For The Love Of 420

O, I forgot about the whole blogging experience thing. But I guess I back to tell you a little piece about how my whole research experience is going. Well so far I found a lot of articles and sources about my paper, that is great right? The only problem is I don't no how to actually put what where but I always have a way of figuring things out. Tonight will be a long night trying to finish the rest of my rough draft especially when its due tomorrow on 420, when a good amount of my friends will be trying to force me to celebrate with them and sunny Santa Cruz. But I will be in class, turning this paper in if I can finish it tonight. Hope everyone is doing well with their papers!

Research, I Guess!

In the past, I have never found research papers difficult, until I found myself in this English class. I think it is because in the past I have always had the topic giving to me. And now that that we have to come up with our own topic and relate it back to San Jose. I am having a hard time and know that my research paper will suck and I will do poorly. The fact is I'm not confident or comfortable is going to play a major role in writing this paper. In Chapter 6, the most important idea that stuck out to me, “The best research papers are the papers in which writers make absolutely clear what they are arguing –to themselves as well as to their readers” located on page 150. Most first year college students really don’t care about what they writing about, as long as they get the paper done. They don’t take the time to really think about a topic before they start to write about it, they do the minimum work possible. I think most writers when they start to write a research paper they only have an idea that they writing about but it may not be clear on what they writing about. And I think as a writer that is why we go through so many drafts until we get the perfect idea to write about and we fell confident enough to write about that idea.

How Many Sex Offenders Live Near You?

I read this article in the San Jose Mercury News called, “Mountain View soccer volunteer jailed for alleged sexual assault.” The article was about a man named Pedro Carbajal, who was arrested on charges of aggravated sexual assault of a child, lewd or lascivious acts on a child by force, violence, duress, menace and fear, and two counts of lewd or lascivious acts on a child under 14. These charges date back as far as 1996. His bail is set at two million dollars. During this time from 1996, Pedro has been running his own soccer league and Mountain View and the same police unit has been sponsoring his soccer team for a few years now. Since the arrest, the police station has fired and terminated Pedro’s soccer league. They also have been contacting the parents who children were in the league. Pedro will appear in court March 11.

I do not know if this is a good topic to talk about because there might not be any follow up articles in the near future. But the article caught my attention because it may me think about how the police says that sex offenders must register (Megan's Law) on a website when they move to a new neighborhood. And that they cannot live a certain number of feet from a school or playground. But how do the neighbors know when a sex offender moves in. Is there a newsletter that is put into your mailbox, which reads: In the daily neighborhood news 36 years old Bobby Lumkins, an ex-sex offender who likes to molest 5-year-old girls and videotape lewd acts against teenagers. No, no newsletter like this exists. So how can parents find out about these sick people? I mean the police had Pedro right under their nose. He was working side by side with the cops for years. Probably attending barbeque events, fundraisers, and along with his soccer games. It took the cops a little over a decade to pull up his file to find something wrong with him. I know there are probably websites to look up information on your friendly, neighbor sex offender. But who has time to look them up these days.

New Budget Shows No Mercy to No One Even Senior Citizens Suffer

California seniors struggle to survive in their last days. Many seniors are making life decisions, food or medicine, rent or heat. Has it really come down to this when you have to chose between food to keep you alive from starving to death or choosing medicine to keep you alive so you won't die from your medical condition. Yes, this is happening in your very own neighborhood. Old people do not make enough money to live their everyday lives. They are either retired or too disabled to work. So they rely on Social Security checks to help. But everyone knows SSI has been getting depleted for years. In the San Jose/Silicon Valley Area 43% of senior citizens fell below the survival standard. The new state budget is doing little to help this problem. California's budget passed last week will cut SSI payments for hundreds of thousands of California seniors by $37 each month, with the possibility of another $20 cut come July. Cuts to home health care subsidies which keep the elderly and infirm out of more costly nursing homes also loom. President Barack Obama's stimulus plan will, however, provide some temporary relief for SSI recipients who are blind, elderly or disabled, a group that number 1.3 million in California. Those recipients will receive a one-time $250 cash payment in the coming months. The economy is taking not taking any prisoners; everybody is getting hit where it hurts. I believe overtime the economy will get better over time but we as people must be patient and wait for the change to happen sooner than later.

Yeah, I Know Its Late!

