Doc Roldan’s Blog: Writing on Writing

This article by William J. Bennett describes the author’s view on homosexual marraige. He argues that opening the door to same-sex marraiges brings along with it consequences and questions where to draw the line about who can marry. He also covers the concept of adoption, saying that gay couples would have the same rights to adopting as heterosexual couples, and that on all plains heterosexual and homosexual marraiges would be seen as equal. It’s interesting to think about the doors that are opened with every decision that we make as individuals and as a nation. About the couples that legalizing same sex marraiges would effect, and also the effect it would have on children, and educational system. Bennett states that the institution of marraige is already coming apart because of the ’sexual revolution’ and our acceptance of divorce and births out of wedlock.

A recent questionnaire at Yale University produced some interesting results.  Out of 138 females who were asked if they were going to continue working after they had children, 60% of them said they would stop, or work part time.  The young women all believed that taking care of their kids is their number one priority, and that balancing work and home is no easy task.  Even though Yale is one of the most prestigious universities in America, many people found it remarkable as to how many women were going to give up their careers for their kids.  From my point of view, I also agree with these women that raising your children right and spending a lot of time with them is important; however, it is very interesting that more than half of them are just going to throw away their careers.  Households being supported by one adult is very nice to have, but most of the time that is not a possibility.

This article presented an example of a law suit involving a spelling bee among children. A young boy who won the spelling bee at his particular school had the chance to go to the nationals in Washington, D.C. if he won against another competitor from a different school. The declared winner of the other school spelled correctly the word ‘horsy’ after a previous bot mispelled it as ‘horsey’. The judges came to find out that there are actually two proper ways to spell that word and both were correct. Realizing their fault, they allowed both boys to go and compete.  The original young boy who truly won the spelling bee at his school ended up losing and was unable to go to the nationals, and he claims that he could have if the officials had not allowed the other student to participate. This is a complex situation, and the young boy’s lawyer is claiming that he has developed worry, emotional distress, anxiety, and loss of respect in the community. Nicole Guettler

Previously, I wrote two blogs on the increase in the number of children taking sleeping pills. Both articles, although written by different newspapers and referring to the same study, were totally different in nature. The New York Times focused merely on the negative aspects of sleeping pills, and also misinterpreted the data. The New York Times, for example, includes other drugs such as antihistamines and high blood pressure drugs. They focus too much on the data, and do not discuss any trends or reasons behind the increase in sleeping pill consumption. However, USA Today correctly analyzes the data from the Medco Study and makes reasonable conclusions. For example, they discuss that kids are not becoming addicted to these pills, as 61% of the pills were not refilled. Although these two articles are about the same thing, they are very different. This piece helps to show that newspapers can slightly skew data and information,  making the public believe anything they want to. From this, I have learned to consult a variety of sources, as bias exists all over the place. / Neel Joshi

A recent study shows that the use of sleeping pills is up 85% amongst older children and adolescents. The same study also shows a twofold increase of sleeping pill consumption amongst young adults. I previously wrote a blog about this study, using information by an article by Kim Painter of USA Today. The New York Times wrote an article about the same paper; however it was totally different. The article focuses on the negative aspects of these sleeping pills, explicitly stating that children should not ever take sleeping pills. The article suggests using other alternatives to “hypnotics”, including Antihistamines and other Anti-Depressants. Although the article offers good alternatives, it does not focus on the study at hand, and often skews the data. It does not infer any conclusions or trends from the Medco study, and therefore does not do justice as an appropriate informative article. / Neel Joshi

Minneapolis Public Schools experimented with high schools by changing the start time from 7:15 a.m. to 8:40 a.m. The results showed that many more students were able to concentrate in their first two periods, because they were not as tired. A negative result was that athletes had to miss their lat hour of class on days of sports events. Public high schools all around the country should change to a later start time because sleep is the one of the most important factors to being successful in school. Students would do better academically if they were able to sleep in a little longer, even for only an extra hour. A start time of even 8:00 a.m. would result in a huge improvement in students being absent and being successful./ Arielle Schwartz

Leonard Tourney describes a complicated and somewhat ironic situation that calls for the readers to act as the jury and determine who exactly is at fault.  Tourney develops quite a predicament when a certain lady, Lisa, is waiting for her fiance named Frank to pick her up from the airport.  Of course, Frank is late and Lisa becomes angry, but when he arrives with roses and chocolate she begins to feel differently. As he reaches out to hug her, he accidentally hit an old man in the nose. Lisa gets mad that Frank hit this old man, so she tries to kick Frank, but instead kicks the old man.  At this point a bystander believes that Frank and Lisa are attacking this old man, so he begins to beat Frank. Then Lisa starts to strike the man that is beating her fiance. It is now that Tourney asks the question of who is at fault in this particular situation. This is a tough decision because many people were assaulted; however, the circumstances were exceptional. Nicole Guettler

In this essay, the author discusses the issue of children or adolescents taking pills as sleeping aids. It is a fact that these pills are not recommended for people under the age 18, however every 1 out of 500 children take them. The Food and Drug Administration has prohibited the use of these pills due to the lack of studies conducted in children. There is a concern that because teenagers go through a phase where there is a lack of rest, doctors do not want to prescribe an unnecessary amount of the drug which may be used inappropriately. In my opinion I believe sleep medications should only be prescribed to those who have serious problems with insomnia and RLS among other medical problems. Children don’t usually have serious medical problems such as these and don’t need to be on any unnecessary medications.

