Juveniles Don't Deserve Life Sentences

      Its crazy to think that a juvenile as young as 13 or 14 years old could receive a life sentence without parole for committing certain crimes. However, "nationwide 79 young adolescents have been sentenced to die in prison" (NYTimes.org). How could the government allow for these kids to be placed in prison for life, even if they did commit a crime. It has been proven that adolescent brains are not as developed as adult brains, meaning that they do not fully understand the consequences of their actions. Therefor, how can we as a county put them away for something that they truly do not understand. It is ruining a life to lock them up forever, and these laws put in place by the government are way too harsh. It is not the law about a life sentence, as that applies to all "adults", but it is the law that lowers the age that a child can be tried as an "adult." By lowering the age, it is opening up the harsh ability to put the youth of America behind bars for life.

      Gail Garinger seems just as outraged as myself. Because of this, her pathos appeal is the strongest in this article. But it is a strange pathos appeal, as it isn't her own emotions that get the reader, but a different technique. "These children were told that they could never change and that no one cared what became of them" (NYTimes.org). Obviously, this idea that they were shut off from the world and that no one cared was meant to target the emotions of the reader. However, there are other appeals in this article as well. Being that it is about government laws, a logos appeal adds another dimension. "Young people are biologically different from adults. Brain imaging studies reveal that the regions of the adolescent brain responsible for controlling thoughts, actions and emotions are not fully developed" (NYTimes.org). This scientific citation shows that adolescents are different than adult, and it does well to prove Garinger's credibility and show that it is more than just an angry rant.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/15/opinion/juveniles-dont-deserve-life-sentences.html?_r=1&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

Give the Ref a Gavel

Many of you may have heard about "bounties" that take place in the NFL. If you haven't, a bounty is the targeting of a specific player in order to injure them. Sometimes they are known as hitlists, but either way they are still a very talked-about subject. Eldon Ham, the author of this article, discusses his experience with bounties, as he was a lawyer for the Chicago Bears' quarterback Jim McMahon in 1986. McMahon was "slammed to the turf" by a defensive player from the Packers, and injured his soldier. Ham states how he wanted to sue, but in a game of such brutality it was almost impossible. And that is the main complaint. We see football as manly, and because of this we seemingly accept when awful things like this become normal. And Ham argues that legislation must step up in order to make it easier to process issues like this in courts. Obviously, he sees this as a major issue, and yet almost every team still does it. In fact, the New Orleans Saints, praised for being a good-hearted and fun-natured team, have just been discovered to have put out "bounties" on players from the 2009 to 2011 season. Obviously this proves that bounties are more common than many may think.

Ham seems very passionate about this topic. This pathos appeal probably comes from his personal experience being a lawyer for a bountied player. He definitely feels as if these acts are near criminal, as he uses words such as "ruthless" and  "tragically" to show his disappointment in the league and the players involved. He also shows his feelings about legislation and his own opinions when he says that "this criminal conspiracy should be punished beyond the N.F.L fines and suspensions that loom." Clearly, Ham feels that the government isn't doing enough to make processing these attacks easy, and being a lawyer he uses this to his advantage to try to push his issue. In the end, it seems as if this is a persuasive article, as instead of complaining, he actually poses a solution, which in turn gives him more credibility as a writer instead of a complainer.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/08/opinion/prosecute-excess-violence-in-sports.html?_r=1&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

Jeremy Lin's Team

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     Tebowmania has come to an end (sorry Hank Foster but it has and since i've noticed that you post about Tebow a lot this might sadden you to hear) and it is time for Linsanity. However its not just Linsane, but its Lincredible, and it's time for the world to know about the "Linja," the "Fortune Rookie," or any other Linsane nicknames that the world has given Jeremy Lin of the New York Knicks. However, this popularity is actually very well deserved. Playing at Harvard after being recruited by no major collegiate sports programs, Lin became a free agent in the NBA and had been cut by two previous teams before ending up on the Knicks bench. And when Carmelo Anthony got injured, Lin got his chance to shine. His first start he scored 25 points, and he never looked back from there. He went on to beat out hall-of-famers like Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson for  combined points in first five starts, where he scored cumulatively over 100 points. The Knicks now have an eight game winning streak, and the city of New York is beginning to believe. However, as the author of this article puts it, they are winning in a different way. The Knicks usually rely on their two superstars, Carmelo Anthony and Amar'e Stoudemire. But with Lin on the court, they have begun to play unselfish basketball, and it seems to be working. All of this winning is truly a Linderella story.

