SWA #16

Jonny Leon

English 102-111

February 29, 2012

SWA #16

Fullan, Michael. "The Three Stories of Education Reform." Kappan Professional Journal. N.p.,      17 Apr. 2000. Web. 29 Feb. 2012.

                        Michael Fullan outlines three different stories that try and help solve the problem

that the education system is facing today. It shows the three different ways in which reform has to happen for it to be effective and actually have some kind of lasting changing. Fullan says that the reason change has not happened so far is that people fail to understand both the local school systems and the surrounding infrastructure. The first story he goes over is the “inside story” which talks about changing the schools internal dynamics. The second story is the “inside-outside” story and this deals with how successful schools deal with all the outside reason that would stop them from being effective schools. The third story is the “outside-in” story and that deals with how agency outside of the schools can be reformed to better the schools themselves.

Resnick, Lauren, and Megan Hall. "Learning Organizations for Sustainable Education Reform."   Daedalus 127 (1998): 89-118. Print.

                        This article starts out by saying that education reform has been around for a while

but has always had disappointing results. The reason why it continues to happen is because businesses are now calling for more education from their employees. The authors say that one of the main problems education reform does not happen is people are too focused on gift or talented students rather than focusing on all the students as a whole. The smarter students only tend to get smarter. Another problem they outline is the difficult dealing with the government and other organizations when it comes to trying to reform. 

SWA #15

1. The issue of failing school systems is fairly easy to research. This is an issue that can either be done at a local or global level. Education reform is a very popular topic among scholars and many studies have been done related to things such as high school drop out rates and illiteracy rates. I am leaning towards this issue since there has been a lot research done on the topic. There are many different opinions on how to solve the problem  or at least try and make the probably a little bit less worse.

2. The issue of whether or not the media causes increasing violent acts seems to be highly debated. Studies have been conducted to see whether or not violence in media cause more violent acts to be preformed. It would seem to be an increasingly worse cycle if that is the case. This is not a new issue but it has not gathered any definitive results so views from different decades could be compared to see if there have been any large changes. I am also leaning towards this issue since it is a highly debated topic.

3. An issue that has only come up recently is whether too much medicine is bad for us. This topic seems to have less information on it since it not necessarily a new debate but one that has become popular only recently. Not very many studies have been done so far so it will probably be a difficult topic to research.

SWA #13

1 a) Does violence in TV shows and movies desensitize people and lead to violent or antisocial behavior?
b) Recent acts of violence, by younger people, are often attributed to violence in movies, tv shows, or video games.
c) I do not think it does lead to violent behavior.
d) I would like to research if people have become more violent or antisocial with increase of violence in the media.

2 a) Has the increase of prescription drug use in recent years led to diseases such as autism or ADHD?
b) People are being medicated for almost anything today and this could lead to more issues rather than solving them.
c) I think prescription drug use is way too high and the negative side effects from long term use have not been appropriately identified.
d) I would like to research the how much prescription drug use has increased in recent years and also research the amount of diseases and disorders that have also increased.

3 a) The failing education system
b) Our current education system is very poor compared to other 1st world countries. The average student is not challenged and some people graduate high school without even knowing how to read.
c) I believe our current education system is facing some major problems and if it does not get better soon we may see a generations of very uneducated people who only know who to use computers and cell phones.
d) I would like to research topics like the dropout rate, illiteracy rate, and course work that is involved in most students schooling.

SWA #12

Jonny Leon

English 102-111

February 20, 2012

SWA #12

Waters, Alice. "A Healthy Constitution." The Carolina Reader: Third Edition. Ed. Lee Kauknight and W. Matthew J. Simmons. Southlake, TX: Fountainhead Press, 2012. 337-338. Print.

Waters’ essay talks about how the current cafeteria system in place, in schools, is failing the not just health wise but also in all aspects of schools. Water’s mentions a scene from the documentary “Super Size Me”, where many obese children are shown to make a point that the cafeteria at that school had only unhealthy options. Waters then goes on to discuss how a school that completely eliminated unhealthy options from their cafeteria not only made the kids healthier and made them get sick less often but it also made them perform better in school.

Food can be used to teach the central values of democracy because in a properly run food system all of the different places where foods is either sold or grown work together for the benefit of the people. That is how a properly run democracy should be. All the sections of the democracy work together and help each other. Waters says there is a link between healthy meals and learning. She gives evidence of three students who felt their school lives had improved once they started eating healthier. More evidence would have strengthened her argument but it was also a short essay so more evidence would not have necessarily been appropriate. 

SWA #11

Jonny Leon

English 102-111

February 15, 2012

SWA #11

Bittman’s arguments in his essay, “Bad Food? Tax It”, are effective at first glance but are overly critical and seemingly without too much thought. Bittman’s arguments are based too much in facts and not enough in ideas. Facts are a very important part of any argument, when they are appropriate, and in this case they are appropriate, but he uses them too much. His argument is based almost solely in facts and when it comes to ideas he thinks someone else should come up with them. He draws readers in with impressive, and even scary, facts and figures but then offers no real solution to the problem. Bittman also seems to think ideas like this have no consequences. Major changes like the one Bittman is proposing are very difficult and can be very problematic. Bittman does not present any of the consequences or problems that could arise from this proposed idea.

