Kanye West: Mayor Material?

As I was scrolling through the Chicago Tribune website I decided to click on this article because it seemed so absurd to me. Someone wants Kanye West as mayor of Chicago? An artist from Hyde Park said that "Sure, he's crazy and unpredictable, but he would also look out for the concerns of poor people in the city better than the current administration." Although I do not believe that this is necessarily true I do not think it was interesting that this article was published.

I believe that thirty years ago, before rap music was popular this article would have never been published. Rap music and rap artists have become so respected and popular in America that I believe that someone could look at this article and not think it was completely ludicrous. Rap music has become so popular that people of different races, classes, religion etc listen to it. It is a type of music that binds people together. What do you think? Are you surprised someone wants Kanye West mayor of Chicago? 

Stay At Home Dads? Who Knew?!

For most of my life my mom has always been the stay at home parent while my dad has always been the one with a full time job. When I was born my mom worked for a couple years but she soon quit to care for her kids while my dad went to work. My mom's choice was not uncommon but this article from NY times really shocked me because it proclaimed that in 1989 there was 1.1 million stay at home dads but in 2012 there was a report of 2 million. People may argue this increase was because of the recession and the unemployment rates but evidence shows that up to 1/5% of fathers choose to stay home to care for their family while in 1989 it was only 5%.

This statistic was really surprising because not only that but women are now 47% of the workforce and increasingly earning more money than their husbands. This surprises me because America has always portrayed a classic American family with a father who goes to the office everyday and a mother who stays home to clean and take care of the kids. This image of a classic American family is portrayed in books, movies, t.v. shows, magazines, etc. Growing up I had the idea stuck in my head that I would always be a stay at home mom. Clearly the statistics are changing but are people's views of what an American family should be like changing? I would argue no. 

In  a Pew survey done last year, just over 50% of people said children are better off with having a mother at home while 8% said the same thing about fathers. This does not surprise me because although statistics are changing, you rarely see a stay at home dad as the star of a movie. People can be uncomfortable or scared of change. For hundreds of years mothers have been raising children which is why I think it will take a while before there is next big movie or t.v. show starring a stay at home father and a mother as the breadwinner. 

Racism Today?!

As we have been reading the Great Gatsby and the Kentucky Cycle in class I have noticed very offensive, racist remarks made by white people to people of color. Because these books are set in the 1800 and 1900's I was not very surprised by these racist remarks. I never thought that people today thought like that but after reading this article from CNN, it is clear that this country still has people who clearly cannot get over the past.

According to the article a man named Untonia Harris was working for a white man at a cotton warehouse in Memphis, Tennessee. Harris had been feeling discriminated against for months by his white boss so finally he decided to record some of the things his boss was saying when he tried to drink from the water fountain. The recording shows his boss saying, "I need to put a sign here that says white people only." Not only that but after Harris asked him what will happen if he drinks from the fountain, his boss said, "That's when we hang you."

Making rude comments about someone's skin color is bad but threatening to hang them takes everything to the next level. That is not okay and that sounds like something someone would say in the Jim Crow era. I find it interesting that this happened in the South and I would make the bet that something like this probably would not happen in the North. Jim Crow Laws were born in the South and it is clear that some people still wish they still existed. What do you think? Do you think something like this would happen in the North?

Why Not Just Handwrite?

As I was hanging out with my 7th grade brother yesterday, I noticed how dependent he was on his Ipad for his homework. Every piece of writing he turns in is typed which I find interesting because he has not handwritten an assignment for school in the longest time. I came across this article from the NY times which was about what a student looses when they type instead of write. Although there have been studies that prove the learning benefits of hand writing over typing, according to this article from CNN, the state of Indiana has recently dropped the district requirement to teach cursive writing and instead students must learn to type on a keyboard. 46 other states have also adopted the Common Core Standards which is a set of educational guidelines that does not require students to learn cursive. Why would American schools stop the requirement of students learning cursive even though there are proven benefits?