     While it is unclear if this author lives in New York, he certainly seems like a Knicks fan, or at least a Jeremy Lin fan. It is quite clear throughout his article that he is excited over the Knicks recent Linning ways, and this excitement is able to transfer to the reader. His admiration for Lin transfers into certain conclusions by the author. "He is its emotional center and playmaker..." (NYTimes.com). It is obvious  to see that the author thinks that Lin is taking over, and his pathos appeal through his excited tone is able to persuade readers into seeing just how much of a big deal this "Linsanity" really is.


http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/17/opinion/jeremy-lins-team.html?_r=1&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

The Internet Makes Magic Disappear

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Everyone can appreciate a good magic trick. And while most people know that all tricks are just illusions (and if you didn't know sorry to burst your bubble right there) they still like to ponder how someone can perform these somewhat "magical" feats. But one Santiago Wills feels like the internet has spoiled the magicians experience. He remembers when he was a kid and he got interested in magic from his father, and how moving on in his life he found an impressive magic shop and spent most of his days there learning the ways of the magician. However, he is seemingly disappointed with how the internet has ruined this experience. The internet allows young children who see a trick or who want to learn some illusions to go online and within seconds they are able to learn the "tools of the trade."Youtube and Google offer all the magic a kid could want, and Santiago is very saddened by this as it is leading to magic shops like the one that he visited when he was a kid to disappear.

Santiago takes a very personal approach to this article. He starts off by citing a story from his past, illustrating to the reader how he came to be so interested in magic. This gives the reader a foundation for the rest of his article, as he uses mostly a pathos approach. By stating his own experiences and love for magic, the audience is able to pick up on how emotional he is about this topic. It is obvious that he is saddened by the outbreak of internet trick tutorials, and his emotions are meant to appeal to the reader by reminding them of something that they love being destroyed.

http://www.salon.com/2012/02/11/the_internet_makes_magic_disappear/

Super Bowl 2012: The Best and Worst Commercials You Probably Wont Agree With

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While the game itself is obviously the main character in every Super Bowl, there always have to be some supporting roles in order to make it a good show. Every year, those supporting roles are the insanely funny Super Bowl commercials that companies create to display during the biggest sporting event of the year. Companies save up their best ads and pay millions of dollars just to get air time during the Super Bowl, and it was worth it. While this article by Dan Levy was about his favorite and least favorite articles, I made a list of my own favorite commercials that were displayed throughout the game. My award for the number one ad has to go to the M&M commercial, where the brown M&M is talking and some guys think that she is naked, but she actually is just a brown coated M&M. But then the red M&M comes in and yells something like "oh so it's that kind of party huh?" and rips off his red coating thinking that the brown one is actually naked. My second favorite ad goes to the Sketchers dog add, where it has a fat bulldog in a dog race against greyhounds, but the bulldog is wearing sketchers. He starts off slow but then blasts ahead of all the competitors, and even has time to moonwalk across the finish line in his red and white sketchers sneakers. Finally, the third place finish goes to the commercial for the voice. While I hate the show itself (they try to make it so dramatic when its basically just American Idol), the commercial that they made was pretty funny. It started with all four judges in a hotel and they hear this amazing voice coming from a room upstairs, and they fight each other to get to the room first. But when they get there, they find out that its just Betty White coming out of the shower. However it goes further, with Betty White saying something along the lines of "finally im being recognized for something other than my body." Overall, these three just stole the show.