SWA #10

Jonny Leon

English 102-111

February 15, 2012

SWA #10

Title: Taxing Food, Changing America’s Diet?

Thesis: Increasing or creating a tax on bad or unhealthy food will make the people of America healthier.

I.                   Taxing unhealthy foods will make people healthier.

a.       Obesity is a major problem in the United States right now and it will only become worse.

                                                              i.      Taxing these bad foods would not only help people to become less obese but it would also stop people from becoming obese.

                                                            ii.      Taxing foods with high sugar and fat content will lead to a healthier nation.

b.      Type 2 Diabetes is also a problem that can be linked to unhealthy eating and obesity.

                                                              i.      A large fraction of Americans either have diabetes or are close to getting it.

                                                            ii.      It is a deadly problem that needs a solution.

II.                Taxing unhealthy food will save the government money in healthcare costs.

a.       If these bad foods are taxed and less people experience these health problems the government will not need to spend as much money treating people.

                                                              i.      Heart disease related to obesity is one of the major causes of death.

                                                            ii.      Diabetes affects nearly one third of all Americans.

b.      The government will save money in the long run because if obesity and diabetes grow in America it will cost the government even more than it does now.

                                                              i.      This is not a problem that will go away but will only become worse.

                                                            ii.      Spending money to solve the problem now will save money in the long run.

III.             Bittman’s arguments are effective but at the same time come off as very critical.

a.       His arguments are based too heavily in facts and not enough ideas.

                                                              i.      Facts are good for any argument but too many takes away from an original thought or ideas.

                                                            ii.      The facts show that he has done research but not necessarily thought this idea out.

                                                          iii.      He obviously has a fact for any situation but not a real solution.

b.      Ideas like this do not come without consequences.

                                                              i.      Bittman presents this idea as not problematic at all.

                                                            ii.      Ideas like this always have consequences and Bittman does not present any of the consequences.

IV.             Conclusion: Bittman makes an effective argument through the use of facts and figures to convince readers that there is a problem that has a simple solution. Even though the argument may be effective it is lacking.

SWA #9

The central claim of John Robbins' article is that use of antibiotics in "factory farming" is the reason for antibiotic resistant bacteria. Over the past 50 years or so the use of antibiotics has become more and more prevalent in the field of medicine. As antibiotics are used more they become less effective and will at some point lose all effectiveness. The general assumption people make is that antibiotics used on humans cause their effectiveness to dwindle, but that is not the case. Robbins points out that only about 30 percent of antibiotics are used on humans. The other 70 percent are used on animals, and a majority of those are used in "factory farming" not just to treat sick animals. A bill has been put before Congress to ban the use of antibiotics in the feed of livestock. This would not stop farmers from treating sick animals. It would only stop farmers from giving antibiotics to all of their animals. Stopping the use of antibiotics in feed would not come with out other changes. Many of these "factory farms" would have to change a lot so their animals would not be at risk of constant infection.

SWA #8

1. Scully builds and supports his case that cruelty to animals should be a conservative cause by claiming that it is not the animals right but that it is morally wrong for humans to be cruel to animals. The liberals generally make the case that animals should have the same rights as people therefore they should not be abused in the way that they are in place such as "factory farms". Conservatives generally do not like this view but Scully presents a new one. Scully says it is not the animals right to not be abused but it is morally wrong for humans to participate in such practices towards animals. This means that even if conservatives do not think animals have the same rights as humans, they should still not have such cruelties inflicted upon them.

2. Scully seems to be for the "rights" of animals. By claiming that the only people that generally care about this issues are those that think animals have certain rights, he is caring and therefore showing that animals have certain rights. Scully's whole argument is that even if a certain person does not think animals have certain rights, it is still morally wrong to abuse them or be cruel to them. Scully is coming from a position that cares for the rights of animals and then says even if you do not care about animals rights you should care about being morally just.

Concerns about Essay 1

• Conclusion is too short and ineffective.
• Descriptions of ads are too short.
• More effective word choice could be used. 
• Some of the arguments are weak.

SWA #6

Jonny Leon

English 102-111

February 1, 2012

SWA # 6

Analysis of Ads

The world of advertisement is based on manipulation and exploitation of the people’s desires. Advertising is the same regardless of who the audience is and what the product is that is trying to be sold. Gum is no exception to this. Both 5 Gum and Orbit gum have ads directed towards manipulating the consumers to buy. Assumptions are made about what the consumers like and want and then those are exploited. Orbit gum ad is based on a more classy approach but at the same time it is slightly sensual. The 5 Gum ad is based on individuality and new experiences, these are both things, that the consumers of the magazine that this ad is in, seek. These ads attempt to sell to the consumer by making assumptions about the consumer and then exploiting it.