Why Women Cheat
By Marlee Elkins
(Disclaimer: This was an article used for a dating website)
“Don't stick your hand in somebody else's cookie jar,” seems to be advice that is needed more and more in today's society. In the present day, infidelity seems to be anything but uncommon. In fact, in a survey given to 100 individuals between the ages of 18 and 35 years old, 48% admitted to engaging in infidelity at some point in their adult lives. When a man is unfaithful, it is usually just for the physical pleasure. Sex feels good and men love it. They’re not looking for anything emotional, particularly if they already have someone at home. As a matter of fact, it’s usually the opposite: men like to cheat because they want sex with no strings attached – after all, men don’t pay prostitutes for sex, they pay them to leave.
Women, on the other hand, are generally searching for something deeper. Don’t get me wrong, women love sex as much as men do. But it is unarguable that women are the more emotional sex. When women cheat, there is usually a psychological-emotional reason for it. Particularly after marriage, a family, a mortgage, car payments, etc., a woman has the tendency to feel like a housekeeper rather than a sexy lady. Whether a couple has been married for 5 years or 50 years, it is important to keep that passion alive. Unfortunately, that's not always easy. Nobody does it on purpose but sometimes life just catches up to you and there’s hardly room for any romance. Here’s a little secret: men are not the only ones who start to feel bored; women fantasize about those steamy sex scenes too! If a woman feels bored and unappreciated by the man in her life, infidelity seems like a smart solution, particularly if the passion seems unredeemable.
If a woman feels like she is not getting attention in her relationship, attention from an outsider can be very seductive. Everybody wants to feel desirable, but a woman NEEDS to feel desirable. If a woman does not feel like she has that sexual-emotional connection with her significant other anymore then she naturally is going to seek it elsewhere. A simple compliment from a man may make her want to rip her clothes off right then and there. Even if a woman has a loving husband, she might still feel bland. Being a provider is not enough, a woman needs someone that wants to jump her bones!
Her man may want her, but does anyone else? It is healthy when a woman feels flattered that a man is checking her out, but it is unhealthy to want to act on that attraction. Having an affair may confirm that she still has “it.” After all, if another man wants to sleep with her then she must not have let herself go, right? Wrong. Most men will sleep with anything that has two boobs and a skirt on. The need to keep that groove usually stems from self esteem issues. Sometimes a lack of self esteem is the result of relationship problems, but other times it is just an unresolvable inner issue.
Lastly, revenge sex is as popular as ever. The most common motivation for a woman to engage in revenge sex is when her significant other has “been a-messin'” where he shouldn’t have been “a-messin'.” If her man has been running around town then she may think that cheating on him will get rid of the feeling that she isn't good enough. There is no worse blow for anyone—man or woman—than being cheated on. A woman may feel like her partner's infidelity justifies her own affair. Not to mention, she probably wants to hurt her man in the same way that he hurt her. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, right?
Loneliness, lack of affection, boredom, low self-esteem, and revenge are the typical reasons why women cheat. There are exceptions to every rule, however. Some women may cheat because she had a couple of drinks and “she didn’t know what she was doing.” It’s possible that she cheats just because she wants to have sex. Then there are the more complicated situations. For instance, maybe she is with one man but she is actually in love with another. She may even be confused about her sexuality, secretly longing for the sensual touch of another woman. But that’s a story for another time.
What is Term Insurance?
By Marlee Elkins
Term insurance is a type of life insurance that provides protection for a specific period of time such as 10, 20, or 30 years. It pays a benefit if you die during that specified period. Term insurance is generally the most simple and inexpensive type of life insurance. If the insured person dies during the term then the death benefits are paid to the beneficiary. If the person is still living at the end of the term then protection ends, unless it is renewable. Term insurance is one of the only types of insurance that is not associated with a cash value.
Who Does it Suit?
Term insurance is for people who need a considerable amount of coverage but have a limited budget. It’s also good if you need temporary coverage for short-term goals, such as to pay off a car loan or mortgage. Sometimes parents with young children purchase term insurance so that their children are taken care of in the case of their demise. Sometimes business owners use term insurance if they have specific employees that plan to retire in a certain period of time.
