Blog 3

I looked at Colleen's final slide show on the Growth of Education. I didn't actually know a lot about this topic and I thought it was a very well done blog. It took on an interesting perspective of how the government has failed its children in terms of providing a common education. I never realized that this could be a problem. I suppose that's because I'm surrounded by privileged districts, where students are able to get a decent education. I thought that Bush's no child left behind act would have helped this problem, but it seems that this problem stems from our history; the seperation of blacks and whites. After the blacks and whites were integrated, it still didn't do much because the blacks were significantly less wealthy than the whites. This created schools that were also very poor and did not provide a good education. As always, we need to look back at where our roots are to fix the problem. The government needs to find a way to level out education for those districts that have less funding. I think this issue is very relevant to today still because even in Chicago there are schools that are very poor. I thought her thoughts on what it means to be an American after learning about education was very thoughtful. The fact that different classes think of themselves differently so they define what it means to be an American differently based on what class they are in. I also really liked how she compared the issue of not getting an equal education-to how being an American means getting an equal oppotunity. AND how America does not give this in terms of all its promises. In general, I thought this slide show was well done.

Blog Response

I looked at the Thoughts of Kolis blog. I didn't know much about the connection of violence and rap and how it affects the person that listens. I like rap, so this was interesting for me to read about. Initially, rap was was credited for reducing violence. I have never heard of this before. It demonstrates how many good things can evolve into a negative influence. A video on the blog talked about how rap glorifies guns as a part of masculinity. This is clearly a problem. In wsome ways, rap is the reason why some many young people are dying because of school shootings. Rap has changed what it means to be an American-by changing the culture of America. It has created a culture that tolerates violence and profanity at much higher levels than ever before. It presents woman as "pieces of eye candy" which is sexist. Rap today seems to be a bigger problem than I ever thought. The slideshow also talked about rappers that rap about today's isssues and how they are against problems in society. This presents rappers in a positive light. In the end of his presentation, he brings up a good point of how rap is not the only thing out there that shows violence to young people. Movies and video games all exemplify war and guns as being a good thing and supposedly give ideas to young people. This seems to be his main focus, but it makes a lot of sense because people today seem very concerned about how the music culture is changing what it means to be an American.

Blog Post

Gays and Lesbians is the topic I decided to look at. Although it's not the topic that I wrote about, I still know a lot about it and I think it's interesting. The struggles that gays and lesbians go through is very sad. I did learn a few things from the blog I visited- Favorites of Today. It seemed like the "Don't ask Don't Tell" policy is a huge controversy today, and it was focused a lot in the slide presentation. I actually wasn't aware of this policy, and I think it's very unfair. This was initially thought of as progress for the GLBT community. I don't think this is progress at all. Gays and lesbians are still largely discriminated against, and this policy still allows that to happen-which is not progress. Soldiers that aren't straight carry the burden of keeping their sexuality a secret. The opposing view of this is that the army will get "out of control." This could not possibly be true because gays and lesbians live everywhere, and the earth is not out of control.
Another issue I thought was interesting was how this person defined what it means to be an American, after researching the topic of gays and lesbians. This blog highlighted the fact that America is a hypocrisy. The fact that the constitution preaches equal rights, but does not give equal rights to gays and lesbians. That is definitely a point that needs to be addressed. It's good that there is a good tolerance at our school. There is a club called SAGA that is dedicated to making things more comfortable for GLBT and straight students, it's like a community of safety. I don't know if any of those students are planning on going into the military, but hopefully that won't happen because they will be very discriminated against. Also, I'm sure this club is great for students that are gays or lesbians because in the Favorite's of Today blog final I learned some facts about students in school that were shocking. Reportedly 97% of students hear homophobic comments made by their peers, and 53% hear those comments from their teacher as well. I can't imagine how hard it would be to hear these comments made by your peers. It's probably difficult to live in a society that discriminates against gays and lesbians to begin with, but when your teacher starts discriminating against you- I think that's just outrageous. That's probably why 28% of GLBT students drop out of school, the harassment is just too much. I hope as a nation we can fix this problem.