I think that America has become so dependent on technology because it often makes life so much easier. Sending an e-mail can take 2 min, while writing a handwritten letter could take up to twenty. To Americans, saving time even in the simplest actions is important. Even if typing something rather than handwriting only saves 20 minutes in someone's day, I still think an American would choose to type. 

Although it is a scary thought I think that Jan Olsen, founder of "Handwriting Without Tears," is right. She said, "If you stop teaching handwriting in the second grade, you're going to have a generation of people who write like second graders." 

"I've Moved on" -Hilary Clinton

The Monica Lewinsky scandal with Bill Clinton happened in 1973 so I was very surprised to see this article on Nytimes talking about how Hilary Clinton has "moved on" from the scandal. When I first saw it I thought: obviously she has moved on! The scandal happened over 30 years ago! It was clear that Hilary Clinton moved on when she decided to stay with her husband after it happened. Then I asked myself why was this article about Hilary Clinton "moving on" published in 2014 in the first place?

I think that this article was published because she is said to be running for president in two years. Family is such an American value that she needs to make sure the public knows how great her and her husband's marriage is right now. This scandal is not relevant anymore but she needs to start thinking about gaining votes right now and she can play the angle of how great her family is. Not only does this article talk about her marriage but it also talks about how her daughter is expecting a baby in the fall. Clinton said that she was not dwelling on the decision on whether to run for president but she is thinking about,“With the extra joy of ‘I’m about to become a grandmother,’ I want to live in the moment.” Although she may not be thinking about running for office and she may be excited to become a grandmother, I question whether she thinks that label that will make her seem like a better candidate for president.

Going to College: A Must?

As we have been discussing class recently, this article from the Nytimes really struck me because it talked about how Americans with four year college degrees make 98% more an hour on average in 2013 than people who do not have a college degree. One part of this article that really stuck out was when the author said college is, "...the most reliable ticket to the middle class and beyond." 

Americans have become so obsessed with college. I would argue more obsessed than any other country. It has become almost a given that if you want to be part of the middle or upper class you must go to a four year college. Living on the North Shore college is always a topic people are chatting about because for most, it is not even a question whether a New Trier graduate is going to college or not. What I find interesting about the North Shore is college is taken so seriously it almost becomes part of your identity. People will make immediate judgements subconsciously after you tell them what college you attended or are going to attend. Why has is become this way? Why has college become so important to Americans? Comments appreciated! 

FDA Stepping It Up

Today, as junior theme topics have been throwing around, I became interested when someone said they were doing their paper on the farming industry in America today. It is becoming a well known fact that farming these past couple of years has really changed the food industry. Drugs are being used to make animals grow faster, fruit is becoming bigger, etc.

When I saw this article I was very interested because it was about the junior theme I heard about. According to the article the FDA made an announcement that manufactures cannot sell drugs for the use of speeding up growth in animals. Therefore farmers will not be able to make their animals grow fatter faster.

This news made me very happy to hear because I believe our society has become very accecepting of long food labels with chemicals we've never even heard of and do not really think about what we are putting in our mouths. I do not think it even crosses people's minds that when they have chicken for dinner there is a huge possibility that it was fed antibiotics to grow faster that medical experts are still skeptical about. What do you think? Why has society become so accepting of these antibiotics? Is it because we don't know or is is it we just don't care?

What Not To Wear?

Recently in school, girl advisories have been required to watch the documentary Miss Representation which is about how girls in society today feel pressured by media to look or dress a certain way that attracts men. Iv'e been watching it for a couple days now so when I saw this article from CNN about whether it matters what women wear to work, I became very interested. The article is about how Loyola Law School in Los Angeles sent out a rather disturbing memo to all of their female lawyers recently. The memo read: ""I really don't need to mention that cleavage and stiletto heels are not appropriate office wear (outside of ridiculous lawyer TV shows), do I?" 

