It seems the days when kids would rush home from school to go outside and play are gone. Oh, they’re still rushing home from school — to sit in front of the television and vegetate for hours. game console than going outside and playing the actual sport.

Video games have created a generation of passive people who spend a number of hours alone each week.

Developmental Psychologist Douglas Gentile said excessive video-game playing has several negative effects on children.

Halloween is one of the great things about the fall season for many who celebrate it; candy, parties, fun, and dressing up. However, one of the unfortunate inclusions in the holiday is the seemingly racial stereotypes that are represented through some costumes.

The other day, I came across a website that advertised an “Across the Border” themed couple’s costume. The outfits consisted of sombreros, maracas, shawls and a mustache for the man.

I’ve typically seen Native American-themed costumes that advertise headdresses, moccasins, cloth-like clothing made of just enough material to cover the key parts of the body on women and are worn by a dark-skinned individual with long, black hair.

Chances are you or someone you know receives federal assistance to buy groceries. SNAP (Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program) is a government assistance program that helps Americans purchase food.

According to the SNAP website, the program “offers nutrition assistance to millions of eligible, low-income individuals and families and provides economic benefits to communities.”

Recently, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill that would cut the SNAP program by about $40 billion over the next decade. The bill will head to the Senate soon and the possibility of it passing has people talking.

“You’ll change your mind when you are older.” That’s the first thing people usually say to me when they find out I don’t want kids.

According to Time magazine, “the birthrate in the U.S. is the lowest in recorded American history.”

The magazine reports from 2007 to 2011, fertility rates decreased by 9 percent. This adds up to about one in five women who have decided not to have children.

What used to be a milestone in the lives of women and couples has now become a decision.

One thing that will never change is the way music creates inspiration and opportunity for people from all walks of life. This was not evident to me until just recently when I attended the Carnival of Madness tour. The headlining band was Shinedown.

Lead singer Brent Smith took a break to have a heart-to-heart talk with the audience. What he said hit home. Although he spoke about rock music, his words encompass all music really.

“… Rock ‘n’ roll is a way of life for a lot of people,” Smith said.

“When you’re upset, rock ‘n’ roll pushes you over the edge to have you break through those barriers to give you strength again. When you’re down, when the world doesn’t make any sense and no one understands who you are, you have to think about how many times rock ‘n’ roll has been there for you when you needed it most.”

Is humanity enslaved by technology? Access to the Internet has become the most essential and vital tool in today’s social society. The phenomenon of social networking sites has taken the world by storm.

Many say the Internet and social networking have depersonalized human interactions and relationships.

Author Chuck Klosterman wrote, “We are latently enslaved by our own ingenuity and we have unknowingly constructed a simulated world. As a species, we have never been less human than we are right now.”

XXAmerica is in a bind of conflict right now; to be or not to be involved in Syria?

In a joint news conference in Stockholm, President Barack Obama asserted his authority to mobilize a limited military strike on Syria without congressional approval but said he is seeking congressional backing because he feels that it will have a better response.

This would be in response to alleged chemical weapon use by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad against Syrian civilians.

Americans everywhere are divided on this issue.

It’s a question college students face every semester: should I buy textbooks online later for less or bite the bullet, spend a little extra money at the OCCC bookstore and get them now?

It is no secret the majority of students are not happy with the money they pay each semester for “required” textbooks they may or may not use, but what students may not realize is that $200 textbook may not be the big scam they believe it to be.

According to www.collegeapps.about.com, a lot goes into pricing a textbook.

First is the issue of copyright. Publishers must make sure they pay copyright fees to every author in the book. This can sometimes be a pretty lengthy list.

Another summer come and gone, and another August knocking down our doors. The fall semester is finally upon us. The beginning of school is met with different reactions from all college students — some eagerly anticipate going back to class while others dread it.

But the start of a new semester means a new start for everyone pursuing a degree.

If you’re a first-time college student, you’ve got a lot to figure out and a lot of new things to experience. If you’re a returning college student, there’s bound to be a lot that you have learned — you probably know by now that each day spent in a college classroom can throw something new and unexpected at you.

OCCC’s Student Life office says its purpose on campus is to “ … provide a variety of programs and services that support students in their pursuit of a successful higher education experience.”

However, recently, they have done just the opposite — at least when it comes to journalism students.

On May 28, Student Life Director Erin Logan informed the Pioneer faculty adviser in an email that the Student Life office had changed its procedures and would no longer grant in-person interviews to the Pioneer staff writers or News Writing students regarding their assignments or class-assigned stories.