Barry Bonds pleads not guilty to perjury and obstruction of justice charges

Barry Bonds pleaded not guilty, in federal court, to the charges of perjury and obstruction of justice during the BALCO case from 2003. The federal court hopes to get former teammates and players to testify against Bonds and have enough evidence to give Bonds a guilty charge. Prosecutors say that they have a blood test from November 2000 labeled “Barry B” and was positive for two kinds of steroids. The case against him now dates back to what he said in December 2003 during the grand jury case on BALCO.

Many people knew that Bonds was going to plead not guilty. I expected him to as well. If he is found guilty, he is facing many years in prison. I think that Bonds is just trying to save himself by pleading not guilty. He wants it to drag out, and he hopes that by dragging it out he can end up being sentenced not guilty. I hope he is found guilty because people can look at him and just tell that he took steroids. Taking steroids is cheating. A player should be punished for cheating.

Jose Guillen and Jay Gibbons will take 15 days off (about 7% of the season) for ruining civilization

Orioles’ player Jay Gibbons and Royals’ player Jose Guillen will be suspended for the first 15 days of the season. That equates to be 8.6 percent of the games and just 7 percent of the days in the season. The suspension is only 13 or 14 games. The author thinks that that is not a large enough suspension. “So you cheat, and you sit 7% of the season.  Sign me up boys, I can still play 148-149 games, hit a bunch of home runs, and get my 36 million for 3 years.”

I agree with the author. I think that they should be suspended for a lot more games then that. They should be suspended for at least 30 games. To cheat and then think that you can get away with it is absurd. If you want to do the illegal drugs, then take the consequences that come with getting caught. They will still be able to earn millions of dollars, but it is still the principle of the matter. They should be forced to sit out more games, and also a fine should be issued. It is ridiculous that after cheating they will still earn millions of dollars.

Royals intent on signing juicer Jose Guillen

The Kansas City Royals signed Jose Guillen, who was discovered to have taken performance enhancing drugs. His statistics sky-rocketed in 2003 after it was shown that he ordered the drugs. Before the 2003 season, his stats were average, but in 2003, his hitting went up by a lot.

I do not think that the Royals should have signed Guillen. If it is known that he takes the drugs, then why is he permitted to play in the league. If he has already taken them, then I think that he will continue to take them, and only hurt the Royals’ organization. I do not think he will do too well because he is now at least 30 years old, and does not have too many good years left in him, especially if he is off of the drugs.

Texas high school students to undergo comprehensive steroid/drug testing

High school students in Texas will now be getting tested for steroids. They must give the testers their jackets and empty their pockets before going to get the sample. There will be a 30 day probation for a first positive test, for the second a year suspension from athletic activities, and for a third positive test they will be banned from sports competition. 20000 to 25000 students will be tested yearly, and they can be tested more than once.

I am glad to see that high school athletes are now being tested. If they see pro athletes doing them, then they figure they will be able to take steroids. If athletes are being tested at a younger age, then they will be even more scared of taking a substance. When you can stop steroid use at a younger age, then it will be close to non-existent in their futures. I think that all states should now adopt this system. It would be very effective to taking steroids out of sports.

Wipe out: Marion Jones’ career from 2000-on erased

The IAAF has erased Marion Jones’ career from 2000 on, including the 3 gold and 5 overall medals she won at the Summer Olympics in Sydney. She has to accept a 2 year ban that started October 8th, 2007 and will run until October 7th, 2009. She is disqualified from all competitions from September 1st, 2000 on. All of her individual and relay results are forfeited. She must return all money and medals that she won.

I am happy that the IAAF has done what they did. She took steroids, lied about it, then admitted it. She cheated to win, and that is unacceptable. I feel that she should be banned for longer than two years though. After she lied about it, then a positive test confirmed that she actually did take steroids. If she had told the truth from the beginning then maybe the consequences shouldn’t have been this harsh, but she lied and has to accept this penalty.

Bonds Indicted

Barry Bonds is being indicted by a federal grand jury. He is being charged with four counts of perjury and one count for obstruction of justice. He is being indicted because of false statements made during the BALCO trial.

I am glad to see that Bonds is finally being indicted. You can just look at him and tell that something is going on there, and he does not deserve to have the home-run record. He deserves to be indicted, especially after rumors of him lying during the BALCO case. I hope that he is not acquitted of any charges, because if he was on steroids, and lied about them, he deserves to be in prison for a while.

Did supplement store supply ‘roids to the Cowboys?

A trainer for the Dallas Cowboys will plead guilty for trafficking steroids. In his testimony he will give the names of Cowboys’ players and Atlanta Falcons’ players who ordered steroids off of him.

This trainer should not be allowed to work in professional sports ever again. One, he was trafficking a drug, which is illegal. Two, he was selling the drugs to professional athletes, which is illegal for them to take. The athletes who took the drugs should be fined and suspended for a certain amount of games. It is not fair to the other athletes that they were cheating just to be the best that they could be and better.

Brazilian swimmer Rebeca Gusmoa suspended for steroids

Brazilian swimmer Rebeca Gusmoa was suspended after another positive test for steroids.  The test was given in July, right before the Pan Am games were held in Rio. At those games, she won two gold medals, a silver and a bronze. She tested positive in May as well. After the second test was positive, the decision was made for her to be suspended.

I think that she should be stripped of her medals. She won the medals due to the fact that she was using steroids. Using steroids is cheating and it should not be done. She should be banned from ever swimming again. I feel like the penalty for anyone caught using steroids should be banned from competition for life. Steroids are not all right to use because it is cheating. One gains a huge advantage while on steroids over someone who is not on them.

SWA #7

1. Library subscribed databases are articles from actual newspapers or magazines. A normal web page could just be information that is one persons opinion and not have all the facts about a certain topic. You will find more facts in the databases and more opinions online.

2. A bibliography is a list of sources that one used and/or referenced in a paper they wrote. An annotated bibliography is a list of sources with a paragraph under each source. The paragraph explains whether or not it was a useful source. Annotated bibliographies can help with a paper because it will let you know if it was useful or not.

3. If there is an organization involved. If it is duplicated in print. Is the source accessed by many people?

4. Creating a tentative research plan can be very helpful because you can lay out a plan for your paper ahead of time. If you know what to research you will have an easier time finding information, therefore making the writing of your paper easier.

5. Plagiarism is copying or stealing someones work and taking credit for the work for yourself.. You have to cite direct quotes, paraphrasing or summarizing of an author’s work.

SWA #6

When Johnson wrote, “Of course, the entertainment industry isn’t increasing the cognitive complexity of its products for charitable reasons. The Sleeper Curve exists because there’s money to be made by making culture smarter,” he is saying that TV is good for people. TV now makes people think about what is going on instead of just telling them. TV shows now have many different story lines throughout one episode to make the viewer make inferences to see if they actually know what is going on. I agree with Johnson’s point of view for this article. TV definitely makes people think and it helps the mind.