I would have to agree with this article in saying that this memo seems sexist to me. Why didn't they address what men are supposed to wear? It seems to me that whoever wrote this memo thinks that women are getting judged by their appearance and it doesn't really matter what kind of lawyer they are, it matters more about what they look like. In my opinion if a women is doing well at her job it shouldn't really matter what she looks like while she's doing it. It would be one thing for a woman to come to work practically naked but if stiletto heels make a woman feel more powerful or she prefers feeling taller she should be able to wear them without having to worry about being judged. 

What are your thoughts on this memo? Do you think that today's society focuses too much on what women look like?

NSA Overstepping Their Bounds

"I've called President Obama to express my frustration over the damage the government is creating for all of our future." -Mark Zuckerberg

Now that's quite a statement. When I saw these words on CNN I immediately had to read this article to find out why Mark Zuckerberg personally called the President of the United States. It turns out that Mark Zuckerberg is frustrated with the government because his engineers have been working endlessly to improve their security not from criminals but the government. I would have to agree with Zuckerberg saying the NSA has overstepped their bounds. They have now made it possible to inject bad software into innocent people's computers which allows them to sneak into anyone's web browser.

This compliant from Mark Zuckerberg may be ironic because Facebook makes money from people's personal information but I would have to agree that the NSA is becoming a threat. Unless they have a valid reason or concern with evidence they should not be allowed to go into anyone's browser. As citizens we have a right to privacy and that should be maintained. 

Outdated Parade Rules

As St. Patty's Day being today and after attending the Chicago parade this past weekend this article from CNN caught my eye. It exclaimed that two major beer brands "Heineken" and "Sam Adams" have pulled their sponsorship from the parades today in Boston and New York because both parades have banned sexual orientation to be displayed. Therefore none of the veterans who wanted to march as part of the LBGQT group are not allowed to identify themselves as gay or lesbian with signs or t-shirts.

It defense to their rule The South Boston Allied War Veterans Council who is organizing the Boston parade said, ""We invite all to join us to celebrate this historic event, but we must maintain our guidelines to insure the enjoyment and public safety of our spectators," The fact that this council brought up public safety to me was very concerning and surprising. I believe that we live in a society where people who are gay and lesbian are very much accepted. For someone to say that gay pride is a concern of "public safety" seems like a very outdated statement to me. 

Overall, I support the decision of Heineken and Samuel Adams. I do not think it is morally right for anyone to try to stop people from showing their sexual orientation. What are your thoughts on this situation? 

Does A College Education Guarantee Economic Safety?

I've always been in the mind set that if you go to college you at least certain to get  a job after that will put food on the table every night but after reading this article from the NY times, my perception has completely changed. This article gives two shocking examples of people who have gotten a college degree but can barely afford food to eat because the minimum wage is so low.

Landon Howard is a graduate from University of Tennessee four years ago who obtained a bachelor's degree in social work but could not find a job. He currently works as a prep cook at the Tupelo Honey Cafe. He is only scheduled about 20 hours a week making $9.50 an hour. He only brings home about $200 a week and had to move back in with his parents. 

According to John Schmitt of the Center of Economic Policy Research,“Minimum-wage and low-wage workers are older and more educated than 10 or 20 years ago, yet they’re making wages below where they were 10 or 20 years ago after inflation." So even though people 20 years ago were working the same job as Landon Howard graduate of University of Tennessee, they were making more money often without a college education much less a degree.

What do you think? Should the minimum wage be raised in America? Would this solve problems for Americans like Landon Howard?

Are Charter School Really Fair?

I know many people who went to charter schools and I always wonder what the deal with them is. I found this article from the ny times that was about a charter school in Arizona. It was basically explaining how a charter school in Phoenix is trying to lift the poor area and how it was a chance for middle-class neighborhoods to avoid the underfunded neighborhood schools without having to pay a lot for a private school.
What I find interesting is that in order for a child to go to a charter school, they must take a test. According to this article the author said, "The strategy is grounded in the principle that test scores offer the best way to measure students’ progress and teachers’ abilities." I understand that charter schools only want kids who are motivated to learn and take advantage of the charter school system but sometimes a test score is not always the right way to judge a student. There are kids out there who are willing to learn but maybe aren't the best test takers. 


