Go Green: It's Earth Day!

According to Wikipedia, Earth Day is celebrated each year on April 22nd and "promotes environmental citizenship and year round progressive action worldwide. Earth Day Network is a driving force steering environmental awareness around the world."

It is important for us as habitants of this planet to protect it and preserve it for the many generations to come. There are many ways we can help "save our planet" that are very easy. One of the easiest things to do is to recycle. Both Champaign and Urbana offer free recycling services for all of its citizens. All it takes is a little effort and you can make a big difference. There are also a number of additional ways you can stay green by using energy efficient appliances, compact florescent light bulbs, and riding a bike or walking instead of driving, just to name a few.

Check out the Earth Day Challenge to calculate your impact on the Earth and see what you can do to change your habits.

Happy Earth Day!

Leap Day 2008!

Here it is... we've been having such fun that this year we get an extra day: 366 days of the year! Seriously, tomorrow is a leap day. We only get one every four years. That means there is only one leap day in your entire college career (assuming you only go for four years). I think that that is reason enough to celebrate. Why don't we celebrate this wonderful day? I mean we celebrate St. Patrick's day on a day that is not even St. Patrick's day! Maybe it's because we don't understand this 29th day of February. Well, according to Wikipedia: "A leap year is a year containing one or more extra days in order to keep the calendar year synchronized with the astronomical or seasonal year. " That's it, that's all there is to it. So why not celebrate. Come on everybody, let's get crazy and take advantage of this extra 24 hours. I mean, we'll have to wait four more years to celebrate it again.

Fun fact: Leap years fall on the same year as US presidential elections!

Happy leap day!

Wikipedia Article on Leap Year

Happy President's Day!

It's President's Day!! No School!!! Oh wait.

There are a few times during the year that I wish I were still in high school. Today is one of those days.

Well, even without a day of rest, we should attempt to honor this holiday. What exactly is president's day, you ask. Since I had to go to school today, I didn't have time to write about it; but here is an excerpt from Wikipedia:

Presidents Day (or Presidents' Day), is the common name for the federal holiday officially designated as Washington's Birthday, and both variants are among the official names of a number of coinciding state holidays. It is celebrated on the third Monday of February.

As the official title of the federal holiday, Washington's Birthday was originally implemented by the federal government of the United States in 1880 in the District of Columbia (20 Stat. 277) and expanded in 1885 to include all federal offices (23 Stat. 516). As the first federal holiday to honor an American citizen, the holiday was celebrated on Washington's actual birthday, February 22. January 1, 1971 the federal holiday was shifted to the third Monday in February by the Uniform Monday Holiday Act. A draft of the Uniform Holidays Bill of 1968 would have renamed the holiday to Presidents' Day to honor both Washington and Lincoln, but when signed into law on June 28, 1968 simply moved Washington's Birthday.

In the late 1980s, with a push from advertisers, the term Presidents Day began its public appearance. The theme has expanded the focus of the holiday to honor another President born in February, Abraham Lincoln, and often other Presidents of the United States. Although Lincoln's birthday, February 12, was never a federal holiday, approximately a dozen state governments have officially renamed their Washington's Birthday observances as "Presidents Day", "Washington and Lincoln Day", or other such designations. It is also interesting to note that "Presidents Day" is not always an all-inclusive term. In Massachusetts, while the state officially celebrates "Washington's Birthday," state law also prescribes that the governor issue an annual Presidents Day proclamation honoring the presidents that have come from Massachusetts: John Adams, John Quincy Adams, Calvin Coolidge, and John F. Kennedy. (Coolidge, the only one born outside of Massachusetts, spent his entire political career before the vice presidency there. George H.W. Bush, on the other hand, was born in Masachusetts, but has spent most of his life elsewhere.) Alabama uniquely observes the day as "Washington and Jefferson Day," even though Jefferson's birthday was in April. In Connecticut, while Presidents Day is a federal holiday, Abraham Lincoln's birthday is still a state holiday, falling on February 12 regardless of the day of the week.

In Washington's home state of Virginia the holiday is legally known as "George Washington Day."