In the News #5 (Pit Bulls Response)

I find that pit bulls just like any other dog can attack a person. Just because they may have a higher tendency toward aggression that doesn't mean we should make them illegal. If a person or family is planning on getting a pit bull for their pet then their are aware of the risk factors just like any other pet. I don't agree with the fact that dogs are being put to sleep for killing because they are unintentionally reacting on their instincts. If a dog is out of control and is continually attacking with aggression than something needs to be done. Some humans have just as much aggression toward dogs and do not nearly receive the same punishment as a dog would for the same aggression. I think that if dogs are being put to sleep for killing humans than humans should be put to sleep for dogs. If not that, than, a dog should not be put to sleep since humans are not. A fair ground needs to be found between dogs vs. humans. Personally, nothing in my mind, ideas, or attitude toward pit bulls has changed due to these recent public attacks.

In the News #5 (Pit Bull Attacks)

For quite some time now we have all seen vicious pit bull attacks on the news. Pit bulls are know for their unexpected aggression, especially toward young children. Even families that may have owned their pit bull for many years and have a safe feeling of protection from their pet have unfortunately been attacked by their own dog. Most pit bull owners do not view the dogs aggression to be a fault or problem, they just need to be handled and cared for correctly. Once a dog has killed a human or in some cases so much as threatened a humans life, it is usually to be put to sleep. Some do not agree that an animal that does not have the same intelligence or thought of right from wrong as a human does should be put to sleep for such unfortunate acts. Most times the animal is just reacting based on their instincts. Although, if a human were to provide an equal amount of aggression toward a dog, even to the length of possibly even killing the animal, the human would most likely just receive a small slap on their wrist and may be given some community service hours. Even though a human has a much more developed thought process of right from wrong than a dog, if a human were to intentionally kill a dog out of aggression they would not receive the same punishment of death that a dog would for killing a human. At this point pit bulls are even thought of to be banned in some states. What are your views on the rights of dogs vs. humans? Do you think humans and dogs should receive equal punishments for equal aggression? Do you think that pit bulls are considered dangerous and should be banned? Do these recent attacks change your ideas toward pit bulls? Is there anything you think that could be done to possibly prevent future attacks?

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=5797134

Chapter 8 - "The Inheritance of Tools"

Questions for Active Reading
pg 233
1. Personally, I have a hard time visualizing what he was doing. He did not explain his process in steps. Although he did explain what he did to the room, it did not make any sense to me because I would have needed a clear explanation of exactly what he had to do. When he mentioned the time he found out his father died, he explained it very well. I could play the entire conversation in my head.
2. He uses his own childhood to put the story in chronological order and than brings it back to present day where now, his son is in his place. He described old tools his family has used over many years to help express 'time'.
3. Sanders describes a dawn stone as the earliest humans equivalency to a hammer. It represents to him that the design of the hammer has changed over time but not the idea of the hammer.

In the News #4 (Myspace & Facebook Addictions)

This presentation today interested me. I deleted my myspace about 2 years ago before facebook was even known to most. I have never been on facebook and I never will see myself on myspace again. People dont realize how much myspace can honestly ruin your lives. I found out my boyfriend of 3 years was cheating on me because of myspace- that was the reason I cancelled my account and told myself that i never would let myself become involved with a website of that such again, and i havent. Everyone tells me about this new facebook thing and it has not interested me one bit to check it out. Once someone has a bad experience on facebook or myspace they will then think about how its affecting there lives. Unfortunatly, I feel like a loser when i say that I have lost some friends since i delted my myspace. Some of my friends were great people but I only talked to them on myspace through comments or blogs. I have no way to keep in touch with old friends now without myspace. No one e-mails each other anymore, and if they do- than its on myspace. I dont have even half of my old friends that i kept in touch with through myspaces phone numbers so I have no way besides these unfortunate websites to keep in touch with them. Im over the myspace/facebook deal because I personally have seen the consequences.

Chapter 4- "The 6 Myths of Creativity"

Questions For Active Reading
pg 108
1. The 6 myths of creativity basically are almost guidelines some companies may have followed to keep creativity flowing in their business. It is thought that these 6 myths are what keep some from expressing there own creativity.
2. She did a study on 238 people, by having each of them keep a journal. They did not know the main focus of their journal was their creativity so she could see the possible reason or factors why their paper may have not been creative that day.
3. I find that anyone can be the audience for this paper. Anyone who finds this subject to be of interest may like reading this. Although, the paper could be focused on people who are creative so that they dont let the 6 myths take over there creativeness.

