Blog Stage 8: Response to People v. Turner

In one of my colleague’s blogs titled America In-Formation, the author posted an original editorial about the court case People of the State of California v. Brock Turner. Her main argument is that the sentence for Turner of 6 months in jail with 3 years of probation was just because of the California law. The author states that although what Turner did was entirely wrong and unjust, the sentence Judge Aaron Persky gave Turner wasn’t.

Turner was a 20 year old male student attending Stanford University. The author states that on January 28, 2016 Turner “was indicted on five charges to include: rape, felony assault and attempted rape.” Two Stanford international students from Sweden testified that they intervened because during the night of assault, they found turner with the unconscious woman. Turner fled the scene once the two students saw him but they chased Turner down and waited until the police arrived on Stanford’s campus. Once he was arrested, Turner was released the same day after posting $150,000 bail.

Because Turner’s sentence was only 6 months in jail, the public was outraged. The author provides examples of the public being outraged by mentioning the “Numerous cases [that have] surfaced in the media to shed light on the partial treatment Turner was given, including: Brian Keith Banks and more recently, Raul Ramirez.” The author also explains that the public also had “many protests and petitions have been enacted in attempt to remove Judge Aaron Persky from his justice position” due to his unjust sentencing for Turner. By explaining that the public was putting the blame on Turner and the judge, the author brings up her main point of the California law. This law has “blurred lines on what constitutes rape”, defining it as a” non-consensual act of sexual intercourse.” The law is not specific and doesn’t classify fingers or foreign objects into the category of “intercourse”. Considering this, the actions of Turner were not judged as rape.

The author then brings up the point that although Turner committed a wrongful act in the eyes of a human being, the law protects this man. The author’s editorial was successful because she provided many examples of why the case was a hot topic on the media and how the public was reacting. She solidified her argument by bringing her main point of why the case sentence was just under the California law. Before I read the authors post, I had no idea about the California law and it changed my perspective of who to point fingers at in the People v. Turner case. Although I would have liked her to go in depth about changing the law and making a difference, her argument was to the point and clear. 

Blog Stage 7: Decreasing Water Supply

Many in the U.S. government have debated the legitimacy of climate change and how it could potentially ruin the planet forever. Although there are many different aspects of this controversial subject, I’d like to focus on one in particular. Every year across the globe, competition for clean, abundant supplies of water for drinking, cooking, bathing, and sustaining life intensifies. Our government needs to realize the significance of our earth’s diminishing water supply and come up with a solution before it’s too late.

To this day, some people have a hard time grasping the concept of water scarcity on our planet and how it will affect us down the road. Freshwater makes up a very small fraction of all of the water on the planet. While 70 percent of the Earth is covered by water, only 2.5 percent of it is fresh. Because freshwater is being rapidly overused and polluted, 1.1 billion people worldwide don’t have access to clean water or are exposed to water diseases such as Cholera in their local water supplies. Most Americans are not too concerned about this issue because they assume that North America having more fresh water than anyone else does ensures their safety or they just don’t want to believe that we are facing such serious problems. North America is quickly running out of fresh water just like the rest of the world.

According to a United Nations report, our water will have a water shortage of 40% within the next 15 years. Although I cannot come up with a solution of how to change such a drastic world issue, there are a few things people can do to conserve water. For example, the average indoor water use in a typical single-family home is 70 gallons per person per day. Considering this, it is crucial for all American citizens to decrease their use of water at their home. It is also crucial that the U.S. government takes serious notice of our decreasing water supply and helps to raise awareness so we can collectively make a change for the better.

Blog Stage 6: Response to Legalizing Cannabis

On June 23, 2016 Madison Bush Couch wrote a blog about Legalizing Marijuana. In her argument, she explained that marijuana is proven to have many health benefits which is why more and more states are legalizing marijuana for medical purposes/recreational use. For example, the author states that the first legalization of any kind of cannabis was in 1998. Today, Alaska, Colorado, Oregon, and Washington allow recreational use of marijuana and 24 states all together have legalized cannabis use for medical purposes.

The author also made her argument successful by comparing marijuana to legal drugs. Legal, but dangerous drugs such as, Alcohol can reduces a person's ability to think rationally and can also distort an individual’s judgement. Furthering the author’s argument, statistics show around 9,000 to more than 10,000 people in America die every year from drunk driving yet there are no proven statistics about driving high off marijuana. It is said that marijuana is harmful to an individual’s health and safety, but there are no proven examples of what it affects and how. The author questions, “...if an easily abused drug such as, Xanax is legal…why would cannabis not be allowed?”

Furthermore, Madison Bush Couch’s article brings many points to the table as to why cannabis should be legal throughout every state. It is successful because it makes the reader question whether a drug proven to help over 700 diseases should be shammed to legalize. I certainly agree with the authors blog and believe every American citizen should open there minds and truly think about this controversial topic.

Blog Stage Five: Don't Vote for Trump

Throughout the country there have been multiple debates on whether or not Donald Trump should be elected as the next president of the United States. I’m here to tell you he’s going to ruin America if that happens. Although I could list 100 reasons why Donald Trump shouldn’t be president, I have narrowed it down to 4 main reasons.