Sources

Bailey, Ronald. "U.S. Air Quality Has Improved Since the 1970s." Current Controversies: Pollution. Ed. Debra A. Miller. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2008. Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Gale. Deerfield High School. 9 Feb. 2010
Bass, Rick. "2001 Greatest American Short Stories." Days of Heaven. 19-31. New York, New York. 2001
Eng, Monica. "Chicago Schools Pile up Lunch Waste." Chicago Tribune. Chicago Tribune. 7 Feb. 2010. 8 Feb 2010. <http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chicago/chi-met-school-lunch-waste-20100207,0,5604002.story>

"environment." American History. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 28 Jan. 2010.

"Rachel Carson." American History. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 29 Jan. 2010.

"pollution." American History. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 31 Jan. 2010.

"global warming." American History. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 1 Feb. 2010.

Harding, Ann. "Drop in U.S. air pollution linked to longer lifespans."CNN. 21 January 2009. 7 February 2010.

"Jimmy Carter: State of the Union message (1981)." American History. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 1 Feb. 2010.

Leslie Kaufman. 12 Dec. 2009. http://nytimes.com/asarco/relatedtopics-123=r_01=csc
Schaeffer, Eric. "Market-Based Air Pollution Laws Will Increase Air Pollution." Opposing Viewpoints: Pollution. Ed. Louise I. Gerdes. San Diego: Green

Analytic

The environment has had its fair share of problems. Pollution in the past has created many problems, and while none of the polluting we did in the early era of the industrial revolution was on purpose, the polluting we did later in the 20th century is what is creating permanent damage to the earth. Because people were not aware of what they were doing to the environment, their actions in a sense, were justified. The problem is it became largely undeniable of what people were doing to the earth once Rachel Carson projected the truth out into the public with her book Silent Spring. She is the one that told people of the real harmful effects of DDT, and the fact that it hurts more wildlife than what it was designed to kill. This is one of the main events that sparked the environmental movement, and then the conservation movement as people realized that, “for the first time…every human is now subjected to contact with dangerous chemicals from [birth to death]..” Around this period in time is when people also came to the realization that natural resources are not going to be around forever, and that they now had a responsibility to protect those resources and use them wisely. Responsibility. This is what was thrust on Americans as they realized their obligations to the environment and that their actions affected everything. Rachel Carson is definitely a person that made the issue of the environment more important and prevalent for the whole nation to hear. What she wrote is still an issue for Americans today as the struggle to reduce pollution in order eliminate green house gases is on. Global warming is the side effect of pollution from the population. The government, like in Jimmy Carter’s State of the Union Address, tried to instill laws and programs to stifle pollution. There is much debate about whether these did anything, as well as the ethics behind creating these programs. For example, it was rumored that Jimmy Carter only created the Alaska conservation act to boost his popularity. Regardless, as much as it did help, it did not fix everything as it still allowed a lot of natural resources to be pumped out continuously. This continued a present problem. In his speech he realized that earth is an important place and it supports the lives of humans. "...we shall protect the habitat and the existence of our own species on this earth." Although it took a while, people began to notice what was going on around them and this helped back up what Rachel Carson had to say. Around the time of his acts, more groups were producing environmental actions that helped the earth. These programs need to constantly be put out and created to fix dilemmas that are produced because of our lifestyles. The environment and the problem of pollution still play an important and prominent role in American society. The environment is where we live and function, it is very important that it is taken care of as a connotation of the negative effects on the human race that occur because of pollution.