Features of Term Insurance
The premiums of term insurance are adjustable; this means that premiums may raise or lower at some specified point in the policy based on projected alterations of investment earnings, persistency, mortality experience, expenses, and age. However, premiums cannot be raised higher than the amount stated in the policy. Term insurance also offers renewability, which means that policyholders are allowed to continue coverage past the original set period. However, each time the policy is renewed the premium will increase, based on the age of the policyholder at the time of the renewal.
Advantages of Term Insurance
Term insurance provides insurance protection for a very low cost, at least initially. It has a much lower cost than permanent life insurance. It is good if you have specific temporary needs. Adjustable premiums are always beneficial to the policy holder as well. They’re not allowed to raise the premium higher than what is stated in the contract. Also, death benefits are received free from income tax.
Term insurance is usually convertible to at least age 75. This means that the policyholder can exchange their term insurance for any permanent life insurance policy that’s offered at the company at the time while the policy is still in force. Also, most of the time, you will be able to convert your policy without having any medical examinations or providing information regarding your health. Term insurance is a way to supplement other coverage when you have extra financial responsibility like mortgages or college expenses.
Disadvantages of Term Insurance
There are definitely more advantages of term insurance policies than there are disadvantages, but there are still a few low points. Premiums generally increase with age and they may become unaffordable later in life. Since there is no cash-value with term life insurance, you don’t get the tax deferred growth of cash value that you would with a Whole Life Policy. Once the period ends, unless you renew your policy, the coverage completely stops and has no further value.
Visit Willis Tower in Chicago, IL
By Marlee Elkins
Although Chicago, Illinois, was not nicknamed the Windy City because of its’ winds, tourists can get a firsthand experience of how Willis Tower, formerly known as Sears Tower, sways on a windy day. Standing at 103-stories and 1,353 feet high, the Willis Tower Skydeck allows you to observe the beautiful city of Chicago. As if the windows on the 103rd floor didn't offer a clear enough view, Willis Tower now offers three glass ledges that extend from the building for your entertainment. These ledges are made completely of glass so that the city is visible in any direction that you look – including down!Not only does Willis Tower offer a view that is unmatched by any other building, but it also offers an interactive and educational journey through the history of the Windy City.
Dear Doctor Danger
By Marlee Elkins
(Disclaimer: This is an advice column both written and edited by me for the Illinois Institute of Art's newspaper.
Dear Doctor Danger,
What is the best advice you can give for my situation? I have a friend and we’ve been talking for a year now. He says he really likes me, yet I only see him as a friend. I don’t want to lead him on, yet I feel maybe I should try to have a relationship with him, but I’m not sure. Can you help?
Unless you have feelings for him, do not try to have a relationship. If you see him as a friend then you should only be his friend. Dating him when you’re not into him is much worse than just telling him, especially if he is someone that actually matters to you. It will hurt him much more if you allow him to get attached to you romantically and then break it to him that you don’t really feel that way. However, if you do feel like you may have feelings for the guy, go ahead and explore. Don’t lead him on, though, tell him you’re not ready to be in an exclusive relationship, but that you’re willing to try and see where it goes. Just be honest, to him and yourself, even if it hurts him at first, he’ll appreciate the fact that you didn’t feed him a bunch of lovey dovey BS.
Dear Doctor Danger,
When it comes to relationships and having friends of the opposite sex, when does jealousy just become controlling? How can you prevent that?
Here’s one of the beauties of being FRIENDS with someone and not in a relationship with them, you don’t feel those jealousy feelings like with a boyfriend or girlfriend. Unless your friend completely ditches you for a new friend, you really have no reason to feel jealous. If you do feel jealous, perhaps you should look deeper into the reason for the jealousy. Maybe you want to be more than just friends with that person? Jealousy is a natural human emotion but if you’re worried that you’re overstepping the boundaries of friendship, ask yourself why you are feeling that way. Unless you’re just a crazy and unreasonable human being, there’s probably a good reason for your feelings. Address your feelings and sort them out so you can more forward in your own life and in your friendship with this person.
Dear Doctor Danger,
I have a crush on my best friends’ ex-girlfriend and I am pretty sure she likes me back. Am I overstepping a boundary of best friends by asking this girl out?
