Article Summary

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34774161/ns/us_news-weird_news/

My article was about a twelve year old boy who robbed a convenient store with a toy gun. He went into the store and pointed a long wooden barreled gun at the clerk and demanded money. After the clerk handed over an amount of money, the boy said thank you and left. After he left, police saw him walking down the street and pulled him over. The boy tried to run before he was caught.

I think that this article is kind of an oddity because the fact that a twelve year old boy robbed a store with a fake gun is kind of weird. I think that this will affect a lot of convenient store owners because they could lose a lot of money by being robbed. I think it will also affect parents because they might buy less fake guns knowing that their kid could get in a lot of trouble with them. I think this is an important article because it gets awareness out, and it kind of makes people laugh when they find out that a store was robbed by a twelve year old boy with a fake gun.

I think that people need to be aware more often. I think that a lot of kids have fake funs that can look really realistic and if you're being robbed you wont take the time to notice if it's fake or real. I think that parents should be more aware of what their children are doing so that things like this can happen less often.

Article Summary

http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=8184115440299617965

The article I read was about the YES Prep North Carolina School. This is a college prep school for middle schoolers and high schoolers who mostly come from underprivelaged families. Since 2001, they have had a 100% college acceptance rate. Ninety percent of the students that enroll in the school are the first people in their family to enroll in college. The college works a lot on preparing the students for the SATs, working on college applications and service work. Each summer and spring break, they go on vacations to college visits or to do service work.

This article covers magnitude because a lot of people are thinking about applying to colleges. Also a lot of high schooler's parents have never been to college so this story can give them hope that they can do it. The author talks a lot about how this school is changing so many lives in a positive way and I think the author is trying to reach high schoolers to motivate them. It will affect high schoolers and middle schoolers or anyone thinking of attending college. It also will affect parents that didn't go to college because now they know that their kids can go to college. It will affect me because I am starting to look at colleges and fill out applications. This is an important article because a lot of people whose parent's or grandparent's didn't go to college don't think that they can, but this school gives them hope that they can have the career that they want.

I think that what this school is very good. It sets people on a good road so that they can have a very succesful life. I also like that they combine service work into the curriculum because that is a very important part of life. If they learn to do service work now, before college, then after college, they will give back to their community even more. I think that in the next couple years, more schools like this will pop up all over the country.

Diversity Scholarly Article Summary

The article that I read was about the relationship between bullying in schoosl, and hate crimes. It talked about how according to Massachusetts law, "hate crimes are those crimes motivated by hatred against a person or group on the basis of race, religion, disability, color, ethnic/national origin or sexual orientation. Hate crimes can occur by a physical attack, intimidating or threatening behavior that puts a person in fear of immediate physical harm or damage to property, such as vandalism. ". They talk about how bullying relates to hate crimes and also how it doesn't. Mainly, they talked about how similar they are, and bullies target people who are 'different' then them, which is like hate crimes.

It shows diversity because hate crime is a big part of diversity, so does bullying. It shows conflicts between people who have different beliefs than other people, like homosexuality, race, etc. The author talks about the similarity of hate crimes and bullying. I think the author is trying to reach teachers so that they can put a stop to bullying. This will affect people that are getting bullied or people involved in hate crimes. I think that soon, they will become a bigger problem in our society. Bullying and hate crimes are a big problem and I think that almost everyone has been affected by bullying, and so I feel like now, more and more people are going to be affected by hate crimes too. This is an important article about diversity because since bullying is such a large problem there needs to be a stop to it.

I think that bullying is a lot like hate crimes. If you bully someone, most likely you do it because their different. When you're little, it could be because they have glasses or are shorter than people. As you get older, it could be because they are homosexual or have a lower economic status. I think that bullying and hate crimes are very very similar, and are a rising problem in our country.

http://0-find.galegroup.com.unistar.uni.edu/gtx/retrieve.do?subjectParam=Locale%2528en%252CUS%252C%2529%253AFQE%253D%2528SU%252CNone%252C9%2529Diversity%2524&contentSet=IAC-Documents&sort=DateDescend&tabID=T002&sgCurrentPosition=0&subjectAction=DISPLAY_SUBJECTS&prodId=AONE&searchId=R2¤tPosition=9&userGroupName=uni_rodit&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&sgHitCountType=None&qrySerId=Locale%28en%2CUS%2C%29%3AFQE%3D%28KE%2CNone%2C9%29Diversity%3AAnd%3AFQE%3D%28TX%2CNone%2C11%29Hate+Crimes%24&inPS=true&searchType=BasicSearchForm&displaySubject=&docId=A169592475&docType=IAC

Diversity Article Summary

http://abcnews.go.com/Primetime/story?id=1231684&page=2

The article that I read was about two thirteen year old twins, Lamb and Lynx, who have an album and are becoming very popular. However there is a lot of controversy because they have a lot of racist lyrics, and they are white nationalists and use their talents to preach a message of hate. It talks a lot about how they were raised by April, their mom and how she homeschooled them with specific white nationalists believes and how their grandpa is very pro-nazism. It talks about the pros and cons about them, and compares them a lot with rap music.

