Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Letter to the Editor
Tories plan to break up gangs with new job placement scheme
By Daniel MartinLast updated at 1:21 AM on 29th July 2008
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The Tories today unveil plans to get young people out of gangs and into work.
They believe the gulf between rich and poor has become as wide as it was in Victorian times.
They want to give areas affected by gang crime priority funding towards job placements for 18- to 21-year-olds.
High priority: Tories are targeting the gang culture
Under their proposals, money will also be directed towards charities and community groups working with those young people most at risk.
Conservative work and pensions spokesman Chris Grayling said: 'The only way to start to heal the huge social gulf that now exists in our cities is to demonstrate to those who are caught up in the gang culture that there is a better alternative - that they can build successful lives if they get the right opportunity to train and to work.
'The trouble is that right now things seem to be getting worse, not better. We desperately need that to change.'
Other measures in the Tory plans include help for children who are falling behind before they even start school; tough action against lawlessness in crimehit areas; and better support for community groups operating in deprived areas.
In a speech to business leaders in Liverpool, Mr Grayling said: 'There are areas of every major city in this country where you will find communities with no children being brought up in poverty, sitting side by side with ones where virtually every child is being brought up in poverty - according to the Government's own figures. What we are seeing is the growth of a subculture in our society that is utterly divided from, and alienated from, mainstream British life.
'These communities might as well be on a different planet from the rest of us.
'This is one of Britain's great social challenges, and the fact that it remains untouched a decade after Gordon Brown and Tony Blair won power will remain one of the great failures of this government.'
Research for the Conservative party shows that in one ward in Leicester, more than 80 per cent of households are classed as 'income deprived' - while elsewhere the city the figure is only 4 per cent.
However, the centre of Manchester shows the greatest disparity. In one electoral ward, nearly half of the residents are income- deprived - whereas in nearby streets the figure is just 1 per cent.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1039425/Tories-plan-break-gangs-new-job-placement-scheme.html
By Daniel MartinLast updated at 1:21 AM on 29th July 2008
Comments (0)
Add to My Stories
The Tories today unveil plans to get young people out of gangs and into work.
They believe the gulf between rich and poor has become as wide as it was in Victorian times.
They want to give areas affected by gang crime priority funding towards job placements for 18- to 21-year-olds.
High priority: Tories are targeting the gang culture
Under their proposals, money will also be directed towards charities and community groups working with those young people most at risk.
Conservative work and pensions spokesman Chris Grayling said: 'The only way to start to heal the huge social gulf that now exists in our cities is to demonstrate to those who are caught up in the gang culture that there is a better alternative - that they can build successful lives if they get the right opportunity to train and to work.
'The trouble is that right now things seem to be getting worse, not better. We desperately need that to change.'
Other measures in the Tory plans include help for children who are falling behind before they even start school; tough action against lawlessness in crimehit areas; and better support for community groups operating in deprived areas.
In a speech to business leaders in Liverpool, Mr Grayling said: 'There are areas of every major city in this country where you will find communities with no children being brought up in poverty, sitting side by side with ones where virtually every child is being brought up in poverty - according to the Government's own figures. What we are seeing is the growth of a subculture in our society that is utterly divided from, and alienated from, mainstream British life.
'These communities might as well be on a different planet from the rest of us.
'This is one of Britain's great social challenges, and the fact that it remains untouched a decade after Gordon Brown and Tony Blair won power will remain one of the great failures of this government.'
Research for the Conservative party shows that in one ward in Leicester, more than 80 per cent of households are classed as 'income deprived' - while elsewhere the city the figure is only 4 per cent.
However, the centre of Manchester shows the greatest disparity. In one electoral ward, nearly half of the residents are income- deprived - whereas in nearby streets the figure is just 1 per cent.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1039425/Tories-plan-break-gangs-new-job-placement-scheme.html
Poverty
I see pain, fear and suffering.
What causes such pain, what people are to blame?
Who can stand back and see their own fall apart?
An issue on campus...
An issue I feel that is affecting me on this campus is my learning strategies class. I feel that the class is all busy work and that our teacher does not even design the material, therefore it is not interesting to the either the class or teacher, nor does the teacher even know it before he teaches. The teacher also dumbs us down and has frequently stated they do not even really want to be a teacher nor do they even like children.