Most likely, YES. 90% of the time, dating your best friend’s ex girlfriend will cause a huge damper in your friendship, it can even ruin it. However, the only way to find out for sure is to ask your friend. Sometimes (rarely), your friend may truly be over his ex. Maybe he dumped her or maybe it was mutual. The worst possible thing that you could do is try to go about this behind his back. “Oh, I’d never do that,” is probably what you’re thinking right now but sometimes the opposite sex and potential love (or lust) can make you do crazy things. If you value your friendship, which hopefully you do if he is your best friend, talk to him and listen to what he has to say. You have to remember to respect his feelings, though. You cannot get mad if he tells you that he’d be completely uncomfortable, because he most likely will! If so, don’t pursue anything with his ex, at least for now. When your friend is over his ex and has a new love interest, his ex girlfriend will become just another girl. In that case, he probably won’t care if you’re with his ex. Just remember to be a good friend, don’t do something to him that you’d be upset about if the roles were reversed.
Dear Doctor Danger,
My girlfriend of two years recently broke up with me, and I am having a hard time getting back into the dating scene. Now, I like a girl in my psychology class but because I have been out of the single game for a while, I am having a hard time initiating a conversation. What’s my next move?
First of all, don’t rush yourself. Two years is a long time to be with someone, especially at this age. It’s good to try to date and move on, just make sure that this new girl isn’t going to serve as a rebound. Nobody wants to be with someone who’s really thinking of someone else. You should just try to approach her, introduce yourself; she’s probably shy just like you. Plus, it’s always nice to have a friend in class, so introducing yourself can break the ice for further conversation. If you’re super shy to talk to her in person initially, ask her for her screen name, her e-mail, her cell phone, or even her Facebook or Myspace. Although some people may consider that to be cowardly (though they may use other words) sometimes it is just a good way to break the ice and introduce yourself. Then when you’re in class, it is much easier to talk. Fabulous technology of our generation lets you avoid that awkward introduction that everybody dreads. Who cares if it is over the phone or computer, in a couple of years we will be getting open heart surgery online too. On a serious note, though, if you don’t know how to go about talking to her in class, phones or the Internet give you the opportunity to talk, maybe get to know each other a little bit better. Then, once you know a little bit about her, you will easily be able to start conversation with her.
Roswell: Buried Secrets
By Marlee Elkins
(Disclaimer: This was used as a final essay for a college senior advanced writing course)
With a flashing light, a loud bang, a shattered disk, and small bodies scattered around, history was made. July 2007 marked the 60th anniversary of one of the most captivating American mysteries: Roswell, New Mexico’s reported flying saucer crash. Civilians saw an object soaring abnormally across the sky, they heard and saw a crash, and some even saw the scene of the landing. Those witnesses, many being credible sources, were sure that what they saw was not from Earth. Yet, there was still a load of skepticism surrounding the circumstances. The Air Force changed their explanation for the eerie events multiple times. However, more evidence than not points to the government covering up a recovery of extraterrestrials.
Following a massive storm, on July 5, 1947, farmer William “Mac” Brazel went with his wife and children to the J.B. Foster Ranch to check on his sheep. It was there that they discovered the remains of some sort of mysterious crash. Unbeknownst to the Brazel family, there had been a number of flying saucer sightings just weeks before their discovery. Now, they stood before a pile of extraterrestrial debris that covered an area of over ¾ of a mile long. There was also a shallow gouge in the ground that was several hundred feet long (Jeffrey). Their findings were unlike anything that they had ever seen or even thought of before then. Brazel’s son, William Brazel Jr., described the absurdity of the wreckage: One of the pieces looked like something on the order of tinfoil, except that it wouldn’t tear… You could wrinkle it and lay it back down and it immediately resumed its shape… quite pliable, but you couldn’t crease it like ordinary metal. Almost like plastic, but definitely not metallic. Dad once said that the army had told him it was not anything made by use(qtd. in Schmidt.Major Jesse Marcel, intelligence officer at Roswell Army Air Field, was contacted. Marcel and counterintelligence corps officer, Sheridan Cavitt, picked up Brazel and headed over to Foster Ranch. Marcel could hardly believe his eyes. Excitedly, the men heaped the pieces in the trunk of Marcel’s Buick, and headed to Roswell. On the way, they stopped by Marcel’s house so he could show off the recovered treasures.
