Word of the Week

1. Dadaab Refugee Camp

2. There was a story on cnn.com about a group trying to stop recruitment of refugees from this camp--I had no idea where it was or what was going on, so I decided to make this my "Word of the Week" so I could find out!

3. " A global human rights group is urging Kenya to stop Somali military recruiters from enlisting displaced men and boys in Kenya's sprawling Dadaab refugee camps to fight in their war against Islamic militants."

4. This camp is located in Kenya and is the biggest refugee camp in the world. Many people have fled here after continuous fighting in Somali.

5. The refugee camp at Dadaab is the largest in the world--many people are passionate to help the people in this area, as many are not getting the bare essentials to survive on.

IMHO-Gay Marriage

“Love: a profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person” (dcitonary.com). Love has many definitions; it can be felt for family members, friends, and is sometimes felt for significant others. However, over 40% of marriages in America end up in divorce—obviously, love and marriage are not easily maintained in marriages in today’s society (divorcerate.org), and its apparent that marriage is no longer sacred in our culture. However, marriages between two people of the same sex are banned, and they seem to be illegal for no other reasons besides religious ones. How is our society so concerned about the legality of others’ relationships when they cannot even hold their own together?

Same sex marriages are looked down upon mostly because of interpretations of certain passages in the Bible. “When God created a partner for Adam He created Eve - not another Adam” (christiananswers.net). However the Bible also states that we should not eat any shellfish; however, how many people take this literally and follow it? It is frustrating that only certain passages are construed so that others (like homosexuals) are affected. What about all the passages that state that we should “Love thy neighbor as thyself”? If we take these lessons on love and fairness, then gay marriage should not be an issue.

Conservatives seem to think that if gays are allowed to marry, than the traditional family would be compromised. However, the traditional family is slowly dismembering on its own—it’s becoming more and more common to have stay-at-home dads while the mother is the breadwinner, and some married couples are choosing to not have a family at all. Family dynamics are unique to each household, and every family are responsible for making it work for them. Gay couples are no different; their image looks different, but the love they have for their own children is the love any parent has for their child. Thus, why is the traditional family argument such a big one? Many straight couples cannot hold their own marriage together, let alone keep their children in a traditional family setting—who is to say that gay couples wouldn’t do the same?

Arguments against same sex marriage are outdated, antiquated, and, frankly put, are ridiculous. If two people truly love each other, no matter their sex, look, race, etc., than who are we as a society to tell them they cannot make their love legal and be married? It is neither right nor just for anyone else to tell you who you can or cannot be with.

Blog #7

ZZ Packer's Drinking Coffee Elsewhere is filled with a myriad of story-telling techniques. One of the main techniques used throughout the book is her descriptions--these descriptions are vivid and force the reader to visualize what is going on. A good example of this is when the author describes Mrs. Margolin, the leader of the Brownie group. She is described as looking like a mother duck with lively belts. These belts are recounted as looking "like the kind that weightlifters wear, except hers would be cheap metallic gold or rabbit fur or covered with gigantic fake sunflowers..." (2). Other descriptions of characters use intense and vibrant wording in order to fully convey their true selves.

Another technique that is used throughout the book is the use of metaphors and similes. Snot, the main character, once tells the reader that "If most of the girls in the troop could be any type of metal, they'd be bunched-up wads of tinfoil, maybe, or rusty iron nails you had to get tetanus shots for" (18). Even in the beginning of the book, the reader can determine that the Brownies are not necessarily the most moral little girls--Snot points this out by comparing the girls to scrap metal.

The quotes Packer uses also enhance story-telling. In one part of the book, the troop is singing a Girl Scout song about friends to show the irony in the situation; the girls are supposed to be good friends, but none of them seem to care too much about one another.

Word of the Week

1. exoticism

2. ZZ Packer's Drinking Coffee Elsewhere

3. "'Serious Chihuahua,' Octavia added, and though neither Arnetta nor Octavia could spell 'Chihuahua', had never seen a Chihuahua, trisyllabic words had gained a sort of exoticism within our fourth-grade set at Woodrow Wilson Elementary."

4. noun-

tendency to adopt what is exotic; exotic quality or character; anything exotic, as a foreign word or idiom

5. A lot of the animals at the zoo are exoticisms; they come from various areas around the globe, and have many interesting attributes that animals found in this area do not have.

AB656: The Proposition that will Change College

Alberto Torrico was on campus Monday for a meet-and-greet as well as to talk about Prop AB656, a proposition that would tax oil companies for drilling in California and give the money directly back to higher education. As the author of the proposition, he was able to take many students’ and faculty’s questions as well as talk about the bill.