While I disagreed with Levy on some of his choices, his analysis and reasons were actually very good. He goes in depth as to why certain ads were successful and why others weren't. He describes how some went for a cute and funny approach, while others, such as the Fiat commercial, drew on the idea that "se sells" (Salon.com). He also includes each commercial, making it easy for his readers to decide for themselves which commercials they like and which ones they don't like. By doing so, he is able to both state his opinions and analysis', but also give his readers the option to interpret them for themselves. It turned out to be a very efficient strategy.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1054697-super-bowl-the-best-and-worst-commercials-you-probably-wont-agree-with

The Amazing Portable Road Signs of Rural America

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Yes, by looking at the title this is a blog about road signs. But hey, it's my blog and I wanted to do one about road signs, so lay off. From the sound of it Gail Anderson, the author of this article, has the same sort of weird fascination with road signs that I do. It isn't really the informational signs that I like, in fact those are really boring. I don't care that there is 5% off snow cones at a store 28 miles from my house. However, what I do like are all the possibilities that come with a road sign, and especially the people that use them as their own personal joke-board. You can put anything on that sign (as long as it doesn't violate any major rules or laws). How funny would it be to be driving down the road and see this

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Really, its just all about the possibilities.

Because of her odd fascination with rural road signs, Anderson relies mostly on her own pathos as the strong point of this article. She uses her own emotions and the kinds of crazy thoughts that she has about road signs to draw people into the article. Also, she likes to include pictures in order for the readers to further understand her fascination over these signs. By including these pictures, she is able to show some of the funny reasons why she likes road signs, and it might even go as far to develop that same odd obsession with the road signs that they see.

Super Bowl: A Tale of Two Catches

How could he drop that pass? It was so perfect and it was going to be an automatic touchdown and probably win the game. This dropped ball that I am referring to is obviously the dropped pass committed by Wes Welker in the late fourth quarter of this years Super Bowl. And then, of course, to top it all off, Mario Manningham comes back three plays later with an insane grab and both feet down before being pushed out of bounds. Obviously for any Patriots fan this amazing catch may bring back memories of the David Tyree velcro-helmet catch that allowed the Giants to defeat the Patriots in Super Bowl 42. This time, we all thought that it would be different. "There's no way that Brady is going to allow the Giants to do it to him agains." Of course this was the talk of every New Englander prior to the game. And then what happened? They did it again.

For this article, Gary Kamiya relied heavily on a strong pathos appeal. He knows that almost everyone that watched the Super Bowl has some sort of emotion about the outcome. For Giants fans, he knows that describing the amazing catch by Manningham is going to bring up very strong positive emotions, while at the same time discussing the incompletion to Welker is going to target those sour emotions felt by almost every Patriot fan. However, the technique that Kamiya uses to make this article seem "intense" also helped appealed to the reader. Certain passages such as, "Facing this explosive offense was a flawed Patriots’ defense, its Achilles heel its secondary" and "Plus, there was the Patriot mystique — their three Super Bowl victories and their brilliant coach Bill Belichick" (Salon.com) gave this article the feel as if it were a Super Bowl itself.

Memoir and Article Ideas

For my second memoir, I have decided (or in fact been given) the book entitled "Another Bull Shit Night in Suck City." Since I just got it yesterday, I haven't started it yet, but from the back and the front cover, it seems like it is going to be a pretty good story.

For my second article, I really have no idea what I am going to write about. Swimming is ending and I don't really feel passionate enough about the season I feel to write a "season-ending article." However, if anything arises in the school itself, I would be willing to write an article about that.

The True Cost of High School Dropouts

While we as America are often praised for our high educational standard and advancements in technology, it has been the case in recent years that our high school and college graduation have been lower than many other countries. As Henry Levin and Cecilia Rouse stated in their article, back in 1970 our rates of high school and college graduation were the top in the world. Now, we sit as a dismal number 21 in high school completion and 15 in college completion compared to other countries. What is causing so many of our students to drop-out? No one really knows, but there are measures being taken in order to help prevent students from dropping out, as in the long run drop-outs do end up costing the government a lot of money. High school drop-outs are more likely to draw on public money for healthcare and welfare, as well as the fact that they have less of a likelihood to become involved in the criminal justice system, leading to less money having to be spent. In the end, Levin and Rouse conclude that drop-outs end up costing the country and themselves a whole lot.