Analytic

Current Events--Humans are trying to clean up and fix the earth. Whether these programs have been working or not is up for debate. Efforts are great, especially because of the current climate crisis. As in Prosser High School, the students stated, “We decided that this [garbage] was disgusting and unacceptable." These students had an excess of garbage in their school and they realized that if they put a little effort into it, they could reduce their impact on the earth. In general, people believe they have lowered levels of trash and waste because of what happens to the air and land when it is composted and doesn’t disintegrate. The converse is actually true; the output of waste has increased so the waste output is actually relatively close to the waste output 20 years ago, not better. According to the pollution debate, the rate to which garbage is created needs to decrease significantly. As for the pollution debate, it is argued whether or not pollution has improved or not in the past few years. The reasons for the largely different opinions on this matter occur because of data. There are always studies that support all different types and kinds of viewpoints, and it is hard to decipher which are accurate and unbiased. How data is interpreted, the optimism of the person doing so, and the range of samples taken (small or vast ) leads to the thought of whether or not pollution has increased or not. Some view the subject of pollution as getting better because, with all of these programs that are put out-how could the earth’s climate not be improved? As well as a study indicating that pollution has decreased and that the, "areas studied, between 1980-2000 have appeared to have added nearly five-ten more months to people's lives as pollution decreases.” The article indicates within it that not all areas are studied, and there is a possibility that other areas could have decreased lives. Other perspectives are created because of the limited knowledge people have about the subject area and the opinions are created off little knowledge people have of the subject-or even if people are given a one sided view of whether pollution is getting better or not- is why different opinions form. Still, the two current events that were produced indicate pollution getting worse. Asarco polluted the earth with irreplaceable damage, and public schools like the students from Prosser High School struggle to find a way to help the environment in terms of decreasing waste output. The fact that only these two articles were presented, demonstrates how different opinions form, because if another article were presented refuting the idea of pollution increase, then a reader could create an informed opinion about pollution. New themes seem to include group efforts. Schools, students, and communities banned together reduce their environmental impact. This occurred in a situation close to home, Chicago. Group and community efforts also reached Los Angles and in New York. The idea of bonding and helping to save the earth is catching on.

Literature Analytic

Days of Heaven By Rick Bass is a piece of nature fiction. There are three dominant characters that are in the midst of deciding what to do with the valley- a piece of land that Quentin owns. Quentin is the big guy in charge and has the most say over what happens because of his power as owner and wealth from being a stockbroker. He has a nasty temper and causes a lot of destruction in his surroundings and the environment outside the house on the valley. He also has children that follow his violent actions and every time they visit the valley, havoc ensues. Quentin’s business partner is named Zim. Zim’s role is nothing, except that of an accomplice, and a man who wants to make money no matter the consequences. He has no regard for others or nature, which is evident in his willingness to destroy the valley with his idea to bulldoze it. The plan is to bulldoze the entire valley and create a lake out of it to make money off of rich people. A third party that has been taking note of the bulldozing plans has the thought, “…how narrow the boundary is between invisibility and collusion. If you don’t stop it, if you don’t single-handedly step up and change things, then aren’t you just as guilty?” This means that if a person watches the environment being hurt or destroyed in a way that is legally or morally wrong, they are just as guilty. By simply watching this go by without doing something about it, puts some of the blame of the problem on the third person. This matters because this happens often in the world and that’s why the environment is so messed up. The good thing is that this person overhearing the plans did try to do something about it. This third character that is unnamed is the narrator. The narrator is the caretaker of the ranch and stays there for a couple years; he is extremely fond of nature and aims to keep the valley the way it is meant to be-tranquil and not disrupted. The narrator manages to find a way to save the valley by giving Quentin and Zim an idea that guaranteed them money, and one which saves the valley from complete destruction. Basically this entails Zim and Quentin renting out the house that’s in the valley for a lot of money during the winter and summer months. This idea of his is actually sacrificial because the narrator has come to think of the ranch as his own and resents whenever anyone. Essentially his idea to save the valley destroys his chances of staying in his home and the environment he loves. The story concludes with the thought that this idea is going to take place and the valley will be safe for a while, free of threats.
There is a lot of symbolism in this short story. The characters represent the different roles and views of people in the real world. Quentin is the citizen who doesn’t know what is right and is easily convinced of what is wrong and right by Zims. He is destructive-to the environment, and often destroys without knowing so. He raises ignorant children who imitate his destructive behavior in and toward the environment. Zim represents the business man and businesses that only want to make quick money, with no regard for the destruction they create while doing so. He has no regard for what it does for the environment and is only concerned about his current propositions. He is unable to change his ideals. The last type of person that is on our earth are those who can identify with the narrator. This person is one who sees the destruction of others and tries to do something about it. They also care about the environment. Those are the type of people that coexist in the same environment. Unfortunately, there are many Zims and Quentins out there; uneducated, ignorant, and willing to do anything for money. Especially in the current economy there are many people willing to sacrifice their morals for money and don’t acknowledge what it does to the environment. Ideally, this book suggests that it would be best to live like the narrator, because it would best for the environment to keep things simple.