Media Homework

The only writing I had to do for Tuesday. For my Media class.

Lead/Open Paragraphs 10-20 (MED240)

Another assignment that kinda seems out of context... Mostly just an exercise.

The Classes, The Books.

Right, so I said I would give a brief about each class... Here it is.

BST101 - Intro to Old Testament. Dr. Bob Erickson. A survey course exploring the "older testament." The nicest man you have ever met, is also the slowest speaker you have ever met. Class meets Wednesday nights 1730 - 2030.
Books: The New Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocrypha, ISBN 0-19-528883-4 (New - $32.99 USD); Encountering the Old Testament by B. Arnold and B. Beyer, ISBN 0-81010-2176-6 (Used - BORROWED) ; Readings from the Ancient Near East by B. Arnold and B. Beyer, ISBN 0-8010-2292-4 (New - $22.99).

HIS480 - History of the U.S. since 1945 to present. Dr. Craig Kaplowitz. My only upper level course this semester, I am thoroughly enjoying it. We picked up right at the end of WWII, with a brief touch on the 20's, and 30's for context. Interesting stuff for sure. I love learning about the Cold War, and it is fun to be learning about America during that time period. Class meets Tuesday/Thursday 1300 - 1415.
Books: The American Paradox: A History of The United States Since 1945 by Stephen M. Gillion, ISBN 0-618-66086-0 (Used - $47.75 USD); Lyndon B. Johnson and American Liberalism by Bruce J. Schulman, ISBN 0-312-42633-4 (Used - $12.00 USD); The Rise of Conservatism in America, 1945 - 2000 by R. Story and B. Laurie, ISBN 0-312-45064-8 (Used - $16.00 USD); The Movements of the New Left 1950 - 1975 by Van Gosse, ISBN 0-312-13397-9 (Used - $12.00 USD).

HIS262 - History of Civilization II 1500 ad - 2000 ad. Dr. Craig Kaplowitz. General history... But, I think Kap makes it interesting (And there are some cute girls that make it quite bearable!). Class meets Tuesday/Thursday 1430 - 1515.
Book: Worlds Together, Worlds Apart by R. Tignor et al. ISBN 0-393-97746-3 (Used $68.00 USD).

MED240 - Writing for the Media. Professor A. Paul Mouw. It is replacing my upper level English requirement, and it much more interesting my opinion. Class meets Tuesday/Thursday 0800 - 0915.
Book: FeatureWriting.Net by Michael Ray Smith, ISBN 0-9748319-2-1 (New - $19.99 USD).

SOC151 - Intro to Sociology. Dr. Tim Johnson. It was Intro to Psych. or Intro to Soc. Enjoying it so far. I will be doing a "service learning experience" as part of this class. Class meets Tuesday/Thursday 0930 - 1045.
Book: Sociology, Tenth Edition by Rodney Stark, ISBN 0-495-09344-0 (Half.com - $65.00 USD).

So... Yeah... That is the brief. Book total was $317.51 USD. I had enrolled in a math class also, but then I was going to have to pay extra tuition... so I dropped it, but not before I dropped $105.99 USD on the text book off of half.com. I'm just going to keep it, I will take the class next semester. I got out alright with the near $320 total for books, but I actually spent closer to $475 with the math book, and I was able to borrow one and return that book for some money back. $300 is reasonable, $500 is not.

I'm also reading a book for a small group that I have started going to. I'll write about that next time.

Forgot a couple...

Here are some more assignments from my MED240 Class... Writing for the Media.

Lead/Open Summaries 2-9 (MED240)
*Examining how print writers use leads and opening paragraphs. We have been given a packet of 20 stories, mostly in detail form. We use the existing details to craft an opener.

... Well... I guess only one more... as the other document is having issues. Oh well, its the same as above... only paragraph 1.

On School...