The first reason why Trump isn’t suitable to be POTUS Is that he is extremely impulsive. For example, people believe Trump is a great business man but in reality he has filed for bankruptcy multiple times. One of the main causes for him going bankrupt is because of his poor and impulsive financial decisions. How can Americans be confident in someone who can’t even handle their own money when we as a nation are 19 trillion dollars in debt? Another example of Trump’s impulsive behavior is that he is unable and unwilling to control what he says. When you’re the president of the United States, your words hold so much more weight than the average person. As the president you have the ability to do things like declaring war on another country with your words alone. When Obama spoke out about his personal feelings on the Trayvon Martin homicide, some people took offense and accused his comment of being thoughtless and dry. If someone like Obama can be so harshly criticized based on his words, imagine the damage Donald Trump could do with his.

So far, Trump has proven that he is a bona fide racist. Not only has he recently made offensive comments about African Americans and Latinos, the Trump Management Corporation was sued multiple times for alleged racial discrimination in the workplace. According to the Huffington Post, the lawsuit claimed that the company quoted different rental terms and conditions to black rental candidates than it did to white rental candidates.

Not only does Trump discriminate people for their race, he is vindictive. This is a man who literally titled a chapter in his book, “Revenge”. This chapter was about making things even with anyone who crosses you. Trump proves that he believes in revenge because he truly can never let things go. He rants on Twitter for months at a time about people who have offended him. Trump’s Twitter feed is exceedingly inappropriate and offensive with foul language and personal, irrelevant tweets.

Lastly, Trump is not only a threat to the Democratic Party, but to every U.S. citizen. Trump’s attitude towards nuclear bombs is very nonchalant and laid back which is why he refused to rule out using nuclear weapons against ISIS. According to USA Today, Trump made it clear that he didn’t mind if Japan and South Korea went nuclear.

Although Donald Trump is being credited with the charismatic title of the “Do Something About It” type of guy, he is nothing but a threat to the safety of the United States. People need to realize that even though they see him as an attractive candidate because of all his heavy promises, he is entirely unfit to be sitting in the Oval Office.  

Blog Stage Part 4: Homeless Students

On June 16, 2016, USA Today published an article titled Homeless Kids Is a Problem We Can Solve. This article was written by John Bridgeland and Bruce Reed who argue that homeless students can succeed if new promising developments are applied to schools across the nation efficiently. 

Bridgeland and Reed base their argument off of a national sample was taken to find what disadvantages homeless students face and to provide options on how to solve these problems. The sample proved that more than 150 formerly homeless students across the country who are being helped by adult liaisons “show trauma, invisibility and challenges of student homelessness.” Also, Bridgeland and Reed provide research about how homeless students suffer greatly in life, with most of them feeling insecure and unsafe. These students lack self-confidence which is why over four out of ten drop out of school at some point before they can earn a high school diploma. Homeless students are chronically absent which leads them to fail in their courses and eventually cry out with frustration through misbehavior in the classroom. 

Thankfully, Bridgeland and Reed believe this problem can be solved if schools can play a leading role as a connection of support by providing help to these young people and their families in need. For example, schools will train all staff to help identify students, support, and provide students of their rights, services and supports available to them. Schools will also not withstand their lack of residency or medical records and will implement ESSA to ensure these homeless students are being cared for. 

Bridgeland and Reed’s article is successful because they appeal to the readers emotions by explaining how deeply homeless students are suffering while also providing facts and a solution that they presume will fix the problem. This article is significant because every student should have the opportunity to make a successful life for themselves. Sometimes a little bit of help and support is needed for an individual to achieve their goals.

Blog Stage Part 3: Gun Control

Today, June 13^th, 2016, the Washington Post published an article titled, The Orlando shooting shows again that it always comes back to the guns. This article was written by Veteran Richard Cohen who argues that AR-15 rifles are lethal weapons which shouldn’t be easily obtained by the common American Citizen. 

Cohen makes his argument clear by providing hard facts: the history of the AR-15 rifle, his experience with it in the army, and why the gun is extremely powerful. For example, Cohen states that this assault rifle, in particular, “can get off 30 rounds in about half a minute. Pop in another magazine and that’s another 30 rounds. In a crowded space, it can take less than a minute to shoot 50 people.” Because of how powerful the AR- 15 riffle is, Congress outlawed the gun in 1994, but lifted the ban in 2004. 

Cohen also made his argument more successful by using The Orlando shooting as as a prime example about lethal guns being easily obtained including the AR-15 riffle. He states that the Orlando shooter, who was on the F.B.I watch list, legally purchased his weapons without a background check which killed 49 innocent citizens. During this mass murder, The shooter also injured 50 individuals. 

I agree with Cohen's argument because I believe powerful weapons like the AR-15 rifle should be banned. Common citizens shouldn’t have access to these guns which are used in the Military. His argument is successful because it made me realize that assault rifles, in the hands of Americans, do more harm than good.

Blog Stage Part 2: Obama Endorses Clinton

Today, June 9th, 2016, the New York Times posted an article titled  President Obama Endorses Hillary Clinton, and Urges Democrats to Unite. This article gives an interesting outlook on the motives behind Obama's decision and might help some people further solidify their opinions when it comes down to the general election this November. Being a Bernie supporter, it was quite hard for me to understand why Obama would want to endorse Hillary after all of the allegations and controversy surrounding her character and her past. But, in the video attached to the article, Obama promises that if Hillary is elected, Sanders will still play a huge role in the decisions made in the Democratic party throughout her term. Since Clinton has seemed to solidify her victory in the choosing of the Democratic candidate for President, Obama states that it would be wiser for the Democratic party to unite under Clinton's leading numbers in the race in order to ensure that the Democratic party maintains control of the White House. I recommend reading this article and watching the video because it brings a different approach to the table when talking about why although Clinton might not be the "best" candidate, given the circumstances, Obama believes that she is.