This is news because at this moment, there is a lot of racism or hate crimes happening. So when you see two teenagers who have racist lyrics, its going to be news. Because of this, I think that you might either see no more racist lyrics at all, or more likely, racist lyrics will increase. Singers and bands will test their luck and just see what things they can say. This affects any people involved in music because they have to make sure that none of their lyrics are racist. This also obviously effects Lamb and Lynx and their family because they might be in a lot of trouble. It will affect the large population because, once again, whoever listened to their music, or who has their own music have to be very careful about racist lyrics. This is important because it effects a lot of people and is a very interesting story.

My personal opinion, is that it's wrong. But there is freedom of speech and they are entitled to say what they want to say. I think that they shouldn't be able to, but that's just me. I think that a lot of the rap is the same way, but not as many people notice that it's being racist. They have the rights to say what they want in the song, even though it could be wrong.

Song Analysis

SONG ANALYSIS

Song Name: Dear Mr. President
Artist: Pink
Genre: Pop
Time period/ year released: 2006
Issue being addressed: Pink wrote an open letter to the old President Bush and it talks a lot about why he wasn't doing anything about poverty, families and the economy.
Point of View: She is upset with George Bush for not doing anything. She is upset because there are so many people in poverty and that are having a hard time, but that George Bush isn't working very hard to change it.
Song Lyrics:

Dear Mr. President,
Come take a walk with me.
Let's pretend we're just two people and
You're not better than me.
I'd like to ask you some questions if we can speak honestly.

What do you feel when you see all the homeless on the street?
Who do you pray for at night before you go to sleep?
What do you feel when you look in the mirror?
Are you proud?

How do you sleep while the rest of us cry?
How do you dream when a mother has no chance to say goodbye?
How do you walk with your head held high?
Can you even look me in the eye
And tell me why?

Dear Mr. President,
Were you a lonely boy?
Are you a lonely boy?
Are you a lonely boy?
How can you say
No child is left behind?
We're not dumb and we're not blind.
They're all sitting in your cells
While you pave the road to hell.

What kind of father would take his own daughter's rights away?
And what kind of father might hate his own daughter if she were gay?
I can only imagine what the first lady has to say
You've come a long way from whiskey and cocaine.

How do you sleep while the rest of us cry?
How do you dream when a mother has no chance to say goodbye?
How do you walk with your head held high?
Can you even look me in the eye?

Let me tell you 'bout hard work
Minimum wage with a baby on the way
Let me tell you 'bout hard work
Rebuilding your house after the bombs took them away
Let me tell you 'bout hard work
Building a bed out of a cardboard box
Let me tell you 'bout hard work
Hard work
Hard work
You don't know nothing 'bout hard work
Hard work
Hard work
Oh

How do you sleep at night?
How do you walk with your head held high?
Dear Mr. President,
You'd never take a walk with me.
Would you?

RESEARCH

Contextual factors: This was when the economy was falling and more and more people were falling out of unemployment. This added to the song a lot because that is what it is mainly about.

What is the issue: The number of families who are becoming homeless is rising very fast, and Bush wasn't doing much that was actually helping it. It also talks about how Geroge Bush can sleep at night and how he can act like everything's alright when it's not.

Who is affected: Anyone who is or has been homeless or unemployed is affected a lot by this. They would have a lot of the same opinions as Pink and some of them might be mad at George bush for this.

Varying Perspectives: Obviously the majority of the republicans wouldn't agree with this song because a lot of them support bush. A lot of the democrats or homeless people would agree with this song because it explains their life a lot right now.

Severity of the Issue: I think that is a HUGE issue right now. There are so many people that either don't have a home, or are on the verge of losing it. And that's just in America. In third world countries living situations are so much worse.