Budweiser Beer has been known for their witty and straightforward advertising, and in this ad it’s clear who they’re targeting. Football and beer has gone hand in hand as far back as one can remember. Tailgating without that cold crisp bud light is just uncalled for. At least, that’s what the advertisement suggests. Associating beer with a gritty, manly sport like football is ingenious in making beer the ultimate man’s beverage. It suggests they’re tough and unbeatable just like the men on the field. It’s my personal opinion that beer doesn’t need to be advertised at all because people will drink it no matter what to get that certain feeling it comes with. However, Budweiser wants to make sure everyone has their drink in their hand when going up against the dozens other beer companies in the country.

In this story, a woman is very unhappy about her husband, who by normal standards could be described as ideal. He’s a hard working man who helps out around the house, tends to the children and on top of everything else, has a full time job. If I were this woman I would be more than content to have a man who would help with these duties that are normally set aside for the woman to do. Everything he does seems to be not good enough. In my opinion, I think maybe this rage may stem from her feeling like she could do better than him since she is a woman. Instead of praising his hard work and dedication to his family, she tears him down which may eventually lead to a divorce. Good relationships have great communication and in this case, she needs to be open and honest about her feelings rather than tear him down emotionally bit by bit.

There has been a problem recently with young kids not getting the sleep that doctors recommend they get. At first this was taking for granted because it was thought that kids are so energetic, it’s ok if they loose some sleep. The truth is no matter how much energy your child seems to have, he or she still must get at least seven to eight  hours of sleep a night. The statistics from the article said that one in fifty kids are now taking sleeping pills which isn’t good because of two reasons. The first is, the kids grow a dependence to the pills and can no longer fall asleep unless they use them and the second is that these drugs have not been tested on younger subjects. This shows that it is not for certain that young kids are safe taking these drugs. I think that all sleeping drugs should be band and that people having problems sleeping should seek attention to correct their symptoms and not mask them.

What the Budweiser commercial does is much like all the other commercials we see on television. Because we all idolize athletic figures whether they play football or whether they are world class swimmers, the fact that they may consume a product gives us good enough reason to do the same. In most cases, chances are the athlete doesn’t even drink the beverage or whatever the product may be. It is most likely the athletes don’t drink beer and if they do, in small quantities because it’s bad for them.The truth is, it doesn’t matter what the beer is, it matters who the athlete promoting it is.

I compared the two Camel Cigarettes Advertisements and found their similarities and differences very interesting. Both of them are very obviously trying to sell Camel Cigarette’s, but the audience in each ad is extremely different. The Camel Lights ad, featuring a Camel playing pool, probably appeals to macho men who like to play pool and hang out in bars. The Camel, Pleaseure to Burn ad, featuring a very good looking man, is probably trying to reach a) men who want to be macho and b) women who want a macho man. I found it very interesting how much sex appeal had come into the advertisement business since 1992. I also found it quite horrifying that in the later dated ad (2000), the Surgeon General’s Warning was much shorter and did not mention how smoking could effect pregnant women, as did the one from 1992. I found neither of these ads very affective, and I think they are a very poor form of advertisement. / Marie Pashkevich

This story explains the rage a wife has against her husband. This husband is described to be a perfect husband, at least to me he is. Not only is he working full time, he cooks, cleans, and helps with their two children. However, everything he does is never correct in her eyes. She constantly nags and complains about every little thing. He also is frustrated with work and other duties that he has but unlike his wife he does not take that out on her. The meaning behind this story is that you should set aside her anger and not take it out on anybody else especially the ones you love because the atmosphere then becomes tense. A situation like this can lead to a divorce when it is unnecessary. Problems are to be confronted and talked out amongst one another in a mannerly order.

This story explains the rage a wife has against her husband. This husband is described to be a perfect husband, at least to me he is. Not only is he working full time, he cooks, cleans, and helps with their two children. However, everything he does is never correct in her eyes. She constantly nags and complains about every little thing. He also is frustrated with work and other duties that he has but unlike his wife he does not take that out on her. The meaning behind this story is that you should set aside her anger and not take it out on anybody else especially the ones you love because the atmosphere then becomes tense. A situation like this can lead to a divorce when it is unnecessary. Problems are to be confronted and talked out amongst one another in a mannerly order.

Advertising manipulates people psychologically to buy things they do not need. It is hard not to be persuaded to buy certain products when the advertisement is so appealing. The clever marketing industry knows all the tricks to appeal to our emotions. They know exactly what our needs and desires are and they base their advertisements around them. Sometimes the products being sold are actually what we are after but sometimes we simply buy the products because we like to indulge in material pleasures. Persuasion is a fact of life and there is no escaping it. The difference between the consumers who buy the products and the people who don’t comes down to our will power to resist the temptation.

Budweiser is a well known beer and in this particular ad they incorporated it with a well known sport, football. I think this ad is targeting men especially huge sport fans. I know plenty men that sit in front of the television and watch football while simultaneously gulping down a cold beer. The fact the bottom of the flyer reads: bring out your best, suggests that Budweiser beer is simply the best beer. Also, one may interpret that professional football players consume this type of beer and people may idolize them and want to drink the same beer as them. This is simply pure influence, high profile company’s associate their product with something that that society enjoys. For the majority of the male population football is a good catch because really what man does not enjoy a great football game? I can not think of one.