Exercise 2.7 element 2

My reading activities since the beginning of school have been mainly “required”. I read required text consisting of research material for English, Speech, and Occupational Analysis and at work policy and procedures. I struggle to maintain some leisure time for “nonrequired” reading. My morning ritual of skimming the paper while eating hasn’t changed but I don’t have the luxury of rereading the paper during lunch, at which time I would critically read articles and evaluate the content, that time is now dedicated to required reading material. The only other leisure reading I have is Bloomberg Businessweek a weekly magazine that arrives in the mail. The day that it arrives I skim the articles for interesting pieces. I find myself reading, rereading, and critically evaluating the articles, if I have trouble with a certain passage because of content or wording I may read it several times before I can understand what the author was trying to convey. If it is something that is important to me such as the article on Credit reform I will not only read the article but highlight items I would like to do further research on such as the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. I don’t know if my motivation to read improved, but my desire for correctly understanding the material has, along with being able to critically view the logic that the author has presented.

Topic selection (3)

Should motorcyclist be forced to wear helmets in Idaho?

This is a highly debatable issue; it will be a challenge to look at it from different perspectives. I am a motorcycle rider who chooses when and where to wear a helmet.   Which issue should I focus on, the freedom of choice or the safety aspect?  Some people believe that the safer we try to make transportation the more risks that the driver takes.  I like this topic because I might be able to get my audience to consider a different perspective.
Should marijuana be legal.

I have a negative view on marijuana but so do I of other legal substances such as cigarettes. I feel it is not my business to tell another what they can and cannot do.   I would like to look at it from multiple angles. Would legitimizing it make it a profitable business venture for the United States or would the resulting [rise in] drug addictions cost society more?  There are currently laws and policies restricting impairment while driving and working. I would look at experience of other countries after they have legalized drugs.

Hemp should be legal to grow in the United States

I thought one challenge would be finding credible sources: I have found many universities and government studies.  I find this subject the very interesting because I believe that the law is archaic and should be challenged. Businesses should have the right to grow something that is legally imported from other countries.  It is interesting that the product is not illegal just the process of growing it. 

Writing summaries & common issues

Writing a summary sounds simple yet I find it very difficult.  Rephrasing someone else’s ideas in my own words seems to be my mental block.  What I seem to write are generalities about the article; it should tell the relevant details and main ideas.  A summary if not properly paraphrased could direct an audience a different way that the original author had intended and interject some of their own beliefs.  Worse off would be adding examples to the work.   A summary is not a critical review or an evaluation

While doing some research about summaries I came across this formula that gives me a place to start.  

In "Title of the Piece" (source and date of piece), author shows that: central idea of the piece.  The author supports the main idea by using _____________________ and showing that ______________________________________________________.

I found this at http://homepage.smc.edu/reading_lab/writing_a_summary.htm and found it to be a good starting off point if I have a mental block. A concluding sentence is the necessary missing element from this formula.

Death to the Classics

In "Death to the Classics! Is it time to update the reading list? (Encarta.msn.com), Melissa Slager begs the question should high school English classes teach only classics in literature or should they teach newer material. She has examples of teachers who still believe in teaching only classics while a researcher says the trend is just to have students read anything as long as they are reading.  English professor Mark Bauerlein feels students should leave school with a sense of tradition yet Kipen of the National Endowment for the Arts feels there are many quality books and it shouldn’t be set in stone what they read.

Exercise 2.2

Exercise 2.2

1.      Reading skills, speed reading programs for children, adults to be offer in Pocatello by Idaho State University Continuing Education Posted September 20, 2011 it doesn’t give the author.  At first glance this article is about a reading program for various ages given in Pocatello.  On further reading the article gives the days of the week that the classes will take place, the building that they are located in and when they start.  The course is set to last 5 weeks, on a weekly basis lasting about two hours each.  The lessons are age specific with the younger ones working on comprehension then as they get older working on speed and more difficult material.  After further review I see the classes are given by instructors from the Institute of Reading Development.