On the other hand, charter schools do need a process on how they let kids into their school so maybe tests are the only way? Do you think that charter schools are fair? Why or why not?

Not Even Beyonce Believes that Gender Equality Exists

Although lately there have been talks that the world is changing, Beyonce, known as one of the biggest feminists of our time does not believe that genders are equal. According to this article Beyonce that "average working woman earns only 77 percent of what the average working man makes. But unless women and men both say this is unacceptable, things will not change." 

According to Business Insider a lot of women (and men) in America actually agree with Beyonce. The article stated, "Both sexes believe that men have an advantage when it comes to pay (and women even more so): 31% of women think they'd be paid more if they were male, and 20% of men said they'd be paid less if they were female."

Beyonce's belief and the results of the survey above raise the question: why do women really believe that men have more power especially in the working world than women? According to Business Insider it is because of family. For hundreds of years in America it was always the woman's job to stay home and take care of the family. It was the man's job to be the breadwinner. Although the times are changing and there is powerful women in this world, 51% of women still believe that family is the reason that there aren't more women busisness leaders in this world. Women still feel the need to fit the stereotype of a stay at home mom. 

There have been women to break this mold like Beyonce but still one of the most influential feminists today don't even think that genders are being treated equal. 

What Brain Dead Really Means

Lately, all over the internet there have been arguments about what the term "brain dead" really means. A few days ago, a hospital went to court with a family after the family asked the doctors to keep their daughter on life support after she was declared "brain dead." The article can be found here but it first explains what the difference between brain dead and a coma is. When someone is in a coma is a prolonged state of unconcsiousness and it resembles sleep. A coma does not usually last more than a few weeks and most of the time the person who was in the coma ends up waking up and go into a vegetative state which many patients can recover from. Brain dead on the other hand menas that neither the two parts of the brain are working. But, when someone is brain dead, there still may be a heart beat but what does that really mean? 

Cynda Hylton Rushton, professor of clinical ethics at Johns Hopkins University said that "The term "brain dead" can be misleading because it sounds like a person really isn't dead. If someone dies of a heart attack, doctors don't say they're "cardiovascular dead." 

I agree with Cynda Rushton that the term brain dead is misleading but I also believe a person is truely dead when they are announced brain dead. I think doctors should be more clear about what brain dead really means and explain that no one has ever recovered or woken up after being brain dead. I understand why the hospital wanted to pull that girl off of life support but I also think that the doctors should have been more clear to the family that brain dead really does mean dead. I feel very horrible for this family and I wish their daughter would be able to recover but science has proven that it is not possible. 

Better Looks Means Better Grades?

After browsing CNN for a while I saw a title of an article being "When teachers favor attractive kids" and was immediately alarmed. I could not believe that someone did a study on kids being more successful in school because they were attractive. But, it's true. The full article can be found here but basically the article was written by Pepper Shwartz at University of Washington. She took evidence from different books an studies to show that in many cases it was true: more attractive people were more successful in school and out of school. According to the article,"The difference in GPA and college graduation rates between  youth rated by others  as attractive, versus average in looks, is similar to the  differences in academic achievement between youth raised in two-parent versus single-parent families."

My first thought on this study was who gets to judge what "attractive" really means. The article describes attractive as "good-looking" but that could mean so many different things to different people. I don't think being good looking and not good looking is black and white and I certainly do not think these studies were fair if they did not have a clear definition of what attractive meant. Just because I find someone attractive does not mean someone else will. Although I am sure this study does have some logic to it, I am not completely sold because I do not think two people who did the study get to decide whose attractive.