The technique most prominently used by Levin and Rouse in this article is their logos. That, combined with a strong pathos appeal as well, is what truly makes this article convincing. The authors use certain statistics and politicians quotes to show what happens when students drop-out. These statistics are meant to astonish people, and with such large numbers it targets that astonishment to persuade people to support many of the political movements to keep students in school. In this way, it also appeals to the ethical side of people because most people do believe that everyone should stay in school. With all of these appeals, it seems as if Levins and Rouses article would be able to persuade even the most doubtful of readers.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/26/opinion/the-true-cost-of-high-school-dropouts.html?_r=1&ref=contributors

A Maestro Sets the Tone

While I have never gone to listen to a live symphony, I can imagine the immense pressure and the feelings that are felt by everyone in the room. The musicians playing, the maestro conducting, and the audience sitting in the seats taking in every note. However, I cannot imagine the awkward feeling that filled the room  on January 10, 2012 when an hour into Mahler's Ninth Symphony a audience members cell phone went off. And this was not one of those silent ringing cell phones or even one that was on vibrate. Instead it let out a jazzy tone that could be heard by everyone in the crowd. It was, as some call it, the "elephant in the room," as people waited on to see how Alan Gilbert, the conductor, would react to the interruption. And in fact, many were surprised by how he reacted. He calmly halted the performance, turned to the man who's cell phone went off, and turned and simply said "are you going to turn that off? Will you do that?" With this, many people say it was a defining moment for Gilbert, as it showed his true character in a tense situation.

David Masello, the author of this article, finds it very hard to contain himself throughout this article. He was so impressed by Gilberts reaction that he couldn't control himself really. He mostly employs a pathos appeal, as he is very emotional on the subject (in a good way). By doing so, it successfully translates the impression that was left on the audience. In fact, seeing that Masello was at the performance, he has a first hand report on the incident, and it seems as if his "inside knowledge" really does well to detail that awkward feeling and the manner in which Gilbert dealt with it.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/19/opinion/the-phone-that-interrupted-the-philharmonic.html?_r=1&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

Was Lena Del Rey Really That Bad?

Recently, I watched SNL with host Harry Potter and a peculiar musical guest named Lena Del Rey, or something like that. The skits were going pretty well, not the best but not the worst, and then it came time for this unknown internet singer to perform her only two songs that have reached some level of familiarity on the internet. And well she has been praised for her musical ballads, her performance led her into a straight nose-dive from popularity. Watching her stand up there on the stage, I felt uncomfortable for her. At first I thought it was part of her "repertoire" or it was just the kind of performer that she is, but that was painful. She even tried to liven it up at some points (maybe the worst attempts that I have ever seen) and all that I could think the entire performance was "why are they torturing this girl just give her the hook and give my eyes and ears a break."

While Mary Elizabeth Williams tried to remain unbiassed, it is easy to see that she too felt uncomfortable watching the internet star. She is able to show the crowds feelings on the performance by quoting certain tweets, which describe how people really were kind of freaked out by her act. She takes a strong pathos appeal, especially targeting the emotion of "awkardness", if there even is one.

Rights in the Workplace

While the "Occupy" movements have been dying down, that does not mean that the idea is going as well. However, the right for employees of a business to join together against their employers has slightly hit a speed bump, especially with the recent signings by millions of employees in order to keep their jobs. The conditions of keeping their jobs meant that any disputes that they had with their employers must be taken to arbitration rather than court. This makes it much harder for employees to join together in order to fight for what they think is right, and that doesn't seem fair. If a boss is mistreating many of his employees, they should have the right to join together and fight against him, not single-handedly file complaints and take him to court one by one; if this happens, odds are the boss wins. However, the National Labor Relations Board has shown that all arbitrary agreements do not have the power to trump a persons or groups right to join together to make group claims. Finally, a victory for the little people.