I Believe #2

At twelve its difficult to realize that your best friend is slowly beginning to drown their own life. The most terrifying thing in my mind at that point was beginning middle school and being to shy to talk to the cute boy sitting in back of me in math class. I will never forget the day that my own best friend told me that she took up an offer a thirty year old man gave her for a ride home one night. What is there to say? Do I yell at her as if I was her mother? Do I tell her parents and loose my best friend? From that day on I was faced with my own belief that my own goodwill to never give up on my friend will spare her life.
I became extremely concerned. Even though I was only in sixth grade and I didn’t have much freedom myself, I was going to take all the precautions I could to make sure she stayed out of trouble. Everyday for a year I asked my parents if she could sleep over or go on trips with us so that I was with her and I knew what she was doing at every moment. At such a young age I was scared to tell my parents because I believed I could help her on my own and the situation could get worse if I involved her lunatic mother. Obviously as much as my own parents loved her, they didn’t want her to permanently live in our house, so occasionally they would send her home not knowing what she was getting thrown into. Until one day, when her mother called my house which was very unusual, she informed my mom that I was never allowed to speak to her daughter again because I was the bad influence who introduced her child to all of her problems. Her mother did everything she could to keep me away from any communication with her daughter, and it worked for quite a few years.
Three years later I got another unannounced phone call from her mother. At this point we were both about 16 years old, in the 9Th grade, and had not talked for about three years. I was given a ridiculous apologetic plead that she had no idea I was the one trying to help her daughter all along. She had been put in the hospital for an overdose and her mother thought that I may have been able to encourage her to let us all help her. Even though I was so incredibly infuriated at that lady for accusing me of those things, I accepted her apologies just for my friend.
The first time I saw her out of the hospital face-to-face on a normal day I was completely speechless. She was not the same girl that I had called my best friend, her hair was crunchy as if it had not been washed in weeks as well as burnt out in different exotic colors, her face was as pale as a ghost, her eyes looked as if she had to use all her strength to keep them open, she was hunched over wearing big baggy dirty clothes on her skinny body that looked as if she just entirely gave up on cleaning, and she mumbled out her words barely even making a sentence. Immediately I spent every day with her making sure she was clean. Thank god she was happy to see me helping her and not disgusted. Our first step we made together was to go to an AIDS clinic so she could get tested, which turned out negative. We took a childcare class together so that we could go after what we originally said we wanted to be when we grew up, which were special needs teachers.
Now I am delighted to say that she is totally 100% clean from drugs, prostitution, AIDS, and everything else that had challenged her life in the past. She is healthy and is currently attending Broward College majoring in Special Education. She even works at a preschool at NOVA Southeastern University as a special needs teachers aide. This is an experience that proved to me that ones goodwill can spare another.

In the News #3 ( Technology Disadvantages)

The video that we watched in class was eye-opening to me, int he way that it showed texting as being so dangerous. There has been many different technology advances that have given us health problems or even just put us in dangerous situations. I dont know if there was a study ever done on Ipods or MP3 players and there potential health factors but I can only imagine that there could possibly be hearing problems over a period of time. Sticking those tiny headphones in your ears blaring loud music for a few hours straight, to me does not seem healthy. First off, when i get home from any concert my ears are usually ringing and I cant hear one thing, wouldnt you think that placing that loud music DIRECTLY into your ear would be creating some internal hearing problems at least? Some people become so zoned out to the world around them while using their ipod that they could put themself in a dangerous situation. Also, I find the earphones that most are using these days as extremely dirty. Everyone shares their greesy germ infested little ear phones with each other....its gross. Personally, I have a small "ocd" situation where i refuse to put headphones on for that reason.

I Believe Ones Goodwill Can Spare Another

At twelve its difficult to realize that your best friend is slowly beginning to drown their own life. The most terrifying thing in my mind at that point was beginning middle school and being to shy to talk to the cute boy sitting in back of me in math class. I will never forget the day that my own best friend told me that she took up an offer a thirty year old man gave her for some drugs and a ride home one night. What is there to say? Do I yell at her as if I was her mother? Do I tell her parents and loose my best friend? From that day on I was faced with my own belief that my own goodwill to never give up on my friend will spare her life.
I became extremely concerned. Even though I was only in sixth grade and I didn’t have much freedom myself, I was going to take all the precautions I could to make sure she stayed out of trouble. Everyday for a year I asked my parents if she could sleep over or go on trips with us so that I was with her and I knew what she was doing at every moment. At such a young age I was scared to tell my parents because I believed I could help her on my own and the situation could get worse if I involved her lunatic mother. Obviously as much as my own parents loved her, they didn’t want her to permanently live in our house, so occasionally they would send her home not knowing what she was getting thrown into. Until one day, when her mother called my house which was very unusual. After the phone call my mom informed me that I was never to speak to my own best friend again because I was the bad influence who introduced her to all of her problems. Her mother did everything she could to keep me away from any communication with her daughter, and it worked for quite a few years.
Three years later I got another unannounced phone call from her mother. At this point we were both about 16 years old, in the 9Th grade, and hadn’t talked for about three years. Then I got a ridiculous apologetic plead that she had no idea I was the one helping her daughter all along. She had been put in the hospital for an overdose and they wanted my help. Even though I was so incredibly infuriated at that lady for accusing me of those things I accepted her apologies just for my friend and began helping her again.
The first time I saw her out of the hospital face-to-face on a normal day I was completely speechless. She was not the same girl that I had called my best friend, her hair was crunchy as if it had not been washed in weeks as well as burnt out in different exotic colors, her face was as pale as a ghost, her eyes looked as if she had to use all her strength to keep them open, she was hunched over wearing big baggy dirty clothes on her skinny body that looked as if she just entirely gave up on cleaning, and she mumbled out her words barely even making a sentence. Immediately I spent every day with her making sure she was clean. Thank god she was happy to see me helping her and not disgusted. I took her to get tested for AIDS which turned out negative. I encouraged her to take a childcare class with me so that we could go after what we originally said we wanted to be when we grew up, which were special needs teachers.
Now I am delighted to say that she is totally 100% clean from drugs, prostitution, AIDS, and everything else that challenged her life in the past. She is healthy and is currently attending Broward College majoring in Special Education. She even works at a preschool at NOVA Southeastern University as a special needs teachers aide. I can’t even imagine where she would be right now if it weren’t for me. I am so proud of myself for believing in my own goodwill to spare another’s life.