Media and Risky Behaviors
This article is about video games and what effect they have had on our society and how they are a great contribution to the art of the 20th century. It discusses Mr. Lowood and his team of four committee members as they try to choose and decipher the ten most important video games of all time.
The second article we were to read is called “Media and Risky Behaviors.” It discusses two very important trends among American youth and examines the similarities between the two. The first issue is discussing whether or not American youth are spending too much time playing video games and the other is about if they are engaging in a number of unhealthy behaviors that impose huge societal costs. The article discusses video games and their direct link to violence, premarital sex, obesity, and the tendency to drink and to do drugs.
I find it interesting that these two articles are contrasting to one another. The first is saying that video games have a great effect on the world and that they have become an amazing contribution to who we are today as Americans, but the second discusses the negative effects it causes us Americans and how these aspects can be changed.
The second article we were to read is called “Media and Risky Behaviors.” It discusses two very important trends among American youth and examines the similarities between the two. The first issue is discussing whether or not American youth are spending too much time playing video games and the other is about if they are engaging in a number of unhealthy behaviors that impose huge societal costs. The article discusses video games and their direct link to violence, premarital sex, obesity, and the tendency to drink and to do drugs.
I find it interesting that these two articles are contrasting to one another. The first is saying that video games have a great effect on the world and that they have become an amazing contribution to who we are today as Americans, but the second discusses the negative effects it causes us Americans and how these aspects can be changed.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
7/18 Reading
I really liked the way this graphic novel started off, as if you were focusing in with a microscope down onto each of the locations and people. It started off with the world and then went a little deeper and deeper into the situations. When I first started to read this, I thought “wow, this is pretty much how it really happens. The storm just comes closer and closer until bam, its here.” The graphic novel does pull you into the story and creates a different perspective on the people of areas that were destroyed. This graphic novel is actually very similar to watching “When the Levees Broke” because it depicts the real people and their feelings versus what we were told from the news. I felt as if the news put down the people that stayed to fight the storm, but in reality, for most people this town was all they knew. Leaving their homes and families was a difficult thing to decide, and I understand that one way or another, it is a scary concept.
The other article we read from Project Muse was also very interesting. I find it funny to talk to or read an article about in author of something that you are been studying. It is interesting to see what they are like from behind their stories and to notice that how they write is very often extremely similar to the type of people they are. I feel that the story of Persepolis is very similar to the way Marjane Satrapi really talks. I know the story is about her life, but just as Satrapi said in the interview, she started referring to the character just as that, not as a portion of herself. I see where that would become complicated to not differentiate between the two because from the film, the characters drawings and voice were not her own anymore. A few questions that I have are if the characters from the graphic novel real, was it difficult for Satrapi to let people take over her story and somewhat create it into their own, and what the percentage of people who stayed in the storm compared to the people that evacuated.
The other article we read from Project Muse was also very interesting. I find it funny to talk to or read an article about in author of something that you are been studying. It is interesting to see what they are like from behind their stories and to notice that how they write is very often extremely similar to the type of people they are. I feel that the story of Persepolis is very similar to the way Marjane Satrapi really talks. I know the story is about her life, but just as Satrapi said in the interview, she started referring to the character just as that, not as a portion of herself. I see where that would become complicated to not differentiate between the two because from the film, the characters drawings and voice were not her own anymore. A few questions that I have are if the characters from the graphic novel real, was it difficult for Satrapi to let people take over her story and somewhat create it into their own, and what the percentage of people who stayed in the storm compared to the people that evacuated.
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Persepolis
Persepolis is a “graphic novel” or as Hillary Chute likes to refer it, a “graphic narrative” about a young girl named Marjane Satrapis. It goes through different trials and tribulations of her childhood and growing up in Iraq. The story going into detail of the lifestyle and different questions this young girl is going through and asking. One of the main details of the story is about the Islamic revolution but from a child’s perspective in that is was very simple but still addressed some of the issues.
Being that I do not really know much about what is going on in the Middle East, I found it hard to fully understand the entire graphic novel. But I did enjoy that is was this comic with pictures to help me to grasp some of the concepts and help me to better see the story and her point of view. I found it really interesting in Hillary Chute’s article to see that even from the New York Times, they only select men’s graphic novels to dissect and call it a “man’s world, by and large.” I did not agree with that nor like it because I do have a strong belief in women’s rights which actually ties into what Persepolis is about; women suffrage and being wrongfully put down.