The bill, which Torrico presented to the California legislature, would help the current budget crisis on California colleges, as was explained in the meet-and-greet. “It’s not fair that the state will spend more on prisons than the UC, CSU, and community college combined,” Torrico discussed to the congregation on Monday. “AB 656 creates new funding sources, and charges oil companies for oil. …100% goes to higher education.” He further went on to state that the oil companies would be charged 9.96% per barrel in order to gain more money for higher education.

Many student leaders support passing the bill, as their funding has been cut both in their education and in events. Tori Hofius, San Jose State’s Associated Student’s Director of Business Affairs supports the bill, stating, “This is a logical step in California’s economy. As one of the states that are suffering the most, it only makes sense to tax our biggest export and put that money to good use.” Hofius has personally seen budget cuts negatively affect her job as Director of Business Affairs in a number of ways. “After we realized the extent of the budget cuts, I created a board to review the services A.S. offers. This board will look at and decide whether or not certain events and services are cost effective and fiscally successful.”

AB 656 will take two-thirds of the legislative vote to pass; thus, Torrico is looking to students to help voice their concern. “This needs to be led by young people—a grassroots movement to change the way the state is run.” He passed out letters in which students could sign and send to the California Legislature to further show their support.

Torrico is visiting eight different CSU campuses this week to promote and gain support for the bill.

Reflection on Prop AB656

As I have never done an interview or even a real news story since my freshman year in high school, it was weird to get back into the swing of things. Asking people to answer my questions was difficult, and I wish we would have gotten more time to prepare; I felt like I went into the event without any warning. I had no idea what the prop even was about! If I had known before hand, I would have done research and come equipped with knowledgeable questions to ask important people.

Even with all of this thrown at me, I feel like my news story turned out well. I was able to talk to several different people, but I only used quotes from two or three sources. The information presented in my story was well-researched and thoughtful, despite feeling like I was thrown into this!

NPR Analysis

I chose to listen to NPR's All Things Considered radio show. The topic of the show was Health Care and how the lack of health insurance affects people who are out of a job. The show was called "Health Insurance Help for Laid Off Workers May End."

The reporter, Sarah Vandi, interviewed a woman who was directly affected by the lack of health insurance--her name was Nicole Pelton. Pelton discussed how federal subsidies for the COBRA program have helped her with health insurance for her family, and if the subsidies stop she doesn't know what she will do in regards to her insurance.

Vandi made the interview seem more like a conversation. One could tell she came prepared with proper and in-depth questions; Vandi was able to get Pelton to discuss the situation and show her true feelings about the situation. Pelton talked about her family frequently--she seemed to relate all of her problems to how her family has been affected. It was apparent that Vandi found she could get Pelton to talk by asking her questions pertaining to her children and husband--thus, Vandi was able to get amazing quotes to create her story. I assume it was easy to get Pelton to talk about something that was relevant and close to her heart; therefore, her family's situation made her open up.

It seems like once the interviewer finds a niche for the person being interviewed, the interviewee opens up and offers plenty of quality information to be used in a story. It is also interesting to see how a conversational interview can be used to one's advantage; making the interviewee comfortable works and helps the interview to go smoothly. Once the interviewee's trust is earned, more difficult questions can be asked.

Word of the Week

1. Canasta

2. Catcher in the Rye (I know, it's taking me forever to read through this again!)

3. "'It'll stop. Listen. Ya wanna play a little Canasta or don'tcha?'

'Canasta, for Chrissake. Do you even know what time it is, by any chance?'"

4. noun. a variety of rummy in which the main object is to meld sets of seven or more cards.

5. Canasta is a game we used to play when we got bored--the more players we had, the more fun the game became!

Guess who?

His dark Afro hair would wave rhythmically, held away from his face by a brightly colored bandana. His fingers would sprint up and down the guitar, playing each note passionately while he would wail sensually into his microphone, thus creating some of the best music of the 1960’s. He was a hippy at heart; his fringed jackets, bell-bottomed jeans, eccentric jewelry, and the guitar that was permanently at his side made him look like the true free spirit he was.

Word of the Week

1. falsetto

2. I'm re-reading The Catcher in the Rye, and it was in one of the very first chapters of the book.

3. "He started laughing in this very high falsetto voice."

4. falsetto; n. an unnaturally or artificially high-pitched voice or register, esp. in a man

5. His falsetto voice made him seem like a fraud.