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Opinion Editorial
The most popular sport in the world is soccer also known as football in most countries and is also known to the world as the “beautiful game.” One of the most popular sports in America is it’s famous past time sport, baseball. Most Americans have never given soccer a chance. Most people find it boring and a sport that only “wimps” play. Soccer is my favorite sport and it always has been from the first time I kicked a ball. My whole life I have had to deal with attacking comments about how soccer was such a bad sport and how the sport I hate the most, baseball, is such a good one. Let’s put all the soccer attacks aside and take a good look at what Americas past time has come to be in the past 5-10 years.

The sport of baseball has started to falter in the past years due to one main problem, steroids. One-hundred and twenty-five players were released on baseball’s Mitchell Report. Players such as Marc McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds were a few of names on that list. Jason Giambi was one of the 16 admitted users according to the Mitchell Report. What’s wrong with the names on this list? Most of the players on the Mitchell Report are some of baseballs greats. These are guys who hold records and guys who have claimed to have been playing the game fairly. Are steroids fair? Is enhancing your performance with drugs instead of weight lifting, running, and other natural strengthening training fair? Is influencing a young high-school athlete to take steroids whose body is not mature enough to handle them fair? 

Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va., chairman of the House Committee on Government Reform spoke about the influences of steroids on younger athletes in a statement that read, "College athletes believe they have to consider steroids if they're going to make it to the pros; high school athletes, in turn, think steroids are the key to getting a scholarship.” Mark Fainaru-Wada, a writer for the San Francisco Chronicle proved Rep Tom Davis’s theory about young athletes and their thoughts on steroids with this quote,

“I'm on steroids, what do you think? Who do you think I am? I'm a baseball player, baseball players take steroids. How do you think Bonds hits all his home runs? How do you think all these guys do all this stuff? You think they do it from just working out normal?”

            Those were the words from high school player Rob Girabaldi while he was attacking his father during his steroid usage. Girabaldi had all of the professional tools except for his size.  He committed suicide at the age of 24.

            Look, it only takes one story like that to show that baseball has been nothing more than a promoter for steroid use. When a younger athlete is told that he has all of the weapons to be a successful “Big League” player except for his size what do you think is going to happen?

            Americas favorite past time is nothing more than a joke. Not only does it promote the use of performance enhancing drugs but it also promotes cheating. These so called “record breaking” players are no different from moving a piece on a game board three spots closer to the finish while the opponent isn’t looking. Hey, if all of you baseball fans and players like to watch all of these cheaters hit homeruns over the fence when all that is happening is the ball flying through the air then good for you. I just have one question, are the real athletes the ones who take drugs just to hit a ball, or is it the men who play the world’s most popular sport and run an average of 9 miles a game and don’t have steroid problems? 

 Glass Blowing

             Yes, Franklin Pierce University is a small school in Rindge NH, where there’s not a lot that happens. However, there is one thing that is unique about Franklin Pierce, from an artistic stand point. Franklin Pierce is one of three Liberal Arts Schools in the nation to have glass blowing (it’s the only one on the east coast).

Glass is incredibly unique, when you think about it. That delicate vase sitting in the lobby of a hotel, or those elegant wine glasses your mother pulls out only for holidays, those used to be sand. Certain types of sand have high levels of silica in them, and when it is heated, the silica sand melts, and becomes the liquid substance that will cool, harden, and become glass.

So how does the hot liquid glass turn into that delicate vase? A glass blower melts the sand, and picks up the hot gooey liquid with a long tube. By blowing through the tube, the glass begins to expand, like a balloon or bubblegum. As the glass expands the glass blower can manipulate it into shapes using metal rods or by forming it with molds. The work is hot, hard, and must be done quickly, within a few minutes, as the glass hardens almost immediately. Glass blowers therefore must have thought up a careful plan beforehand, and be ready to start work once the liquid glass is ready to go. They must be creative problem solvers, who are ready for any sort of challenge.

“Its art, you have to be creative, before, during and after the piece is created!” said Danny Farrell, a Franklin Pierce glass blowing student.

Glass blowing is not an easy skill to master, nor is it easy to work at it full-time. While some glass blowers work on their own projects in a studio alone or with other artists, many have to work for large production studios, blowing glass designed by others. If they are lucky, they may advance to design positions, or be asked to create a few handcrafted, original pieces to be sold as collectibles and keepsakes.

“All of our pieces are originally handcrafted by us, we’re the artists.” said Farrell.

“I choose not to sell mine. Everyone else does. I either give it away for free or keep it for me.”

The Franklin Pierce glass blowers have to sign up at the glass hut in order to work on their pieces. There are only two people allowed to blow at one time. On average it takes 30 minutes to blow a piece of glass. There are workers at the hut that are there to help people with their pieces. The work of the artist is quick, intense, beautiful, but sometimes devastating.

“The worst is when you’re working on a piece and it falls off and breaks while trying to transfer it to another pole!” said Farrell.

Though, like a true artist, he seems to remain optimistic when it happens.

“That’s art, sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn’t!” he said.

Again, Franklin Pierce is just a small school in the middle of New Hampshire. It is surrounded by a pond and woods, and is towered over by a mountain that “stands alone.” Is that not what arts all about? Is this not a perfect school to have glass blowing?

“When a piece of glass shatters, it’s still pretty. When the leaves fall from the trees it’s still pretty.”

“That is what’s funny about art; you never know what you’re going to get, just like New Hampshire weather. But in the end, it’s still beautiful!”