With this article being such a serious and questioning issue, the most fit way to present it was with a strong logos and ethos appeal. The authors logos appeared in many places, by stating certain court precedents and the backgrounds of many labor board members, which help to illustrate the seriousness of the matter while also giving hints as to how the debate might end. Also, the ethos used by the author is meant to question the readers, almost asking them if the agree with such conditions based on their own work experiences and the treatment that they receive. In the end, it was a very debated article and I feel as if it should work out in the employees favor in the long run.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/15/opinion/sunday/rights-in-the-workplace.html?ref=editorials

The Color of Water (memoir blog)

As of now, I am not quite fully into my memoir yet. I have started the book, and discovered the minor details, such as the fact that it takes place in Queens, New York. I have also already learned the premis of the story; it is about a young black child growing up in a mostly black neighborhood, but he has a white mother. All 11 of his siblings are black, or as his mother describes it as "mixed", and as of now his only wonder is why and how his mother is different form everyone else that he sees. That might turn out to be search throughout the memoir.

How Will You Use Your Leap Second?

While most people, if not everyone, are aware of the leap year that occurs every four years, far less people are aware of the "leap second" that will occur this year. This coming June 30, an extra second will be added in the night in order to keep Earth time and astrological time in balance. Also, it just so happens that this year is a leap year, meaning that we get an extra day and one second in the year altogether to do whatever we want. And this question is what this article is asking: What will you do with your extra second? While you can't do much in a second and it may not seem important, it is actually very much needed to maintain order with the universe. This second is calculated by the International Earth Rotation and Reference System Services, and they say that it is imperative to remain in balance with the universe.

The author of this article takes a very strong logos appeal in this article, as it is a very scientific topic. Not many people know about how astrological time and "Earth time" are similar and different, but the author attempts to use statistics and quote such scientific groups as the ERRSS in order to help his readers. By adding this logos appeal, it makes people aware of how important this extra second truly is to maintaining order in the universe, seemingly an important thing to do.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/18/opinion/how-will-you-use-your-leap-second.html?_r=1&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

Internet Access Is Not A Human Right

With everyone on their iPhones and Blackberry's, it seems as if internet access is something that we can no longer live without. But the question that this article asks is whether or not internet access is a human right, such as freedom of speech or the right to an attorney. Especially with the uprisings in foreign countries such as Egypt and Libya in the past year, internet access has been a major contributor in the overall success of those movements. People feel that they deserve the right to internet access, as it allows them to come together as a people and truly voice their opinions about what is right and what is not right. But in some cases, the government has denied people the right to internet access, as they feel that it is a privilege and not a right at all. In my opinion, while internet access is very handy and seemingly everywhere in the U.S., it is still not a right at all. In fact, I agree with Vinton Cerf, who wrote this article, that the internet access is not a right, but it is an enabler of rights.

Cerf's technique in this article is to focus on his readers emotions mainly, but he does so by using logic. He quotes facts and statistics that make it feel as if people need internet access, which makes them angry when they do not receive it freely. Also, by playing on the examples of Libya and Egypt, he brings up memories of turmoil and destruction, as well as determination, which play on both good and bad emotions of the reader, truly engulfing them in his topic.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/05/opinion/internet-access-is-not-a-human-right.html?ref=contributors

Paying a Price, Long After the Crime

This article starts out by telling the story of a single father with two sons that got rejected from a janitorial position at a high school because of a drug conviction from over 20 years ago. Obviously, a drug conviction, while small compared to homocide or even robbery, is still a serious offense; but does that mean that it must define a man for the rest of his life? That is exactly the case for this offender. However, with the help of the Chicago Tribune, the man did eventually get the job. But that is not the point. Is it just to let a person be defined by a simple mistake that they made some twenty or thirty years earlier, especially if that same person has been clean and a model citizen for that amount of time. In my book, you serve the time and everything is clean. Obviously there are some exceptions to this, but I definitely feel like this man was cheated in the first place and I feel it unjust for his conviction to haunt him for the rest of his life.

