Dealing with Dropouts

Author Unknown
USA Today
April 2, 2008

This article written by an anonymous USA Today reader mentioning the disappointment of extremely low graduation rates of high schools. The author explains very logical solutions to avoid dropout rates, like pushing up the mandatory attendance age, or making high school more relevant. I was very interested to hear the positive solutions to educate students while at the same time preventing dropout rates. In two dozen states, it's legal to drop out of high school at 16. That age should be pushed up to 17 or 18 according to this author. This article presented many very good points in a non-bias fashion. It was very informative, but perhaps should have included more personal ideas or experience with the disappointing and unattractive high school standards.

Why black voters like Democrats

Russell Stokes
The Advocate
April 2, 2008


This letter to The Advocate tries to explain their opinion that black voters tend to favor democrats. Mr. Stokes starts out with a good point, that Democrats pass legislation, such as increasing the minimum wage and health care, that helps the average American to survive. That makes sense to me. Republicans do tend to get more backing from big businesses and seem to forget the middle and lower class Americans that are struggling to survive (mind you, I say this even though I would consider myself a Republican). However, then Mr. Stokes takes the stance that when Democrats are appointed to office, they "don't forget to put black people in key positions in their administration" which stuck out at me. He goes on to state that Republican Governor Bobby Jindal has an appropriately diverse staff in key positions, however Mr. Stokes seems to think that it's all just to get the black votes when re-election comes around, and further doubts that the diverse staff members will stay on his staff next term. Then Mr. Stokes defends himself against the obvious counterexample of the Bush administration where Colin Powell and Condeleeza Rice were two huge key members at the time, but to Mr. Stokes, they don't really count because Condeleeza reminds him of Malcolm X. Really good comeback, Stokes! The author uses very weak defenses to get his point across. I understand and whole-heartedly agree with the idea that the diverse population should be represented and put in positions of power, however we shouldn't just put people in just because of a race or skin color or even gender. Perhaps I am simply very naive, but why not just put in people who would do the best job! Mr. Powell and Ms. Rice were very successful at their key positions and Bobby Jindal has appointed a fair number of women, blacks, and Indians on his staff because I trust that Jindal thinks they will do the best job possible to improve Louisiana. So I believe this author needs to stop being so cynical and defend his weak spots with more than just "well Condeleeza reminds me of Malcolm X, so she doesn't count..." That is just my own opinion that this article was not very convincing because the author, while having good intentions, had no substantial facts to make him sound professional or believable.

The Hillary Waltz

Maureen Dowd
New York Times
April 2, 2008

This article seeks to give credit to Hillary for Obama's progress throughout the current election. The author argues that whether or not Hillary wins the election, she has proved to be an effective "political tutor" for Obama, who was once a timid, inexperienced, and a perhaps naive candidate. She goes on to argue that if it weren't for Hillary, Obama would not be as good of a debater, and many of his other strong qualities have come from his experience of competing with Hillary. I believe it is a bit of a stretch to give Hillary so much credit for experience that he could or would have gained after a few more years in his political career. His main flaw in his candidacy is that voters don't believe that he is "seasoned" enough to run the country and he needs more experience, however, he has proven himself to be very capable of handling his campaign as well as debates and aggressive interviews. But I don't think he owes it to Hillary. Dowd seems to reiterate that she admires Hillary for emphasizing that the point of an election is to win, and Hillary seems to be doing everything she can to win, while the shy, cavalier Obama slowly learns from her tactics. Overall I thought this article was basically a worship piece towards Hillary Clinton and didn't enjoy the very little credit she gave to Obama.

Wal-Mart: Corporate Evil

CNN

April 2, 2008

Randi Kaye

Reading about Wal-Mart has always led me to say "I'm going to Target." This claim was reenforced today when I read an article about a Wal-Mart employee under Wal-Mart's "Health Plan" being sued for the money they gave her for her care after she lost her son and most of her short term memory. She had been hit by a tractor trailer and suffered severe brain damage. Her husband sued the truck company and gained $417,000 after legal fees. Wal-Mart turned around and sued him for $470,000 to recover the cost it paid for her. It was part of their policy but completely wrong. They only stopped the lawsuit when the public got involved. This article was very effective in that it makes me want to boycott Wal-Mart and Sam's Club. I rather support a company like Target that gives back to the community rather than taking back from them. Although my decision is made to not shop there now, I see myself needing something random at 1:30 in the morning and buying it at my local Wal-Mart. 

Chase

Opposing view: Don't blame oil companies

USA Today
April 2nd, 2008
By: Red Cavaney

This article is talking about how "frustrated consumers" often blame the growing gas prices on the nation's oil companies. The oil companies want to impose an even higher tax, so that they have incentive to search for more oil and natural gases. The author states the taxes, how much they would be costing Americans, and what the oil companies claim they would do with an increase in profit from taxes. The author gives many different solutions to what the oil companies could do and cites many different sources. He researched a lot of information, it seems, to write this article. He does show a little biased, by stating he is opposed to these taxes. Although, he says it in a kind of disguised text. But, then again, who isn't opposed to giving even more of their hard earned money to these obscenely wealthy oil companies? To me, it seems that they should have enough incentive to search for more oil and other means of energy simply by the numbers they are making now. We shouldn't have to pay even more money, just to suggest them to start searching for more.

How Immigrants Saved Social Security

New York Times
April 2nd, 2008
Author: N/A

This article focused on illegal immigrants and showed a completely different side on the impact they have had on our country. The author cites a source having to do with the Social Security annual report. They claim that the numbers of "other than legal" workers are expected to increase the program even further over the years. The author states that "One reason is that many undocumented workers pay taxes during their work lives but don’t collect benefits later. Another is that undocumented workers are entering the United States at ever younger ages and are expected to have more children while they’re here than if they arrived at later ages." Giving reasons for this claim. This article was written fairly well with sources and solutions.

Choose openess when planning to adopt children

USA Today
Monday 3/31/2008 Page 14A
Carrie Lamm Bishop

The article started off by relating to a recent Forum piece written by Jean Strauss, that talks about the benefits of an open adoption. The author in this editorial completely agrees with the opinions of Strauss and uses personal experiences as well as facts to get her point across. By using her own experiences she captures the emotion of the reader and keeps you interested. I really think that the author did a great jop using experience, examples, and facts to get her point across. She talks about how with an open adoption both the birth mother and the adopted parents will have a part in the childs life and both will be completely satisfied. I think this article makes a very good point and is written really well.