Here we are in our final month of the school year. Kind of exciting! So we'll get this month started off with two pretty different readings. I was hoping to post a piece about free throws in the NBA and the local Dipsea race, but neither story are available for free. But, if you head down to the MA library, be sure to check them out. The former is in the May 3 edition of ESPN mag; the latter, in the June 2010 Runner's World.
1. The Man the White House wakes up to: (NYT) This is the story of Politico's Mike Allen and his might political playbook. He is, for all intent and purposes, the go-to man on White House information. This piece delves into the life of a political reporter but also the life of Allen himself. What do you think about the piece? Is Allen's role in the White House the more important element of this story? Or is this a well developed profile? How does the writer manage the balance between personal history and present day influence?
2. The Texas Curriculum Controversy: (from Newsweek) An interesting read on the influence (or maybe lack therefof) Texas has on national curriculum. Texas has been in the news lately for its passionate dislike of current political policy, but this bit of dislike is more interesting than most because it has to do with educating millions of students at a very young age. What are your thoughts?
3. Braking Away: (NYT) A simple opinion piece about stopping for red lights while bicycling in New York City. Is this monumental? No. Is this exciting? Nope. But it's a great read on such a simple act. What do you think are those simple acts around MA we need to explore a bit more?
12 comments:
"Braking Away"
I really enjoyed that this piece made such a boring aspect of biking so exciting! I never thought that bikers who were stopped at a red light were thinking about anything else, but how to cut off the car in back of them. A piece like this can be written at MA because there are so many boring things that go on. Similar to the biking piece, what does a student think about when he/she lets cars go by on the crosswalk of Cottage? Making boring aspects of MA exciting will really bring flavor and an added amount of creativity to our splendid newspaper!
Alec
Texas
Texas always seems to be its own nation state and distinctly separate from the rest of the United States in some way. Texas was one of the only four states to be an independent Republic at one point. From 1838 to 1845, Texas was its own country with the Lone Star flag. Texas also seceded from the Union in 1861 and now it has the not so moderate Governor Rick Perry who replaced George W. Bush. Perry highlighted Texas's individualism (as he would want to suggest) when he said that Texas could secede from the Union if they wanted. Texas also has a libertarian streak or so people say because of the idea of rugged individualism of the cowboy culture battling it out in the wilderness against rattlesnakes, snowstorms, heat and dust storms. That Texas is not here anymore. Instead, Texas is a heavily urbanized state with more than 60% of its population (and increasing) live in Texas's four big metropolition areas: Dallas, Houston, San Antonio and Austin.
Texas was once a heavily Democratic state back in the early 20th Century when there were only a few Republican state Senators. The movement toward the Republicans started in those four big metropolition areas which eventually spread out to the rural areas with the libertarian attitude. I heard someone read how these libertarian people who are poor will vote Republican even though Democrats are known to help the poor more than Republicans. There is Texas's libertarian streak again because it appears people do not want help from the Government.
Texas may be different from the rest of the nation but it is not as libertarian as people believe it is. Also, Texas appears to be highlighting its difference from the rest of the nation by changing its education system to ignore Thomas Jefferson and highlight Joe McCarthy who attacked civil liberties. Pretty libertarian, isn't it? There is also alot of anti immigrant rights people in rural areas. Also, Texas in 2005 went with Government interfering with people's live by preventing same sex couples from having the right to marry with the strongest support in "libertarian" rural areas.
Overall, it appears that Texas has a libertarian attitude but it is more oriented toward states rights and people want less Government in their lives but do not care about Government in other people's lives.
Braking Away:
I really liked this piece, for a lot of reasons. The article was written in a style that it almost seemed like a story, and it didn't just bog the reader down with statistics and facts but it got a message across by using stories and personal anecdotes. This particular usage type is something we should use more often in the MA voice.
From the beginning of the piece the author grabbed my attention by stating something that for someone like me who has never experienced a time where bikers didn't ride the streets of New York, would seem like a total exaggeration. I also enjoyed how each quote or experience the author used added additional insight and helped grab me further into the piece. It is amazing to see how such a small change can affect your life in so many ways and how that small change can become so noticeable in a city of millions of people. One change can spark a reaction and change your life in so many ways!
finally, the humor that was used and the specific vocabulary added a lot to the piece and made it more successful. That is something we should think about in the voice, vocabulary and word choice.
Texas
When you live outside of Texas, there are always preconceived notations and random stories of absurd and ridiculous laws or ways of life in Texas.
This article really adds to that, and comedically reveals some of the obscene aspects which occur within the Texas schooling system. The fact that all these educational topics appear to be totally biased and influential is humorous to me. Teaching people about the yo yo rather than Ceser Chavez or sex education. Its startling to see how influential the school board can be, and how drastically the state's ideals or traditional beliefs can play into what a student learns throughout his educational career. I liked this piece and thought it was very interesting. I think we should be able to make fun of ourselves to make pieces better like the author does in this piece.