Alfred Blumstein and Kiminori Nakamura use many different appeals in this article, but the most effective one is their use of logos. This is because this logistic appeal draws on the readers and emotions and ethics as well. By integrating statistics about how many people are convicted of minor offenses and how those offenses negatively affect their lives in the future, the authors are playing on the readers emotions, as it truly is a saddening fact. Also, they question their readers' ethics, as they describe their ideas on how bad a minor drug offense truly is, and causes people to question their own ethics as to how bad they think a drug offense really is.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/10/opinion/paying-a-price-long-after-the-crime.html?_r=1&ref=contributors

Texting While Walking

The name of this article says it all. We have come so far as a nation in technology that we now have to worry about the dangers that we face texting while walking. The author of this article states his scenario of walking down a busy street in New York City, and obviously trying to text while navigating these sidewalks would be seemingly impossible. Everyone knows of the dangers of texting while driving, but apparently we now have to worry about any sort of transportation altogether and learn how to master the art of texting without bumping into people and yes, even getting injured. Obviously this fact seems proposterous, but ever since 2006 the number of pedestrians visiting the emergency room because they were injured while texting or using a cell phone has doubled every year (NYTimes.com). How obsessed are we as a country that we now have to worry about getting injured while we text?

Casey Neistat, the author of this article, seems as amazed as I am at the fact. In fact, his ethos appeal is what truly brings out his feelings on the subject. He uses a sort of questioning kind of approach, where he poses his ethical appeal to his readers in the form of questions, as he wonders how and why we are so obsessed with texting that we now must worry about getting injured while walking. He also states statistics in order to show that this texting addiction is a real problem, showing how many injuries actually occur from walking and texting every year.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/09/opinion/texting-while-walking.html?_r=1&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

Should the World of Toys be Gender-Free

Everyone can remember their childhood days, and as we remember boys and girls played very differently. From my experiences, boys liked to build things and use action figures to crush and destroy their structures. On the other hand, girls pretty much stuck to dolls and role-playing with dozens of different voices for each figure. If this is true, than why is Hamley's, a popular London toy store, taking away their blue and pink toy figurines for ones that are red and white, what they say will be more "gender-neutral" as they pose it. Meanwhile, Lego has been making changes as well, however their's are on the other side of the spectrum. Lego has realized these differences in the ways that the different genders play, and have acted in a way that will support their idea that lego's are "for boys and for girls" (NYTimes.com). This argument poses a question however, and it is one that seemingly must be answered. Should genders be removed from the toy industry altogether. In my opinion, this argument is proposterous; when I was younger I wanted Bionicles not Barbies, and I certainly didn't want a plain red and white figurine that is so plain that a two year old could have designed it.

Peggy Orenstein seems to address all of the necessary points in her article. While there is seemingly no bias by Orenstein in this article, she does use many statistics that seem to support the idea of Lego's leaders over those of Hamley. In fact, when talking of Lego's point of how sex's play differently, Orenstein includes a logos appeal, by stating things such as, "As any developmental psychologist will tell you," which backs up her points with proof from masters on the subject. She also includes statistics and quotes to support the different sides of the argument, and by doing so is truly able to illustrate both sides of the argument accurately.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/30/opinion/does-stripping-gender-from-toys-really-make-sense.html?_r=1&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

Bless Me, Ultima final blog

With the conclusion of the story, I find myself with mixed feelings about how it ended. I am saddened by the death of Ultima, but the story that I have experienced has left me very satisfied with the book as a whole. I had always known that Tenorio would cause more trouble after Narciso's death, and my previous predictions are proof as to my thoughts on Ultima's death. I had thought that she might have been saved by Antonio, but that has been proved wrong. At first, I was almost angered at Ultima's death, as I was with Tony on his feelings of how evil can conceivably reign over good. It somewhat took me by surprise. Tony was running all the way home, and he had escaped Tenorio and made such a long journey, not only on his way home but as a man throughout the entire book, and I honestly thought that he would make it home. I had always known that Ultima's owl played a bigger role than we were meant to think, and apparently Tenorio had known that as well. In a way, I am at a loss for words, because I am still in shock at how Ultima could possibly die, and yet I have accepted it similarly to how Tony accepted it and learned from it. Overall, I find myself very pleased with this story as a whole, and am glad that I got to experience this journey.