I am doing this blog entry late because I did not have internet access for the pass couple of days. I was not on campus to use their many resources and I was not near any library and Wi-Fi spots. And plus I wanted my blogging partner to have something to blog back about. But anyways, I read the AVODAH website article, AVODAH is a Jewish network group, where the programs recruits Jews from all over the United States to spend a year working on urban poverty issues as a full time employee in a non-profit organization. The program is to help Jews become more aware of Jewish life and become aware of community activism. Religious affiliations, practices, and beliefs can shape advocacy because they can the best of both worlds. You can learn more about a religious culture while promoting some kind of cause and advocate for it. Having a religious background or a cultural background when starting an advocate group can be very beneficial because you already have supporters, who share the same beliefs as you so you can gain supporters through your religion or group. When everybody has a common goal, it is much easier to work with people who are on the same level as you. Compare to working with someone who disagrees with your belief.

Do You Take Your Vitamins?

The article that I read was called “Study finds one-third of US kids take vitamins” by Lindsey Tanner of the Associated Press. The article was stating that there was a national state study of what kids took vitamins and who did not. Most people would assume that people in lower income communities do not take vitamins. But the study show that thirty-four percent of the vitamin takers were children and adults who were already healthy or wealthy. Doctors suggest take if you already are healthy and get your daily vitamin intake you really should not take vitamins. But kids and adults who have poor diets and might be obese should receive more vitamins. Doctors do not want people to rely on vitamin pills, they doctors want people to increase the foods that have more vitamins. They suggested that people should increase the daily intake of vitamin D and calcium, even if you are already healthy because doctors feel as if people do not get enough of these two vitamins.


I pick this topic because since I’m a Health Science major most of everything I read is about health. Since this semester, I have three Health Science classes and all I hear all day is things relating to health. I also chose this article because I wanted to know the statistics of how many people took vitamins. I believe people do not take pill vitamins because they are so expensive. The article mention that it cost ten dollars on a 100 bottled of multi-vitamins. Americans spend two billion dollars annually on these pills. I myself do not take vitamins; my parents never gave them to me. Another thing this article mention was that people should not take vitamins and continued to eat unhealthy. Some people may get it confuse and forget that they need a balance in life between being healthy and eating junk.

Is It Your Opinion?

Reading Chapter 13, made me think how when we read opinion pieces and articles, we take what the writer is saying to heart. We read something for the first time and we take a stand on it as soon as we hear something we like or do not like. Our opinion of the writer may have change for better or worst. We defend our beliefs and when someone talks down about it, we get mad. But don’t people have the right to write, speak, and think what ever they want. We forget that we do have the bill of rights to protect our speech and us. That is why when we write we have to be careful on how we are portraying a message because the wrong message may come across.

In Chapter 13, I liked the first article by Robert Bapitiste because I felt like he wasn’t pushing the idea of highly qualified educators on a reader. I felt like he knew what he was talking about and that he was confident enough in his community to argue about the mistreatment of the elders because they didn’t have college degrees to teach. Compare to the article written by E.J. Montini, I felt like he was trying to brand the word squaw into my head. The over usage of that word turned me off to his article, but that is just my opinion. I feel when we first start to read an article we shouldn’t judged it when we come across something we don’t like. But I guess it’s just programmed for us to have an opinion about everything without knowing the facts.

Bay Area People Know How To Drink!

When I was searching for an online article relating to San Jose, it was kind of difficult because I did not know where to start. So I just found an article relating to the Bay Area called, “Bay Area to answer Philly with big week of beer events” by William Brand of the Mercury News. Every year around mid-February, San Francisco and surrounding Bay Area cities are included host a big celebration where they celebrate great craft beer with the tapping of a special barrel at Anchor Brewing in San Francisco and ending 10 days later with a festival of more than 60 breweries in Oakland. In between are dozens of events, including more than a few in the South Bay (San Jose included): beer dinners, beer-and-cheese pairings, meet-the-brewer nights. Last year Philadelphia did a similar event called the Philadelphia Beer Week. At the end of the event, they claim that Philadelphia is the best drinking city in America. William Brand then goes on a rant about how the Bay Area invented the words drinking and beer. He also touches on the history of the brewing of beer which started in the Bay Area.