Questions that I have are:
What is the reason as to why there aren’t more female graphic novelists?
Is there a deeper reason to wearing the veil than just covering everything but the face?
What would happen in the setting of the graphic novel if a young girl was caught discussing their situations in such a way?
Being that I do not really know much about what is going on in the Middle East, I found it hard to fully understand the entire graphic novel. But I did enjoy that is was this comic with pictures to help me to grasp some of the concepts and help me to better see the story and her point of view. I found it really interesting in Hillary Chute’s article to see that even from the New York Times, they only select men’s graphic novels to dissect and call it a “man’s world, by and large.” I did not agree with that nor like it because I do have a strong belief in women’s rights which actually ties into what Persepolis is about; women suffrage and being wrongfully put down.
Questions that I have are:
What is the reason as to why there aren’t more female graphic novelists?
Is there a deeper reason to wearing the veil than just covering everything but the face?
What would happen in the setting of the graphic novel if a young girl was caught discussing their situations in such a way?
Sunday, July 6, 2008
Writing a Memoir: Involvement of Art with Craft
Writing a Memoir: Involvement of Art with Craft
Mathias started discussing how there are very little personal memoirs of World War I and II but that it is a widespread belief that there are many. He conducts this passage through telling you how to write a memoir but also by telling you about his experiences throughout as well. It offers you insight of how to write your own memoir by telling the full truth but also by using your imagination. He thought he did not have to worry about research because he would just remember everything that happened but until he found his old letters did his story really come to life. Mathias needed to use art, a theme, and find to own writing personality. He says that these are key to writing your own memoir, and that the truth is to be enhanced rather than hindered. I get the feeling that his ideas are that to write your own memoir that you need to make up your own rules and not just stick to one theory or idea because that is not interesting to a reader. You must strive for the truth through memory, letters, pictures, imagination and dialogue.
Three questions that came to mind are:
1.Where we could find his memoir?
2.How his children felt from reading their father’s memoir?
3.How, if anything changed, he was regarded after publishing his memoir?
Mathias started discussing how there are very little personal memoirs of World War I and II but that it is a widespread belief that there are many. He conducts this passage through telling you how to write a memoir but also by telling you about his experiences throughout as well. It offers you insight of how to write your own memoir by telling the full truth but also by using your imagination. He thought he did not have to worry about research because he would just remember everything that happened but until he found his old letters did his story really come to life. Mathias needed to use art, a theme, and find to own writing personality. He says that these are key to writing your own memoir, and that the truth is to be enhanced rather than hindered. I get the feeling that his ideas are that to write your own memoir that you need to make up your own rules and not just stick to one theory or idea because that is not interesting to a reader. You must strive for the truth through memory, letters, pictures, imagination and dialogue.
Three questions that came to mind are:
1.Where we could find his memoir?
2.How his children felt from reading their father’s memoir?
3.How, if anything changed, he was regarded after publishing his memoir?
Katrina and FSU readings
Katrina Reading 7/2
These stories are great examples of what we discussed in class in that writing our stories of the past and our feelings; we gather great information as to who we have become. These stories tell of the people in New Orleans and most how they overcame the troubles with the schooling process and their fight to improve what never had been great. In the part regarding the teacher they noticed that the children really turned around and wrote in and out of school about their memories. Mostly happy things were discussed but some of the students wrote about the negative experiences as well. Each of these stories has great examples of how writing is therapeutic. To me, this is shown especially when the teacher saw bright imagery and the improvement of the students. The stories also showed the struggles that many students made to adjust back into school when everything had been taken away and many morals were compromised without the normal structure that was once provided.
FSU Writing
In “Above Us Only Sky” it was interesting to read someone’s opinion of another’s inner mind. The writer started off describing how Paul, Ringo, George, and John all together in a music producers house. It seemed to be a first person narrative but also maybe in letter format from John Lennon. It seemed as if he were speaking to “his love” Yoko. As they were leaving the studio John notices a strange man in the shadows but then decides to disregard it, then is shot.
The story “Sing with Me Somehow” was extremely descriptive. The girls in the family seemed to converse through music and song; as if they could sing the things they could not say. I liked the line where the girl said that she felt the piano was the only honest thing in her life. The close bond between the sisters makes me think of my sisters and I. This story made me thing of how you say you’d rather 50 good words versus 200 bad ones because the story was not very long but it really drew you in to what was going on.