2.      She’s with the government and she’s here to help, Bloomberg Businessweek. This article is about Elizabeth Warren who is helping create/organize a new consumer protection agency relating to the banking/credit industry. She is a Harvard professor who is much respected and very knowledgeable about bankruptcy in which she has authored books about. At first glance this article is about the creation of the new agency but it goes into detail about the woman, Elizabeth, who had the idea of an agency that works in the same way as the FDA guards the public against contaminated produce or medication.  As a professor she has conducted research into the root causes of bankruptcy and “unfair, deceptive or abusive lending practices” (61).  Pre-reading this article might have given me background about Mrs. Warren but rereading it gives me into depth the new agency brought about by the Dodd-Frank bill. The agencies emphasize will be to ensure that existing consumer finance regulations are being complied with. Not only does it have a supervision and enforcement division they also have a research division to analyze and spot systemic risks to the market. One of the benefits of pre-reading is that it draws you in to wanting more information and clarification. This article was well written that it examined the formation and the agency from different perspectives of those who wanted the agency as well as those who voted against it.

Sources

Bennet, Drake. (2011, July 11). She’s with the government and she’s here to help. Bloomberg Businessweek, 58-64

Research Posting: Research Topics

Should Grizzly Bears to Come Off Endangered List

In 1975 The United States Government listed the Grizzly Bear as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. Have they recovered enough to remove them from that listing and declare them a game animal?

Should motorcyclist be forced to wear helmets in Idaho?

In 2010 there were 54,283 motorcycles registered in the State of Idaho.  Do helmets make a rider safer? Does the evidence support the claim that helmets save lives? What are the risks of wearing a helmet?

 Marijuana should be legal.

Marijuana growers and distributers can be compared to the moonshiners of yesteryear.  They are prosecuted and vilified.  The industry could be legitimized, regulated and taxed.  There are existing laws or policies to stop individuals from driving or working ‘under the influence’.   

Hemp should be legal to grow in the United States

Hemp is a plant related to marijuana that is currently illegal to grow in the United States. It was first used to make ropes and fishing nets. Industrial hemp is generally defined as having less than 0.3% THC, which is the active ingredient in marijuana. It has a multitude of uses such as paper, cosmetics, plastic, fuel, food, clothing, building products, and medicine.   Hemp is a growing industry in the U.S. and currently is only imported. It could be a vital crop to our farmers adding needed jobs to our economy. It should not be maligned along with the illegal drug trade.

America’s epidemic of overindulgence with shopping

As a society what do we really need to be happy? What are our intrinsic needs? Food and shelter for our physical needs then love. I’m sure there are others that would add to life satisfaction such as medical care and an education.  How much stuff is enough? Do we need every new gadget? Everything else is not a need but a want. 

Exercise 7.6

Exercise 7.6

1.        
a.       common knowledge
b.      not common knowledge
c.       common knowledge
d.      common knowledge
2.       Part 2 reading The Stem Cell Debate by John W. Dononhue
The accuracy of the article is in question when you cannot validate ‘millions of other citizens’ who are opposed; he could have cited a survey taken.    He speaks in vague terms when attacking the position of his opponents.  How does he know how they think when he says they think ‘abstractly’?   He doesn’t quote scientist for either side when trying to figure out how they think instead quoting their publicists.  It is hard to validate who[the publicists] they are and who do they represent?  When the article quoted the New England Journal of Medicine it added credibility to that reference.  But what did this information have to do with his argument.  He did not go into that this could be an alternative only hinted at it.   I do not believe he was very through with his claim.  He had insufficient  expertise data to support his claims.
3.       Acceptable or unacceptable
a.       Unacceptable, plagiarized
b.      Acceptable
c.       Unacceptable, faulty

Sources

White, Billings,The Well-Crafted Argument,  Cengage Learning, 2011