I pick this article because of the title, a little rivalry between people or something always interest me, throw a little alcohol or beer into the mix and we have a party. Being from the Bay Area, I thought that this would relate to me and some ways it did. Even though the article was about a beer feud between Philly and the Bay, it may me think about the differences of Southern Californians, Northern Californians, and Bay Area people (Yes, Bay Area people has a separate category, ask me about it later.) It may me think about the silent feud that goes on between us, even though sometimes we may not admit it we think one place is better than another. But we all from California, so when someone talks about your place no matter where you from you take on a defense. The same way in this article, how Philadelphia stating that they are the best drinking city in America, it hits a cord in your spine to hear such nonsense.

Even though I not a beer fan myself, in Chapter 14 it states that the Title right away gives you a sense of the topic as well as the emotional mood. By reading the title of Brand’s article, I knew right away the writer would be passionate about what he was writing about because the subject hits home to him. And he would have evidence to back up all of his arguments. The last thing I also like about this article was that he says even though it is a little rivalry, they are keeping it classy by bringing people the history of beer and its just not a party, it’s a celebration. We can celebrate where we from as long as we keep the peace. It’s all love!

Smoke, Smoke, Smoke: Just Not Around Me

I read an article in the Spartan Daily called “Should SJSU ban cigarette smoking on campus. There are two opposing views. The first one was by Holly Szkoropad who states that members of SJSU community are entitled to a smoke-free campus. Holly goes on to talk about the benefits of a smoke free campus and how she hates the smell of the smoke on her clothes even though she does not smoke. She just wants it to stops so she can breathe easily. (Someone needs to remind her that we live in California and pollution is our daily oxygen.) The second one was by Michael Le Roy who states everyone has the right to smoke cigarettes on campus. Michael goes on to talk about how this ban will never work and that there are far more bigger things than a smoking ban. He also talks about how second hand smoke in an outside area doesn’t hurt anyone compare to second hand smoke indoors. (There are tests to prove this he states).

This article caught my attention because both sides have convincing arguments but I agree more with Michael opinion. Like me, he doesn’t smoke cigarettes but doesn’t mind the smell. And plus by putting a smoking ban on campus what would the students who do smoke do to relieve stress, there are consequences for people actions. They might turn to something destructive, like burning trash in the garbage bins allowing buildings to catch on fire. I don’t know, but you never know. Michael’s opinion piece was more relatable to me because of the way he structure his writing may me feel as if I was talking to him face to face. It had elements that I like light humor and reliability. Holly’s piece was good also but it felt as it was more of a rant and that she just really hated cigarette smokers. I wasn’t feeling it because in Chapter 14 it states watch out for moments that seem odd because they contrast with what’s them. From reading Holly’s opinion piece, I felt like this was a problem. The way that she presented her argument and then throwing a curveball in the middle of the paper may me feel confuse about her paper. If she would have presented the information about the smoking in the park ban in the beginning then maybe I would have probably felt better about her work. Until then people will continue to smoke, smoke, smoke!

Are You Serious?

The one blog entry that caught my eye was “Aboard the Ideological Hot Air Balloon,” by Nicole Converse Livengood, Ph.D. Candidate, of Purdue University, because some of the ideas express in the piece felt relatable to me. Nicole Livengood talks about how she introduces blogging in class semester after semester and all of the different reactions and feedback she gets back. Going into the academic blogging, Nicole was skeptical of it because she had bias feelings of it. Overall, she felt that it would give her students more freedom to express themselves in their writing. She wanted her students to take this opportunity to make the blog their own “space” and feel comfortable with their writing. But it had the opposite effect some students felt like they didn’t learn anything from blogging and that it didn’t help their writing at all. And the reason for that was that people would blog about anything. Another problem Nicole encounter that the students liked the idea of blogging but wanted more structure, more focus and relatable questions for the class to write about. Nicole found this surprisingly shocking because she would have thought that students would have wanted more freedom.

I felt the same way as Nicole; wouldn’t students want more freedom in their writing? But I guess the students felt if they were not learning anything, it wasn’t worth it. Reading about Nicole’s made me feel like the rules have change, some of my fellow peers and even close friends would say that Nicole’s class was an “easy A” where all you had to do was blogs. It just like a beginner computer course at UCSC, where all you have to do is show up to class for the final and midterms. Other than that you do all of your work online, how easy is that. No one really thought about if they were learning anything or if the way the class is taught was beneficial to a student’s ability to learn. But since Nicole’s class was a Professional Writing course I can fully understand their reasoning, on wanting more from the blogging experience.