Human trafficking everyone’s issue

While human trafficking has been active throughout time, in the past decade it has gained proportionate attention. A modern-day slavery, human trafficking is defined as the illegal movement of people, typically for the purposes of forced labor or commercial sexual exploitation.

According to the Polaris Project, a website dedicated to combating modern-day slavery, the yearly profits created by the human trafficking industry are estimated to be $32 billion.

The number of slaves worldwide is estimated to be 27 million. Of that, 80 percent are women. Fifty percent of that number are children.

In 2000, the number of children and youth in the United States estimated to be at risk of sexual exploitation was 244,000.

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Tattoos now more acceptable

A subject in our society that has many points of view and that I personally have an interest in is tattoos.

I have tattoos. It is becoming the norm for people from all walks of life to have a tattoo, yet, society still tends to have a negative view toward them.

More than 40 percent of adult Americans have at least one tattoo — almost half of our adult population, according to statisticbrain.com. So, it seems odd that there is still such a stigma attached.

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Minimum wage increase needed

During my three years of college, there were only two semesters when I didn’t work more than one job — one of them being the first semester I started school. I currently work three jobs to make ends meet.

Throughout my part-time career, I’ve assuaged angry hotel guests as a front desk clerk, edited endless essays as an English tutor, experienced more than one bad interview as a journalist and survived the mayhem of a Friday night waiting tables.

For most college students, working more than one part-time job is common. Among education expenses, there’s rent to pay, gas to guzzle and copious amounts of Ramen noodles to ingest.

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Bronze skin not worth risks

It is officially summer, which means a ton of outdoor activities. It also means it’s time to attempt to get a tan.

I am pretty light-skinned and people do not hesitate to let me know this incredibly insulting fact that my mirror confirms every day. So, in the summer, I spend an endless amount of time laying out and trying to turn some color other than translucent. As you can probably guess, this normally does not end well.

The past two summers, I have gotten terribly sunburned —once on my stomach and another time, on my chest.

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Do what it takes to make children’s safety a priority

Each year, numerous children die in or around cars from preventable accidents — being trapped in a hot vehicle, backovers and power window mishaps.

An average of 38 children die each year from heatstroke after being left or trapped in cars. A joint study by the National SAFE Kids Campaign and General Motors found that the inside temperature of a car can reach 120 degrees within 30 minutes, with the outside air being just 70 degrees.

Lisa Pardi, Summit County’s SAFE Kids coordinator, said, “young children, the elderly and pets are vulnerable because their bodies are ill-equipped to fight off the heat and resulting dehydration.”

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Brew affordable coffee at home

Coffee is something that gets us through the daily grind — the late nights and the early mornings.

Americans enjoy their coffee and individually spend about $1,092 on coffee each year, according to Accounting Principals’ latest Workonomix survey.

On top of that, about 54 percent of Americans over the age of 18 drink coffee daily, according to www.statisticbrain.com.

Evidently, there is a high demand for the coffee beans that create the caffeinated-magic found in our cups.

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Writer gives kudos to Hobby Lobby

Standing up for what you believe in can often be a risky battle. Countless people will ridicule you, judge you and even tell you have no reason to have a belief that is different than theirs.

Hobby Lobby has been scrutinized relentlessly by the government, media and average citizens alike for taking a stance against parts of the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.

Hobby Lobby is a Christian, family-owned corporation, meaning chances are, their beliefs do not line up with the majority of the government or the majority of Americans outside of the Bible belt.

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Pleasure reading relaxing, healthy

In today’s world with so many televisions, cell phones, laptops and many other forms of electronic media, people have turned away from reading books. I know people lead busy lives and have too much of this or that going on to be able to sit down and take the time to actually read.

It’s time to start making time.

The numbers of those who do not read anything at all for pleasure has almost doubled over the past 20 years, according to raisingbookworms.com.

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Can’t everyone just get along?

There are thousands of religions in the world. People can still get lazy and fall into the mindset that their religion is the only one, especially when everyone they know has the same faith.

And, when confronted with someone of a different religion, people do tend to respectfully acknowledge that the other person’s beliefs are valid.

“Oh, you’re a Hindu? Uh, cool! Ganesha’s almost as awesome as Jesus!”

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