Monday, March 9, 2009

Chapter 6

In Chapter 6, researching for advocacy and argument, it mainly explained how advocacy can come from research. AS you research, you can learn issues and organizations to which you are going to advocate with. If you wanna advocate something, you need to have solid points to back up your claim. Research also adds depth to what is already known. Int he chapter, many strategies were given for research. The most important thing i got out of the chapter is developing an initial question for your research. "One way to develop a statement of purpose for a research paper is to get very clear about the question you want to research. Combining this question with audience and context can help you develop a solid statement of purpose that will help you figure out how to proceed creatively with your research." This basically explains that if you want to have a clear statement about a research paper, develop a question that can be answered through your research. Having a question in mind can help you through writing a research paper.
As this chapter explained about researching, the firs thing i thought about was the SJSU library. The library is really a good place to do research. It has everything you will need on the subject you want to research about.

SJSU library

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

HW 3/4

Another topic, from the Mercury News, is the article on job cuts and how the company has to notify the employees. This article explains that if a company has 75 or more employees, they have to notify them 60 days in advance if they are closing down or a mass layoff that includes 50 or more employees. Also this article provides a search engine where you can find out if your company has filed a notice of closing or if they are laying off a lot of people. This would be a good topic to expand on because i can search for all the companies that have filed a notice in the Silicon Valley. I could also research on the company any why they have closed down. I can also research on the employees and what they have been doing after having their company closed down. This could be a great topic for the research paper.

Sunday, February 22, 2009

HW 2/23 Part Uno

As I read the article about AVODAH, I found out that this organization’s main focus is on advocacy. This organization helps other fellow Jews stand up for their rights and help others who are in need. For example, AVODAH has advocates who support and help others speak their mind and stand up for their rights. Religious affiliations, practices, and beliefs shape advocacy by getting a group of people, with the same common goal, and pursue it by standing up for their beliefs. This is a really good idea because it will give them a better chance of being heard. Also, these religious affiliations often encourage other communities to do the same thing and make the world even better. Their main purpose to make a connection between the Jews and Social activism, which in this case is advocacy.

HW 2/23 Part Dos

HW 2/23
The article I read is about San Jose investing into an urban market downtown. The investment would cost 6 million dollars and they are awaiting the approval of the San Jose City Council. This urban market would consist of local boutique vendors and this market would open in 2010. They would spend a lot of money to fix all the historic buildings and fix the sidewalks and streets. It still has one more political display that they have to overcome. The Brown Act has conflict with the project. The Brown Act states that they can’t talk about issues that are coming up to vote, only in meetings. This article really intrigues me because I like walking down a strip and looking at all the vendors selling their merchandise. You can also interact with the vendors and maybe get a deal on some goods they offer. I agree with the plan of making an urban market because it will give San Jose more attraction for tourists. “We really encourage seeing more retail and seeing more things that are walker-friendly” Paul Higgins Stated, a president of the Downtown Residents Association. It would give downtown a more beautiful look. It is really nice to just walk down and look at all the shops. I can’t wait until this market is made.

Monday, February 16, 2009

HW 2/19 Part 1

Chapter 13
This chapter was about opinion and editorial pieces. As I was reading, the text described that these types of pieces are suppose to appeal to the reader. They talk about how editorial pieces are about what we believe and what we believe. As I read that sentence, churches was brought up in my head. The text explains how these pieces appeal to our emotions and our intellects. In a church, the preacher appeals the crowd by preaching the word of the lord. The people of the church are touched emotionally, mentally, and physically. In my opinion, that kind of relates to editorial and opinion pieces. You are supposed to build a connection with the reader and have them interested in your writing. You have to attract their attention and connect to their emotions. The text also explains the persuasion of the text. To have a good opinion or editorial piece, you have to persuade the reader. You have to induce the reader by appealing to understand your topic. It is the same thing in the church. The word of the lord has many rights and wrongs and the people have an understanding with it. That is what I thought about as I read chapter 13.

