The Media And The 2012 Presidential Campaign

Something that we have been discussing a little bit in class, is the effect of news media on the presidential campaign this year. More specifically is how the media affects a possible voter and who he will end up choosing this November. As I was browsing various news sites such as CNN, Huffington Post and NYTimes I noticed that many of the headlines regarding the campaigns today were the results of various polls and which candidate was leading. On the Huffington Post, I noticed this article. To read it click here. This is something that is not just showing up today, its been the obsession of the news media to be displaying daily polls and who is leading and by how many percentage points. These polls often display where registered voters are leaning towards giving their vote and if they are still undecided, who is their most likely pick. 

I started to wonder how these various polls influence potential voters who read these news sources. Also how did these voters know to trust these polls and know that they are accurate? Finally, why would they let other peoples opinions influence their vote? These are just some questions that I have started to think about. What do you think?

Hidden Messages?

Something that was brought up in class this week was the possibility of hidden messages in some of the children's books that are being read today, when I was in kindergarten and 1st grade, and even before then. I thought that was so interesting because its definitely not a connection I have ever made before. When reading them as children, they come off as entertaining books with big pictures and a fun story along with that. I know that my parents often had to read my favorite books to me several times before going to bed. So after that being brought up in class, I decided to do a little research and see if any common children’s books had “secret” messages in them.

            I first looked at Dr. Seuss’ Wikipedia page. Dr. Seuss was one of the most popular children book authors, writing books such as Green Eggs and Ham and The Cat in the Hat. These may come off to children just as simple books but almost every book had a meaning attached to it. The Lorax was said to be about environmentalism and How the Grinch Stole Christmas about anti-consumerism. I wonder if these messages really are secret or if children really can pick up on them, they just don’t realize it.

            Another important and very popular book was Where the Wild Things Are. This book not only was banned in libraries for years after its release but was also named one of the Top 100 Picture Books of all Time. I know this was definitely one of my favorites growing up. I wonder if the secret messages in books and the banning of certain books is mainly an American thing to do? What do you think?

Promises

            In the past few weeks, I have been following the CPS strike and all of the other news surrounding that. One personal reason for that is I have a lot of friends who attend various CPS high schools such as Lincoln Park, Walter Payton, or Northside so I’m very interested in keeping up with the news directing affecting their schools. Although the strike has stopped after about 8 days, I have begun to question the lasting effect it will have on school students, teachers, and administrators. Will this hurt or help the students in the end? Will the teachers be more willing to go on strike in the future? We might not know the answer until later this year at minimum.

            Recently though Chicago Public School CEO, Jean-Claude Brizard was replaced by Barbara Byrd-Bennett who Rahm Emanuel placed in that position. Byrd-Bennett believes she has what it takes to turn any CPS school around that needs help.  She says she is very relatable to many students because, “I come from less than blue collar” and “somebody with integrity and honesty.”

            While in this interview she makes a very convincing case for herself as the strongest person to take over as CEO of one of the biggest public school districts in the country, because she was personally appointed by Rahm Emanuel. However it could be an interesting dynamic between her and the teachers. Emanuel and the CPS Union President Karen Lewis have had many disagreements over the past years. Some possible questions come up as to how will the teachers and Byrd-Bennett get along? Will any more conflicts arise? Will Byrd-Bennett be able to keep her promises and turn CPS schools around?

Childhood Obesity in America

It was really interesting to me when I checked the American Studies website, was Mr. Bolos’ blog post on is the issue of physical health and mental health. Even more specifically, the physical health issues in American children. I first started to learn about the rising obesity rates when I watched the documentary, Super Size Me, in one of my health classes. To learn more about this documentary, click on Super Size Me. It shocked me when I learned about the types of food the majority of children in the US were eating and the rising implications of that.  Because of rising food costs and gas costs, getting to a grocery store for some low-income families can be extremely difficult. Besides the fact of just getting to a store, the high prices of fruits and vegetables and quality meat can make these foods just not an option. For example, the other day I was in a Whole Foods market and decided to pick just one apple to eat before practice. The cost of this tiny apple was $1.77. Just for ONE apple. I was at a loss for words and it made me think even more about how families would just not be able to afford fresh fruits and vegetables like this.  The result of this is that many families might have to turn to fast food restaurants and packaged foods. These foods are high in carbohydrates and fats, and very low in nutritional value. Once in a while, fast food wouldn’t be harmful to someone’s overall health. But when growing children have to eat food like this three to five times a week, it can be extremely detrimental. 

This issue has been brought up nationally, from First Lady Michelle Obamas, “Let’s Move” campaign to even the military saying that we wont have enough fit and healthy recruits for the army if the obesity rates continue to rise. The “Let’s Move” campaign is focused on educating adults and even children on the consequences of obesity, how to eat healthier, and plans activities nation wide in support of children being active. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s website, “childhood obesity has more than tripled in the past 30 years” and nearly “1 in 3 children in the United States is overweight or obese”. These numbers continue to shock me especially because I feel like where I live, these numbers don’t seem to add up. I have now began to wonder even more about the correlation between low-income families and obesity, and the access to grocery stores depending on where you live. Also what does it say about America and how we have let childhood obesity come so far? How come we have not taken more of an initiative to end this? What are some possible solutions to this problem? 