Marcel’s son, Jesse Jr., now 60 years old and a surgeon, an Army reserve helicopter pilot, a Vietnam Vet, and a qualified Aircraft Accident Investigator, recalled being awoken by his father to see the mysterious debris: tinfoil, plastic, “beams or struts” that seemed metallic, with some strange symbols that looked like hieroglyphics (“Cover Up or Sci-Fi”). The metal was as thin as a pack of cigarettes but it was stronger than steel. It couldn’t be broken, burnt, or bent, even with the aid of a 16 pound sledge hammer!
Marcel reported what he believed to be the leftovers of a flying saucer. Quickly, the military closed off the area for a number of days and collected the pieces. First, the debris was taken to Roswell Army Air Field. Eventually, it was delivered via B-29 and C-54 aircraft to Dayton, Ohio’s Wright Field. Roswell Army Air Field was the home of the 509th Bomb Group, which was the only atomic bomb group in the world. Jesse Marcel was the intelligence officer for them. Everybody in that group was handpicked for their credibility and elite qualifications.
Following the examination of the debris, Colonel William Blanchard, Commander of the Bomb Group, ordered press officer, Walter Haut, to issue a press release. Haut, now 75 years old, remembered Blanchard saying, “We have in our possession a flying saucer. This thing crashed north of Roswell, and we’ve shipped it all to General Ramey, 8th Air Force at Forth Worth” (qtd. in Jaroff). On July 8, 1947, Haut’s press release was released with a bang, “RAAF CAPTURES FLYING SAUCER ON RANCH IN ROSWELL REGION.” It was transmitted over wire services, quickly enough to make headlines in over 3- U.S. afternoon newspapers that same day (Jeffrey). Roswell would never be the same.
However, within hours, the story changed. Commanding General of the 8th Air Force, Roger Ramey, reported that the object was actually just a weather balloon. He said that the other authorities made a foolish mistake. The next day, there was a new headline, “GENERAL RAMEY EMPTIES ROSWELL SAUCER” (Jaroff). They said that the sticks and tinfoil were used as reflectors on the balloon so that it could be tracked by radar. Which press release was true? What were they trying to hide?
Individuals that knew and worked with William Blanchard said that he was a “solid, no-nonsense, businesslike individual, and not someone who would make a fool of himself and the Air Force by ordering a press release about something as out of the ordinary and dramatic as the event at Roswell without being certain he was correct” (Jeffrey). They believed that if Blanchard had issued a press release reporting a crashed disk, there was a crash disk. However, as far as the Government was concerned, the Roswell case was closed. As quickly as the hype had entered Roswell, it was dismissed. After that, Roswell’s UFO incident remained untouched for 30 years.
In 1978, the unfinished case was reopened when Ufologist and former itinerant nuclear physicist, Stanton T. Friedman, interviewed Major Jesse Marcel. Marcel shared what he remembered:It was not a weather balloon, nor was it an airplane or a missile. It would not burn… that stuff weighs nothing, it's so thin, it isn't any thicker than the tinfoil in a pack of cigarettes. So, I tried to bend the stuff. It wouldn't bend. We even tried making a dent in it with a sixteen-pound sledge hammer. And there was still no dent in it (“Cover-Up or Sci-Fi?”).
Although it was 30 years later, Marcel did not alter his story. By stepping forward and disregarding false reports, Marcel subjected himself to criticism; ultimately, his name was battered. However, it couldn’t have been more absurd to disregard the words of a man with the qualifications and experience that he had. The intelligence officer of the only atomic-bomb group in the entire world would surely have been able to identify a weather balloon with a reflector. After all, two weather balloons per day were launched from the air base where he worked. He certainly wouldn’t have mistaken a weather balloon for something “out of this earth” (Jeffrey).