CRITIQUE

I saw some people that agreed with the author completely and I saw others that disagreed completely. There also were a lot of people who had mixed opinions. I think that now that Obama is the president, a lot of these people who agreed with Pink now have more hope that things will change. I think that I share a lot of the same views as her. I think that poverty is becoming a huge problem and that there are people out there that have huge houses and a ton of money left over, and that there are an increasing number of people who have no money, and no place to stay. I honestly think that if the whole country works together, things change in our country.

Fort Hood

1. What are your thoughts, feelings, etc, as you read these articles?

I think that this is a tragic moment that will definitely change a lot of people's lives. What happened is definitely a rising trend as more and more shootings are happening. A lot of the shooters have the same traits and people need to be more alert and looking for people like them.

2. What role do you think terrorism played in this massacre, if any? Why? Do you think that there was an terrorist organization behind the shooting?

I think that terrorism does have a role in this, but I don't think that it should. Obviously if someone middle eastern shoots a bunch of people from America, people are going to think that something with terrorism triggered. But the truth is that he was a US citizen, and shouldn't be looked at any differently then anyone else. I do not think that there aas a terrorist organization behind the shooting. I think that he was having the same problems that any of the other people who have done similar acts like this.

3. What role did racism or religious persecution play in this incident? Why?

I think that the fact that the Army that he was apart of was fighting a country with similar religious views may be a factor in why he shot so many people because this was probably a touchy subject, but he definitely could have handeled it better.

4. Do you think a lot of Muslim Americans have the same feelings as this man? Why or why not?

Probably. However, they don't have to hear all of the stories that happened in this war, and they are not dealing with being in the army. I think that that is another key factor in why he did this. But you still have those feelings even if you aren't fighting or working with people who fight.

5. What do you think the military could have done to prevent this from happening? Why do you believe this? Were there signs that this man had the potential to do something like this? What were they?

Some of the warning signs that they could have seen is the fact that he was harrased after 9/11. Almost all of the shooting incidents have shooters who have been bullied a lot. I think that if he was so against the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, then he should have withdrawn from the Army. If people noticed this, they should have said something and tried to help him, but it could have been that he kept these problems to himself, and to the public he didn't have any problems.

6. Talk about the leadership of Kimberly Munley (the woman who stopped the shooter). What did she do? How would you have reacted in the same situation?

Kimberly Munley did a very heroic act that saved a lot of lives. She is the one that stopped the shooter, when she could have just ran away and probably ended up safe. She put her life on the line to protect the rest of Ft. Hood and I'm sure that a lot of people couldn't do that. If that was me, I would think that I would shoot at the guy too because I know that I would be saving a lot of lives. You have to be able to put others before yourself in that type of situation.

7. What does this incident say about race relations in America? Specifically with Arab-Americans and Muslims? Is there a reason that Muslims and people from the Arab world feel a certain way about America?

I think that this incident brings up a lot of tension. A lot of racism has been going on between Arab-Americans and Americans. It really is racist because that shouldn't matter. Each person should be considered an American and their race shouldn't matter. I thinki that there is a reason why Muslims and people from the Arab would feel a certain way about America because they have been rediculed a lot about their race, but what the guy did at Ft. Hood was totally out of proportion and should never be taken that far.

Second Leadership Article

This artical was written by Bill Lloyd and was talking about what it takes to be a good leader. It started with a story about how he worked in a restaurant as a general manager, he had to make a descision about whether or not to promote another employee as a general manager. He didn't really know what, but something bugged him about the employee. He realized that when this person had a task that maybe wasn't the most pleasant thing to do, he would send it on to someone else to do, when all of the other general managers would do the task themselves. He talks about how a good leader needs to step up and do things that maybe necessarily wouldn't be fun for them, and how they need to step up and do things so that others will follow them.

I think that this article talks a lot about responsibility and integrity because it says how you need to do things that are your responsibility even if they aren't something fun to do. The author talked about the key to leadership is being able to do anything that you would need to ask someone else to do. I think he is trying to reach high school aged people because he talks a lot about that is where your leadership starts and really grows. This is going to affect a lot of people. Anyone who reads it will obviously be affected and if the person who reads it becomes a really positive leader, and then people will catch on and it will kind of be like a domino effect. It will affect me because now everytime I'm in a situation where I can ask someone to do something, or just do it myself, I will think about this and do it myself. This is an important article about leadership because it kind of gives you a basic to leadership. If you can do this, than people will look up to you and think you're a good leader.

My opinion on this article is that he is right. I think that that is a very important artical. An example of this could be that you and you're friend are closing at your work and only one person is needed, you could tell your friend that you're going to go home, but then how would your friend feel? I agree with what he says about how if you shouldn't ask someone to do something if you wouldn't do it.