These stories are great examples of what we discussed in class in that writing our stories of the past and our feelings; we gather great information as to who we have become. These stories tell of the people in New Orleans and most how they overcame the troubles with the schooling process and their fight to improve what never had been great. In the part regarding the teacher they noticed that the children really turned around and wrote in and out of school about their memories. Mostly happy things were discussed but some of the students wrote about the negative experiences as well. Each of these stories has great examples of how writing is therapeutic. To me, this is shown especially when the teacher saw bright imagery and the improvement of the students. The stories also showed the struggles that many students made to adjust back into school when everything had been taken away and many morals were compromised without the normal structure that was once provided.
FSU Writing
In “Above Us Only Sky” it was interesting to read someone’s opinion of another’s inner mind. The writer started off describing how Paul, Ringo, George, and John all together in a music producers house. It seemed to be a first person narrative but also maybe in letter format from John Lennon. It seemed as if he were speaking to “his love” Yoko. As they were leaving the studio John notices a strange man in the shadows but then decides to disregard it, then is shot.
The story “Sing with Me Somehow” was extremely descriptive. The girls in the family seemed to converse through music and song; as if they could sing the things they could not say. I liked the line where the girl said that she felt the piano was the only honest thing in her life. The close bond between the sisters makes me think of my sisters and I. This story made me thing of how you say you’d rather 50 good words versus 200 bad ones because the story was not very long but it really drew you in to what was going on.
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
6/30 Reading
Is writing a memoir therapeutic?
Jerry Waxler
Writing a memoir is one vital way to receive inner healing that can bring you closer to yourself. The writer stated that when you write a memoir, you see your hopes and dreams of the past and are pulled into a different mindset where you can see how these even minute details help shape who you are today. The theory of Dan Golemen, author of “Emotional Intelligence”, is that when you describe how you are feeling, you can improve your feelings. I relate this to when someone says they feel the need to “vent” or to get something off their chest. After releasing what you are feeling to someone, even if they are just there to listen, you achieve a calming and releasing effect to your feelings. This is also proved by the similar aspects of Drs. Aaron Beck and Albert Ellis in that people often change the way they feel by changing their thoughts. This is why people say that positive thinking is a key to life because positive thinking usually relays to positive results, but if not, then you learn from your mistakes and go from there.
These ideas can be seen from listening to the recording from Antoinette Franklin and her niece Iriel Franklin and their experience from the Hurricane Katrina. Iriel is asking Antoinette what she misses of Louisiana since they have moved to Houston and Antoinette begins to tell stories and reminisces of meaningful things from her childhood such as her fathers pink and yellow roses. Discussing details such as these, although it may be painful, is a way to release the pain and feel joy from such memories.
Both the reading and the listening deal with memories and the connection between one’s inner thoughts to be spoken and experienced in a way that you may very well never have before.
Jerry Waxler
Writing a memoir is one vital way to receive inner healing that can bring you closer to yourself. The writer stated that when you write a memoir, you see your hopes and dreams of the past and are pulled into a different mindset where you can see how these even minute details help shape who you are today. The theory of Dan Golemen, author of “Emotional Intelligence”, is that when you describe how you are feeling, you can improve your feelings. I relate this to when someone says they feel the need to “vent” or to get something off their chest. After releasing what you are feeling to someone, even if they are just there to listen, you achieve a calming and releasing effect to your feelings. This is also proved by the similar aspects of Drs. Aaron Beck and Albert Ellis in that people often change the way they feel by changing their thoughts. This is why people say that positive thinking is a key to life because positive thinking usually relays to positive results, but if not, then you learn from your mistakes and go from there.
These ideas can be seen from listening to the recording from Antoinette Franklin and her niece Iriel Franklin and their experience from the Hurricane Katrina. Iriel is asking Antoinette what she misses of Louisiana since they have moved to Houston and Antoinette begins to tell stories and reminisces of meaningful things from her childhood such as her fathers pink and yellow roses. Discussing details such as these, although it may be painful, is a way to release the pain and feel joy from such memories.
Both the reading and the listening deal with memories and the connection between one’s inner thoughts to be spoken and experienced in a way that you may very well never have before.
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