In my last post I put forth and responded to a question of poverty. It was required for my Intro to Sociology class... I wanted to post it here, and I decided to... But, that got me to thinking... I am beginning to write a lot for my various classes. So, that lead me to decide that I am going to publish anything that I write up for a class on Google Docs. Some things are trivial, some things will seem disconnected unless I explain the context of the assignment. I have chosen to publish everything in an ongoing effort to be transparent in all I do, but more importantly... I want your feedback.

Feedback. Below are links to all the articles/papers I've written in the first three weeks of class. Most of them are outlines and one pagers. I have my first extended history paper due in a week. But, I love interaction. You have a viewpoint that is different than my own... but is valuable. Maybe I missed something huge, tell me. Maybe something struck you as funny, tell me. Maybe I am flat out wrong, I pray you tell me.

Out of the six documents below, by far the Poverty one seems the most important one for a discussion. The others are either outlines, or written "as a columnist," which may or may not truly represent me. One specifically (Sept 13th Analysis Paper for HIS480) was written from the perspective of a happily married columnist in the mid-1950's.

In the future, I will put links to new articles/papers in their own posts for easy feedback commenting.

Edgar Outline (HIS480)

Sept 13th Analysis Paper (HIS480)

Sept 6th Document Assignment Chapter 12 (HIS262)

Ribbon Cutting Ceremony Report (MED240)

Edgar Article (MED240)

Poverty Question (SOC151)

In my next post... I promise I will tell you something real. Like... What school I am attending, how things are going, and what the heck HIS480 is and why I am in it. Promise.

Poverty?

Below is copied in full a short write up I turned in for my Intro to Sociology class Thursday morning. Here is the link to the same article on Google Docs.

Warren, Christopher M
Dr. Johnson, Tim
SOC151 T/Th 0930 – 1045
September 13, 2007
Q: Poverty?

Q: If poverty exists, does it have a positive effect on society?

Poverty does exist in our world today, its effects are undeniable. What if your newspaper headlines read “15,000 dead in one day,” what if they read “30,000 in one day?” The startling truth is, these headlines could appear in your paper today. Its saddening that they do not. In the second paragraph of his introduction Dr. Jeffery Sachs writes that: “Every morning our newspapers could report, 'More than 20,000 people perished yesterday of extreme poverty'” (Sachs 1).

But, our question today is not just, “Does poverty exist?” It is “If poverty exists, does it have a positive effect on society?” This is hard. Identifying poverty is simple enough, data from the World Bank shows us that there are many places in the world that live in “Extreme Poverty” on less than $2 a day (less than 750 $/yr). The majority of poor people live in three regions East Asia, South Asia, and Sub-Saharan Africa. (Sachs 21). Does it have a positive effect on society?

Without a doubt, the existence of developing nations helps under gird the economy of the United States of America. The US has increasingly been involved in the world economy since the end of WWII, and the end of an era of isolationalism. Southeast Asia is the primary location of textile factories, the cheap labor in this area directly translates into a lower price point for imported clothing. Check your t-shirt, where does it come from? Many have campaigned against these aptly named “sweat shops,” but Sachs instead says that these jobs offer an important step in the economic ladder out of poverty. Instead of closing down the sweat shops, we should campaign for better wages and benefits for these workers. As the world explores Globalization more and more everyday, we see the positive effects that poverty has on the world economy. It is cheaper for workers in Mexico to manufacture cars than it is to pay a union worker in Detroit. It is cheaper for Swiss Air to send all their paper documents to India, have them sorted and translated into spreadsheets then sent electronically back to Zurich, than it is to pay a worker in Switzerland to do a simple data entry job (Sachs 179).

Poverty creates the existence of social classes by forcing divisions along economic lines, is it right that we exploit these differences? I think one could argue 'yes' if he says that we are bringing the economically lagging societies along. But I resolutely say 'no' if they are being left behind, as this only perpetuates the existence of poverty.

Cited: Sachs, Dr. Jeffery D; The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Our Time. The Penguin Press, New York, 2005.