Glenn Dennis was one of the most notable witnesses of Roswell, and interviewees of Friedman’s; he came forward in 1989. During the havoc in 1947, Dennis was a 22 year old mortician. His place of employment provided mortuary services for Roswell Army Air Field. A few days after the big landing but before Dennis had heard anything, Roswell’s AAF mortuary officer called him up; he was inquiring about hermetically sealed caskets and preserving bodies that had been exposed to the elements.
Dennis recalled taking a GI into the base infirmary, which was in the same building as the hospital and the mortuary. He drove around to the back and parked in the emergency area. To his surprise, the doors were open in the military ambulance and they had some of the wreckage from the crash stored inside. His life was forever changed when he saw what was there:
I don't know what it was, but I knew there was something going on, and that's when I first got an inclination that something was happening. What was so curious about it, was that in two of those ambulances was a deal that looked like [the bottom] half of a canoe. It didn't look like aluminum. You know what stainless steel looks like when you put heat on it? How it'll turn kinda purplish, with kind of a blue hue to it? [Dennis later said that he saw a row of unrecognizable symbols several inches high on the metal devices.] I just glanced in and kept going (Schmidt).
There was quite a bit of activity inside the infirmary, high-ranking officers all around. Everybody was visibly shaken. Before he knew it, he was approached by a nurse, who asked how he had gotten inside. However, they barely got to speak before he was physically threatened, forcibly escorted outside, and followed all the way back to the funeral home.
Two or three hours later he got a phone call from them saying, “You open your mouth and you’ll be so far back in the jug they’ll have to shoot pinto beans [into you] with a bean shooter” (qtd. in Schmidt). However, Glenn Dennis was not truly astonished until the following day when he met with the nurse to find out what was going on. She shared with him frightening, yet fascinating, information; she said, "Let me show you the difference between our anatomy and theirs. Really, what they looked like was ancient Chinese: small, fragile, no hair” (“UFO Sightings: Roswell”).
History Channel’s “History of Roswell” documented the nurse’s report to Dennis: Their noses did not protrude like human noses; their eyes were deep and their ears were just little indentations. The anatomy of the arms was different, the upper arm being much longer than the lower; they didn’t have thumbs, but four different “tentacles.” She went on to explain that they didn’t have fingernails but little “suction cups” on their fingertips. Her description closely matches how our culture portrays aliens. The idea had to come from somewhere, right?
There was another credible witness that was determined to release the facts: General Thomas DuBose. He was a colonel and General Ramey’s chief of staff at Eighth Air Force Headquarters during the Roswell incident. In 1992, DuBose testified under oath that he knew firsthand that the weather balloon story was a cover-up. How did he know? It was he himself that had taken the phone call from General Clements McMullen at Andrews Army Air Field in Washington, D.C., ordering the cover-up! “The instructions were to concoct a ‘cover story’ to ‘get the press off our backs’” (Jeffrey).
Still, the Air Force shot back again throughout the 1990’s with more excuses. They continued to deny any kind of cover-up and they released yet two more stories about the occurrences. First, they said the crash was not just any kind of weather balloon but one that was top secret at the time, a Project Mogul balloon. Project Mogul was involved in monitoring Soviet nuclear tests and they said that since it was such top secret material, they allowed people to believe the alien story. Following that reasoning they said that reports of flying saucers were probably caused by test vehicles from the Viking Space Probe (“New Testimony, Surprise Witness”). Above all else, they wanted everybody to bury the alien cover-up accusations. They gave no further argument but once again considered Roswell to be a closed case.
KLAS-TV’s “Cover-Up or Sci-Fi” pointed out the numerous holes in the Air Force’s stories. First of all, no weather balloon, even Project Mogul balloons, would cover anywhere near ¾ of a mile. Common sense could tell you that. Not to mention, Marcel and his team certainly would have been able to identify something like that. As for their second excuse, the Viking Space Probes were not built until the 1970’s!
In 2002, Walter Haut, who was ordered to issue the press releases in 1947, responded to all of the stories of denial. He revealed it all in a sworn affidavit that was not allowed to be released until after his death. Following his death in 2006, his words were released. His statement admits that he handled strange debris, he personally saw the crashed saucer and alien bodies, and it was definitely not crash dummies like the Air Force once tried to imply (“New Testimony, Surprise Witness”).
