Ah, Obamacare. A topic of great sound and fury.

To the everlasting surprise of many, myself included, the Supreme Court recently decided to uphold the law in its entirety.

Why is this a surprise?

It was my assumption that, at the very least, the law would be sent back for revisions on the point of the individual mandate. The mandate states that all individuals are required to have healthcare.

Now granted, I’ve heard arguments both ways. “Those who don’t have healthcare are a drain on the system” is a popular one; the other side, and the one I hold, is that it should not be legal for the government to force a private individual to buy a product in any situation that doesn’t directly affect the well being of citizens.

The report gives the nation’s two- and four-year colleges letter grades in certain areas including efficiency and cost effectiveness, student access and success and, lastly, transparency and accountability.

Simply put, Oklahoma’s two-year institutions simply aren’t making the grade.

While Oklahoma’s four-year institutions received a B in four categories, the state’s 33 two-year institutions faired much worse, receiving a C for student access and success, D for efficiency and cost effectiveness, C for meeting labor and marketing demand and a D for transparency and accountability.

Upward social mobility has always been essential to the growth and survival of the United States, but as evidenced by ever-increasing income inequality, many individuals find it difficult to rise above the constraints of poverty. This begs the question, “What happened to the American Dream?”

First, what exactly is the American Dream? Is it living in a big house and driving an expensive car? Is it becoming a movie star and living in Hollywood? Is the American Dream to become incredibly wealthy or to simply provide a good life for your family?

After years of forcing students to leave their belongings unattended outside of OCCC’s bookstore, those on campus during the spring semester were met with a welcome surprise.

For the first time this writer can remember, the bookstore actually allowed customers to take their backpacks and other large satchels with them into the store.

A college police officer posted just inside the entry kept bookstore wares safe, and students no longer had to fret about leaving their textbooks, laptops and other expensive items out in the open. It was a win-win situation for all.

Last month, a grisly headline gripped the U.S. and beyond.

Rudy Eugene, a 31-year-old Floridian allegedly under the influence of bath salt drugs, chewed off the face of Ronald Poppo, a 65-year-old homeless man, in broad daylight off a Miami highway.

With traffic whizzing by, the cannibalistic attack lasted 18 minutes before police officers shot Eugene dead.

In that period of time, Poppo lost 75 percent of his face, including his entire left eye and the vision in his right. He remains hospitalized to this day, struggling with numerous skin graft surgeries and physical therapy sessions.

Reading this recount, did you feel a grin on your lips? No, probably not.

But sadly, many people have managed to find humor in this disgusting attack. And it is inexcusable.

Good day ladies and gentlemen.

Before we get started, I would first like to introduce myself. My name is Justin, better known as Dr. Cumulus.

I am a storm chaser for my company, Justin’s Wild Weather Adventure, Where Learning Is An Adventure. For many years, I have been intrigued by the weather. When I was in the Air Force, I was assigned to be Security Forces, but everyone could clearly see what I was made for. I was born in California, raised in Texas and came to Oklahoma on July 4th, 2011. I have been storm chasing for many years and my life focus is actually on teaching weather to the world. I plan on attending the University of Oklahoma one day, going all the way through my PhD.

Anyway, enough about me, let’s get to the story.

Once again, we turn our attention to a question of public health: should sugary soft drinks be regulated or banned in the campaign against diabetes?

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg thinks so.

Last month, he proposed legislation that would ban the sale of 16-ounce soft drinks in every business that wasn’t a grocery store. And I partially agree with him.

Now some observant readers may scream, “Ha! He was totally on the other side when it was his smoking habit under fire!”

Not true. As a citizen, and a journalist, I object to the needless use of government power to make decisions unilaterally for private individuals. When the subject of smoking came up, my point was that regulation was a better route than outright ban. I have no objection to being asked to go to a designated area to protect the health of others.

With the rising price of college, many options are available to assist students in paying for their higher education. This comes in the form of grants, loans, scholarships, etc. While these forms of financial aid are helpful, some students still find themselves struggling to pay for college without having to start their lives out in debt. Perhaps the people who understand this best are the middle class.

For example, students who come from a background of wealth may be able to pay for their college in full with no financial aid help whatsoever while a student with significantly less income may have their college completely or mostly paid for my grants and scholarships which they don’t have to pay back.

So what about the middle class?

Eight people were shot in downtown Oklahoma City after the Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the Los Angeles Lakers in the second round of the NBA Playoffs.

As a result, Oklahoma City Police Department, Oklahoma City Thunder executives, and Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett decided to move the pre-game celebration known as Thunder Alley three hours prior to tip off.

Oklahoma City officials also eliminated outdoor viewings of the playoff games on a big screen outside of the Chesapeake Energy Arena.

While this is an unpopular opinion, Oklahoma City officials did the right thing by curtailing and limiting the festivities.

Generally, when people think of alleys, wariness comes to mind. And wariness is exactly what rushed through the thoughts of thousands on the night of Monday, May 21, when shots were fired about three blocks east of the area known as near Thunder Alley, reportedly injuring eight people.

More than 6,000 people were leaving the area after the Thunder beat the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 5 in the second round of the NBA Playoffs.

The sight of people running away from the area — many crying — replaced the just-earlier scene of a blue-clad festive crowd.