“Isn’t that the age we live in? We want to see people who have it all lose it all.”

Instead of continuing to propel Charlie Sheen’s behavior, the media and the people around him should encourage him to seek help.

It is not likely that anyone will do this, however. Why? To put it simply we love the drama.

I couldn’t fall asleep right away so I watched for a bit. One of the cases the team was working on included two deaths. One death was a boy who had been run over by a cab; the other was the stomping death of the immigrant cab driver. Although the death of the boy was tragic, it was the death of the cab driver that really struck me.

It struck me because of the nature of the crime. It seemed that the cab driver accidentally ran over the boy because he had been talking to the woman he was driving and was not paying attention. Horrified, the driver ran to check on the boy and when he realized the child was seriously injured, he ran back to the car to radio for help.

The only thing is that he never made it back to the radio. Seeing the foreign-looking cab driver run from the boy, a group of men nearby judged the man from first sight. They saw that he looked different and assumed that he was fleeing from the scene. Their stomping him to death was supposed to be “justice” for the boy.

Full disclosure — I fell asleep before the end of the episode, but even if the case turned out differently the lesson I took from it still holds true. We judge.  Even when we try not to, we do. We all take away first impressions about people. When we meet people, talk to them for the first time or see them for the first time, we make assumptions about who they are and what they are like. Sometimes we get to know them and those assumptions change, but sometimes that doesn’t happen.

That’s not to say that violence always results from these false judgments. I don’t think that the majority of us would take those judgments to the extent of violence that the men in “CSI” did, but that does happen.

I generally try to be open to people, but I too make assumptions about people I don’t know.

I succumbed to this fault this past Christmas Eve. My family was at Mass, and there was a young man in the choir who was acting slightly inappropriately. He was paying a lot of attention to my little cousin, blowing her kisses and trying to reach out and touch her arm. My cousin is adorable and if he were someone we knew, we wouldn’t have paid it any attention. However, we didn’t know who he was and my brother and I felt he was being kind of a creep.

This view was asserted when the guy later said some odd, inappropriate things to my uncle. My brother and I were certain he was a creep and on the drive to my aunt’s house later we weren’t afraid to say so amongst ourselves. There was no reason to believe, given his normal appearance and his inappropriate behavior, that he was anything else.

It turns out, however, that he was the victim of a horrible car accident and had suffered some brain damage which could explain his odd behavior.

I felt horrible. I had been ready to lump him in the same category as the men you see on “To Catch a Predator.” I had judged him when I didn’t know anything about him.

We all judge and it’s hard not to, but remember the age-old saying, “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” People may not be what they seem. You could be like me and end up seriously misjudging someone.

A few questions may arise from this introduction. Who are Mary, Olympia and Bob? Where are they going? Well, they are United States senators and they were asking each other out on a date to the president’s State of the Union address.

In the wake of the tragic shooting in Tucson, in which six people died and 13 were injured, including Democratic Representative Gabrielle Giffords, discussion was sparked about the tone of political debate in this country. Both the left and right were quick to point fingers at each other for using mean, sometimes violent, rhetoric.

This tone seems to be a norm in our political culture, exemplified in the midterm elections last fall. Negative political ads attacking the other side ran rampant. It’s also hard to forget the infamous health care town hall meetings in the summer of 2009, where people angrily yelled at their representatives.

With a divided government now, it seemed that the polarization in Washington would only increase. However, the shooting in Tucson happened just as the new Congress was taking control and hot-button issues like repealing the health care law were put on the back burner for a moment.

Following tragedies, people unify. They are much more careful about what they say. They are kinder to one another.

Following this trend, politicians are unifying – at least for a while. Colorado Democratic Senator Mark Udall suggested that politicians reach across the isle to sit with a colleague from the other party. Hence, Democratic Senator Mary Landrieu asked Republican Senator Olympia Snowe, according to the New York Times, to sit with her at the event.

Sitting with each other, rather than Democrats sitting on one side of the chamber and Republicans sitting on the other side, is supposed to be a symbolic, unifying gesture made by our lawmakers to promote civility.

Call me a cynic, but I doubt that simply sitting together will result in harmony between Democrats and Republicans, at least not a harmony that will last long. I think sitting together is a nice gesture, but it doesn’t accomplish anything.

If we want there to be  more civility, lawmakers should curb the vicious speech about each other. I’m not suggesting that Democrats and Republicans hold hands and sing “Kumbaya.” Let’s face it, that would be ridiculous and if you’re anything like me you find that song really annoying.

They don’t have to agree on policy; in fact, they probably never will. Many lawmakers view things fundamentally different – taxes, health care, etc. and how involved the government should or shouldn’t be.  In all honesty, I don’t want them to agree. One of the great things about the United States is that we have a variety of opinions that are voiced. I like that there are opposing views on every issue. It allows me to consider both sides of an issue and then decide if I agree with either extreme or fall somewhere in the middle.

However, I don’t like when the debate veers away from the issue at hand and becomes about the person or correctness of ideology. It would be nice if they would just debate the issue. Have an argument, have the reasons for supporting it and debate it on those grounds. You don’t need to attack each other because it doesn’t accomplish anything. It incites more anger and hostility in people.

I enjoy learning about issues that affect our lives and our communities. I get excited to vote every November. I am proud to be (somewhat) aware of what’s happening around me. It’s difficult to like politics when it becomes so divisive.

We’ve had a reprieve from the harsh political rhetoric. I hope it stays that way, but like I said call me a cynic.

I’m sure the name-calling and negativity will soon ensue. Congress will be haggling over program cuts. After that, politicians will be gearing up for 2012 election campaigns.

Although I don’t foresee it, I hope that our lawmakers can maintain this civility and simply debate the issues.