Extraterrestrial life exists now and it existed in Roswell, New Mexico in 1947. Experts believed that the government issued cover-ups because they were far too frightened by the unknown. They thought that panic would hit America and civilization as we know it would be demolished. “Prominent Leaders” discussed NASA studies that questioned if revealing the truth about Roswell would weaken allegiance to governments, if alien technology would render oil reserves worthless, or if entire industries would turn into mothballs. Were these the issues that were holding officials back? Have they been simply trying to get people to gradually learn to accept aliens?
Whether or not Roswell was the first occurrence of extraterrestrials visiting Earth, it was not the last. Instead of denying their existence, scientists, scholars, and the government should embrace it; they should share the information, study it, and learn from it. Why has the Government been covering this up for as long as 60 years? Perhaps it is simply that they are just not yet ready to deal with extraterrestrial life, one of the greatest phenomena of all times. Mankind questions whether or not we are alone in the universe, in the world, if other life forms have walked on this very Earth; eventually, when Government authorities are ready, we will learn that there are other living beings, looking up into the sky, and wondering the same thing.
Works Cited
Handy, Bruce. “Roswell or Bust.” TIME. 23 Jun. 1997. 5 Nov. 2007
. Bruce Handy discusses how different cities are famous for different things like plants or birthplaces of celebrities; however, Roswell is famous for something more spectacular, the UFO incident in 1947.
“History of Roswell.” The History Channel. 2006. A&E Television Networks. 1 Nov. 2007
. Path: Topics; Mysteries of History; UFOs; Roswell. History Channel explains the series of events surrounding Roswell, New Mexico’s UFO controversy.
Jaroff, Leon. “Did Aliens Really Land?” TIME. 23 Jun. 1997. 5 Nov. 2007
. Time Magazine goes through the Roswell UFO incident that took place in 1947. This article examines all of the details of the event, giving information about specific times, dates, and people involved.
Jeffrey, Kent. “Roswell: The Whole Story – Time for the Truth About Roswell.” UFO
Evidence. 5 Nov. 2007 . The point of this article is to summarize details of the event, letting people know the truth about what happened in Roswell, New Mexico.
“Prominent Leaders Acknowledge Existence of UFOs.” Channel 8 I-Team. Eyewitness News.
KLAS-TV, Las Vegas. 7 Jul. 2007. This is a news broadcast that shows pictures of influential people from The United States (i.e. presidents, scientists, etc.) that believed in extraterrestrials. In the Background, they played footage of the people saying various quotes regarding other planets and extraterrestrial life.
“Roswell UFO Incident: Cover-Up or Sci-Fi?” Channel 8 I-Team. Roswell UFO Incident.
Eyewitness News. KLAS-TV, Las Vegas. 7 Jul. 2007. This is a news broadcast that discusses the occurrences that happened in Roswell, New Mexico in 1947. Not only is there great narration but witnesses like Jesse Marcel’s son speak about what they saw.
“Roswell UFO Incident: New Testimony, Surprise Witness.” Channel 8 I-Team. Roswell UFO
Incident. Eyewitness News. KLAS-TV, Las Vegas. 7 Jul. 2007. During this news broadcast, they discuss what happened in Roswell. Then, they talk about a surprise witness that came forward in 2002 to reveal the truth about what he witnessed.
Schmidt, Christopher. “Roswell Witness Testimonies.” UFO Evidence. 5 Nov. 2007
. This website has a list of a bunch of witnesses, some civilians, some cops, some officials. Each person explains what they witnessed and what they saw. They go into great detail about the visuals of the pieces found.
UFOs: 50 Years of Denial. Dir. James Fox. Narr. Peter Coyote. Discovery Channel, 1999.
This is a movie that explains the entire Roswell story and why it seems as though the government has been covering up extraterrestrial findings. It gets information from professionals from NASA and other people who have the authority to say what is and what is not.
“UFO Sightings: Roswell.” History’s Mysteries. The History Channel. 2005. The narrator
and the people in this video are just discussing the general details about Roswell. Eyewitnesses discuss what they saw and the persistency of the government to keep it quiet.