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Wednesday, August 17, 2011

What makes Tulsa, Oklahoma a great place to live?

This article was first published on writers website http://www.helium.com/users/351546

If you’re raising a young family, working hard to advance in a major industry, a retiree, or a sports nut who craves an active lifestyle, Tulsa Oklahoma is the place for you. This great little town in the heartland of America has something for everyone.

With a population of only 396,906 people as of the 2010 census, Tulsa is the second largest city in the state of Oklahoma, and the 47th largest city in the United States. The Tulsa metropolitan area has a population of 937,478 (2010), which is expected to grow to one million by the year 2012.

Tulsa is situated on the Arkansas River at the foothills of the Ozarks, in the middle of the "Bible Belt". Known as the "Oil Capital Of The World" in the early and mid 20th century, Tulsa is also known as the "Birthplace of U.S. Route 66", the home of Oral Roberts University and the University of Tulsa, and is located in "Tornado Alley", so named because it can frequently experience severe weather.

But in spite of this, Tulsa is rich with culture and is known for having two world renown art museums, full time professional opera and ballet companies, the Tulsa Symphony, the Tulsa Oratorio Chorus, and "Theater Tulsa", the oldest continuously operating community theater company west of the Mississippi River.

Tulsa has been cited as one of "America’s Most Livable Cities" by "Partners For Livable Communities", Forbes magazine, and "Relocate America".

History

In 1836 Tulsa was settled by the Lochapoka and Creek indian tribes and incorporated on January 18th, 1898. Oil was first discovered in 1901 with the drilling of "Sue Bland Number One" well. By 1930 Tulsa’s population exploded to 140,000 and Tulsa became known as "The oil capital of the world". Profits from oil held up the city’s economy through the Great Depression of the 1930's.

In 1925 Tulsa Businessman Cyrus Avery established the "U.S. Highway 66 Association" in an effort to create a road connecting Chicago and California, earning Tulsa the nickname, "Birthplace Of Route 66".

A U.S. recession in 1982 caused the loss of 28,000 jobs in Tulsa, which was one of the hardest hit by the fall of oil prices. By 1992 the state’s economy had fully recovered, but by this time the leaders of the city of Tulsa had attempted to expand into others areas not related to oil, like aerospace, finance, technology, telecommunications, high technology, and manufacturing.

In 2003 the "Vision 2025" program was approved by the voters, with the purpose of revitalizing downtown Tulsa and the city's Tourism Industry. The BOK Center was the cornerstone of this surge of development, with the groundbreaking in 2005. The BOK Center opened on August 30th, 2008.

Attractions

Culture and outdoor recreation highlight Tulsa’s main attractions. Oil pioneer Waite Phillips built the Philbrook Museum, considered to be one of the top 50 fine art museums in the U.S. and one of five to offer combined historic home, gardens, and art collections.

The collections of Thomas Gilcrease are housed in the Gilcrease Museum.
Tulsa has 140 parks spread over 6,000 acres. Most notably, Woodward Park on 45 acres in Midtown Tulsa which includes a Botanical Garden featuring the Tulsa Municipal Rose Garden and more that 6,000 rose plants in 250 varieties.

Many young and old Tulsans enjoy biking, jogging, and playing on the Arkansas River Trail system. Tulsa River Parks, a ten mile series of parks along the Arkansas River from downtown Tulsa to the Jenks Bridge offer new trails, landscaping, and playground equipment added since 2007.

The Tulsa Zoo and Living Museum was voted "America’s Favorite Zoo" in 2005 by Microsoft Game Studios.

So if you’re looking for a low stress lifestyle in one of the most beautiful little cities in America, take a look at Tulsa!

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Is competition in school helpful or harmful to students?

This article was first published on writers website http://www.helium.com/users/351546

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Discouraging competition among our young people is discouraging the very best that is America. Discouraging competition in our public schools would result in our schools creating a nation of sheep, mindless clones with no motivation to excel.

That's one of the weaknesses of a socialist or communist society. Where everyone gets equal treatment, there is little motivation to compete. Little motivation to outdo another. Little motivation to excel. By discouraging competition in our public schools we would be, sad to say, headed in that very direction.

Some parents are so paranoid about their child suffering rejection if he or she tries out for an athletic team or cheer leading squad and doesn't make it. What that parent needs to tell the child is, "You didn't have what it takes to be a sports star or cheerleader, but there are probably other areas where you can excel. Like academics. Try harder to bring your grades up, and maybe some day you'll be able to win a scholarship!"

Children need to understand the reality that everyone can't be a sports star or the most popular person in his or her class. But that shouldn't discourage him or her from trying. There's a lot more to school than sports, and many other areas where a child can be challenged to do his or her best. Maybe the child is a great writer and could excel on the staff of the school newspaper. Children must be told that as long as they do their best that's all that really matters.

Joseph P. Kennedy once told his sons, "Do your best, and then the hell with it!" That's what competition is really all about - doing your best. Everyone who has read anything about the Kennedy family knows that to the Kennedy children, competition was a way of life. Weekends at Hyannisport would often find the whole clan out on the lawn choosing up sides for a touch football game.

Striving to do your best carries over into adulthood. When the child enters the business world later in life, what better preparation could he or she have than to have learned to compete? Competition spurs us on to become better people. Competition spurs the Corporate world on to produce better products.

We here at HELIUM risk our egos by trying to write the best article that we can on a particular subject. A few of us will excel and come out rated number one. But if our work results in a lower rating, that only motivates us to rewrite the article to improve it, or try harder the next time we write another article.

Competition is what made America great.

How can it do anything but help a young person?

A star is born -- Jackie Evancho, age 11

This young lady was actually born April 9th, 2000 to Michael and Lisa Evancho, who live in Richland Township, a suburb of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She has an older brother Jacob, a younger brother Zachary, and a younger sister Rachel.

She started singing at age 7 after hearing a DVD performance of the musical "The Phanton of the Opera". She also plays piano and violin and writes song lyrics. At the age of 10 she came in second in the fifth season of "America's Got Talent". She co-wrote the lyrics for the title track on "Dream With Me", a recording produced by David Foster, which was released June 14th, 2011.

Here's a sample of her voice, widely acclaimed as mature beyond her years, from a recent performance of "Angel" on PBS "Great Performances" June 7th, 2011:

http://www.jackieevancho.com/us/videos