HW 2/16 Part 2

BART to San Jose
I am writing about the making of BART to the Silicon Valley. This topic interests me because I have ridden BART a bunch of times and it is a really good way of transportation. Having BART extend to San Jose always intrigued me. I have no idea why we don’t have one. San Jose is one of the biggest cities in the bay area and the only transportation they have here is VTA. It is really a pain trying to get here without car. You would have to take BART to Fremont; from there you would have to take a bus to the nearest light rail, and then take that to San Jose. It takes a while to do that and more than a couple bucks to spend. I really don’t know why people would think it is useless to make a BART station here. It would be very useful for the city of San Jose. I understand that using money from the taxes we get is an iffy issue, but an eighth of a cent is a not a really big deal. It will be really convenient to the citizens living in San Jose and it is worth the time and investment. Also, it would really help all the commuters who travel from San Jose to San Francisco or anywhere else. It should be inevitable that we should have BART here in San Jose.

Another Link

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Print Essay

DA’s office loses jobs of representing foster youths.

This article was from the San Jose Mercury News newspaper. I chose this article because it was the only one in the newspaper that was about San Jose. This article is about local courts not providing lawyers to children in the Juvenile Dependency Court. A nonprofit organization from San Jose will continue to provide the children prosecutors. Santa Clara and Fresno are the only ones in California who are practicing this. Continuing to give the children prosecutors is a great thing. The only problem is that the prosecutors often sought permanent removal of the children when they are trying to reunite them with their parents. Also, the prosecutors often failed to have their client to be present at the hearing. Leslie Hermiv, a woman from the Children’s Law Center of Los Angeles, said that it is a “positive move forward” for the county. We need to have lawyers for children because they also have rights in the country. Listening to the children is as much importance as listening to someone else at a court.

As I read in chapter 14, I listed the choices that the author put. I noticed that he chose to put quotes from other people to support his article. Quoting people will usually give big points to your article.

Online Essay

San Jose engineer faces 4 felony charges in crash that killed Pioneer High football player

I found this article on the San Jose Mercury News website. I chose it because it caught my attention more than the other ones. Also, it was more interesting to read than the other articles as well. This article is about a teenager named Marcus Keppert, a football player from Pioneer High School, who was hit by a car and killed. The driver, an engineer named George Xinos, was drunk driving at a speed of 75mph on a 45mph zone. He hit Marcus, which killed him instantly. Xinos is facing 4 felony charges that include: vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence, drunken driving and hit-and-run. He was charged with lesser charges, but Marcus’s parents hired an expertise in the field of accidents and made the charges more severe. Xinos tried to fight back by saying that it would have been impossible for even a sober person to see Marcus crossing the street. The prosecutor countered by stating that he would have been visible as he stepped into the crosswalk. The defendant now faces 9 years in prison. This was interesting to me because tragedy always catches my eye. It is even more tragic that it happened in San Jose.

From chapter 14, I read something about the title of the article. The author chose to put the title as it is to show a little taste of the article. It will make reader’s have the question “how did this happen?” in their minds.

Monday, February 9, 2009

February 9th Homework

Academic Blogging
My favorite essay that I read was Angelina Karpovich’s “I Blog, Therefore I Am.” I liked this the most because it related to me the most. I liked how she thought blogging was “contagious” because it really is.. You can really blog about anything. You can blog about what you ate for breakfast, people you see in the streets, or what time you went to bed and people really read them. I liked how Karpovich was trying to use blogs for research and turned it into a social activity. I also admired the way she used blogs to support other users and vice-versa. Karppvich explained about nicknames and it gives you another persona in the blogging world. Blogging is a good way to socialize with people you may or may not know. I was surprised when she asked her colleague about blogs and she didn’t know what it was. Blogging has been going on for a while and when people don’t know what it is, it is news to me. I occasionally blog on Myspace and post many things about myself. I also blog on websites about clothing and see what is new in the world. Blogging is addicting and people should try it more often.