How far have we really come?

Today I came across a really interesting article while looking at the New York Times home page. As many families have been dealing with either sending a new freshman away to college or saying goodbye again to a junior or senior in the past couple of weeks, an article titled, “50 Years After Integration Ole Miss Grapples With History” caught my eye. Just the name of the article really interested me, and I wasn’t that surprised when the article did too. The article, written by Campbell Robertson discussed how University of Mississippi is reflecting on its racially segregated past and the new ceremonies and plans for the future.
            Exactly 50 years ago, an African-American student enrolled in classes and marked the end of the racially segregated campus. While ‘Ole Miss’ has been celebrating how far the university has come in that period of time, many people feel like not enough attention is being paid to what is was like before the campus was integrated. Professor Eagles, when addressing the 50^th anniversary asked, “whether an institution of higher learning should be acclaiming an event…rather than focusing more intently on the history that preceded it.” It is really interesting to me that the professor brought this up, during a week designated for celebration. Perhaps he just wanted to remind the student body of University of Mississippi that there still is a long way to go in making the campus completely and one hundred percent racially integrated?

The college and university experience in the United States is so very different from countries all over the world. In many countries, the college you chose is the one closet to your house, and you commute to classes everyday. In many other countries, you are lucky if you even get to attend college classes. It seems like only in America do you go live away from home, stay in a dorm and really get the college experience. However, especially in the south at colleges like ‘Ole Miss’, college was not accessible for African-American students because of racial segregation. It seems like the United States has come so far, but this article seems to really question that. I’m also now starting to wonder, how far has the United States really come?  

Chicago Teachers Strike, Week 2

The Chicago Teachers Union continues its strike into the second week, leaving about 350,000 students out of school for the 10^th day. I have been following the news closely these past couple of weeks, trying to stay updated with how each side is fighting and what progress (or lack of) has been made. In the most recent news, Rahm Emanuel, the Mayor of Chicago is going to court to make the teachers get off the picket line and back into the classrooms. A really interesting, well-informed article I found on the Huffington Post describes every event involving CPS and CTU and why Emanuel is about to take it to court. The article, written by Sophia Tareen and Michael Tarm, says “The request, filed in Circuit Court of Cook County, argues the strike is illegal because state law bars the union from striking on anything but economic issues and that the work stoppage is focused instead on such issues as evaluations, layoffs and recall rights.” So basically the Mayor is arguing that the strike is about more than just the longer schools day. Mr. Emanuel is also saying that this strike is a “public health and safety issue” because over 80% of CPS kids rely on the school for most of their meals. Another big issue with the CTU strike, is that child care is very hard for working parents to find and it is causing parents to have to take off work. As I mentioned in my article last week, many summer plans for kids will have to be canceled because of how the school year will have to be extended when the strike finally does end. Both sides of the strike still have many problems and contracts to go over so the strike could be continuing to even the end of the week.

I have many friends who go to CPS schools such as Walter Payton, Northside College Prep, Whitney Young, Lane Tech, and Lincoln Park High School who I have talked to about what its like from a students perspective to be out of school. Many of them were in agreement when they said that being out of school was fun for about the first three days because they could relax and it was almost like a long weekend. But now coming into its 10^th day, some of them even said that they are ready to go back to school. Some of my friends also said that there is not much to do during the day and especially the ones in AP classes at school are anxious because everyday they aren’t learning the material in class, the more they will have to cram when the AP test days come in May.

Overall I think that everyone loses because of the strike, even though I understand it is important for the teachers to strike if they feel like they aren’t getting paid enough for the hours that they are working. Hopefully both sides will come to an agreement soon so  we can get Chicago students back into school. 

CPS Strike

This week, one of the major news headlines is something that is affecting thousands of kids only fifteen miles away from my house. According to this CNN article, "the nations third-largest public school system entered Sunday without a contract with teachers and with a strike looming." Most Chicago Public Schools started only this past Monday, September 4th but with Mondays school day starting in less then 12 hours and no contract, parents and students are planning on no school for the upcoming week or two. No school "for about 400,000 students" will cause big problems, the first being that children won't be able to get an education for the day. This is extremely important for children who live in neighborhoods where going to school is an escape for about eight hours. Secondly, especially for the younger children, parents will need to stay home from work. Lastly, depending on how long the strike lasts, the last day of school could be in early July which disrupts children's summer break plans and schedules. 

The reason for the strike is because of the amount of money the CPS teachers are getting payed. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel successfully managed to extend all of CPS school days, however the teachers are arguing that because of the extended time in school, they need to be getting paid more. According to this Chicago Tribune article, "the union rejected the district's last known offer of 2 percent increases each year for four years, saying teachers deserve more because of the longer school day that Emanuel successfully pushed." I agree with the CPS teachers. I think teachers should be getting paid more, especially if they are going to be working longer hours. 

One of the most unique things about America is it public school systems. However in the past ten years or so because of the lack of funding many of the public schools have begun to fail. In order to combat this, people like Rahm Emanuel have tried to fix them with longer school days and a longer school year. But in order to start fixing problems like these, teachers need to be on board for them. Because if they aren’t then it is going to cause even bigger problems like the one CPS is facing today. What do you think, should CPS give in to the teachers request of a pay raise?