In The News #2 (Family Influence on Politics)

I have not been nor ever really have followed politics for the election or anything of that sort. But, sometimes I do get stuck watching some campaign speeches on tv with my mom. She usually is the one to give me the update on what is going on, who's in the lead, what views they have, etc. Of course, since my mom is my source of information for politics than everything she tells me convinces me to agree with her views. If I were to be keeping up with the politics on my own and really knew what was going on then I probably wouldn't really need my mom to encourage me to vote for whomever. As of right now, my family completely 100% influence their views on politics towards me.

Chapter 3- Smiley and Sharp

Questions for Active Reading
pg 73
1. Smiley was given the opportunity to care for her own horse. Along with caring for her own horse their was plenty of chores she had to do. This experience taught her chores don't always have to be dreadful and if she was not taking care of her horse than who else would. She described the horse experience in the middle of her writing. I think the spot in the writing that she chose to talk about the horse made sense because her writing went in sequence. She began somewhat in the beginning talking about her younger child years, then into her teen years with her horse, and finally into her present years with her husband and son.
2. To support Smiley's argument that chores and such should not be forced on children from an early age was supported when she mentioned her husband. Although Smiley admitted her husband is a much harder worker than her she also supported her argument with the fact that he was only doing the chore to get it don't and over with and that he hated it. I think that her intended audience probably was to other mothers or parents so that she can explain how she was raised and how it affected her for the good and the bad and how she will be raising her own son.
3. I think her use of rhetorical questions is slightly manipulative in her writing. The questions she asks are always looking for a specific answer that supports her argument.

Chapter 1 - Powell and Goldberg

Questions For Active Reading
pg13
1. I think one of the purposes Powell was writing was to put others in his position and to see from his point of view how his past situations effected him. For example: 1. He used direct conversation text to make the reader feel as if they were in the situation. 2. He emphasized his confusion and feelings.
2. Powells probably wanted this writing to eventually be read by white people so that they can see how this impacted him.
3. As a writer I found that Powell like to reenact situations to put the reader in the scene of the story and really give the reader a feeling of what it was like.
pg19
1. Goldbergs purpose in her writing is to help others understand they could possibly improve in their writing. For example: she was directly giving advise to the reader at some points.
2. Her audience in mind probably was her students or other students and writers. Anyone who is not interested in writing at or does not have to write for school probably would not get anything out of Goldbergs writing.
3. Her subject was her past student and their writing abilities. She enjoyed how they were able to express it and would like to share it with others.

Journal Entry #2 ( This I Believe)

Two of the essays that interested me was " The Power of Presence" and "Living Life to the Fullest". These essays are compelling to me because they show how other people decide to live their lives and what they live for. These writers used their own life experiences to explain their reasonings for their beliefs. I feel that the tone of all the essays are serious and spiritual. In ways all of these essays are similar because they all show the meaning for peoples lives, what they believe in and how they strive for it.If i were to also write a "This I Believe" essay mine probably would be on somewhat of the same topic as -living life to its fullest.

http://www.thisibelieve.org/dsp_ShowEssay.php?uid=8415&topessays=3
http://www.thisibelieve.org/dsp_ShowEssay.php?uid=6647&topessays=3

Journal Entry # 1 (Meta-analysis)

I work at a preschool, and at the beginning of the school year all of the teachers in the school need to write their own "welcoming" to the parents. I felt that I had to make a good impression because I had not yet met any of the kids or the parents and this short paragraph is the only impression I had on them at the time. I wrote my letter extremely enthused about the new school year. My audience was the parents and children whom I wanted to make feel comfortable about being in my class. In my letter I included what I think of the school, my experience, education, and what I do in my spare time. I feel that my writing accomplished exactly what I was aiming towards. Responding to a rhetorical question helped me examine my own writing and I realized my strengths and weaknesses.

In The News #1 (Olympics)

First off, I find that if I was entering the Olympics for my ability to swim or whatever the case may be than I would not want technology advancements to help me out. Its ridiculous that these athletes cant just compete to the best of their abilities. It shouldnt matter whether or not you have the technology accessible to you or not. A few weeks ago I was watching the swimming Olympics and discussing this same topic with someone else because it annoyed us that they 'edit' the competition so much to help the athletes out. Personally, I dont even consider these "world records" seriously.