By... Charlotte
The Texas Curriculum Controversy
After the election of a Democrat and our first African-American president Barack Obama, many right-wing conservatives began to become quite... vocal. And with enough loudness, this has begun to affect students in schools. Now, some people say, if evolution is going to be taught, then creationism must be right along side. This is a problem because students should be taught like all the other schools in the U.S. or else they will be held back later in life. It is also not fair that students now run the risk of not being told about evolution of species. Students need to be taught things that make sense. Most people do not believe in creationism, and if this were to be taught in schools, it would not be appropriate for those students. However, conservatives may be using this as a strategy to brainwash students young so they will grow up to be just like them.
Braking Away
The simplicity, subtle humor, and description of this article were all so vivid. I could picture the article while reading it, which, is a hard thing to do for a newspaper article. It felt more like a short story, which are so enjoyable. I think that we could cover simple intriguing acts like the red light article. It does, in a way, remind me of signing out when people go off campus. Hardly anyone ever does. But should you? Simple acts like this would be great; and if well written, would make an amazingly good article.
Alec
Biking
First, I think bikers sharing the roads with people is a big issue in Marin and the Pacific Sun comments on it often. What is interesting is that is bikers and cars sharing the road is a big issue in other parts of the country, even New York City. A stereotype is that New Yorkers are not the most outdoor oriented people. As my Dad says, "Where is their outdoors?" Enough about that but the problem in New York for bikers is that New York City does not have many bike lanes because cars are known for taking up many parking spots and that causes less room along the road.
What I find concerning is that there are both very rude bikers and drivers here in an area with pretty polite drivers and bike lanes. In New York City, everybody who has been there including myself knows that most of the drivers there are not polite. If people who are not polite drivers have to deal with bikers, I think the situation is not so pretty so I am a bit worried about the future.
We should do an article about the war between drivers and bikers in Marin and get an MA perspective by talking to MA students who drive and MA students who bike and getting their perspectives. Even better, we can get both perspectives from someone who drives and bikes.
Texas Curriculum Controversy:
I found it interesting how frustrated I was after reading this article. It seems extremely out there that a state would decide not to include Thurgood Marshall, for example, in their curriculum. Living in Marin County has molded my mind in almost the opposite way, creating a dichotomy between my beliefs and the general vote and beliefs of Texans. It seems unbelievable to me that school board members could deny science for popular belief and transfer those beliefs to the children of Texas. In a way, it almost makes me think of what some totalitarian nations do; they censor what they teach children in hopes that they will comply with the government in the long run. Texas obviously is not some power-hungry nation threatening to turn the world upside down, but I find it a crime that they would argue to not teach students about the theory of evolution.
If children were taught the single-minded beliefs of their parents, then the children would end up believing those beliefs and teach those to their children as well. It is a vicious cycle that, because of the young age at which the children are taught, would be easy to institute and hard to break.
Public education around the country should be somewhat generic, I think. We are the UNITED states, and somehow Texas seems completely separate. Maybe it makes sense, then, that they used to be their own country and talk of secession is prevalent.
Children deserve to be taught the full history and science of our country and even the world. I just don't see how one state could even pass curriculum that taught students about the inventor of the yo-yo instead of Cesar Chavez.
It goes to show that there are many different facets of belief in our country, let alone our world. I recognize that the Voice is centered around MA, but I think it would be very interesting and refreshing to do something about different cultures other than our own that aren't necessarily related to our school. We have a very distinct way of life and set of beliefs in California and at Marin Academy. The Op/Ed on being a conservative student at MA was a good start on this - it gets different perspectives represented in our newspaper. Perhaps we could step outside of our school, though, and do a comparative article on the U.S. and other countries maybe? These articles tend to fascinate readers because things around the world are so different. This article definitely got me fired up, which is something we should try to imitate in our own paper.
Braking Away:
This was such a fun, quick narrative. Most of the time when reading the paper all I see is news, news, news. It is information that I feel like I need to absorb. Braking Away was certainly a break from that sort of mindset. I love how it was much more of a vignette than an article and I felt as if I was riding right next to the writer; my hands almost clenched on the breaks as I read it.
These little stories are always enjoyable to read, especially if the person writing them is good at description and understated humor. I think little stories like this would be a great addition to the paper. We could even do two or three on a half-page. People that have funny little stories on simple things they do everyday could write these up so easily. Students that don't even write for the Voice could write these and submit them; we could pick our favorites and feature them in editions. It would get the community more involved with our paper which would excite everyone. I know that people would be more likely to read the paper if they knew there was a chance their little stories might be in it.
Ilana S.
The Man the White House Wakes Up To
I think that Mark Leibovich did a very good job profiling a leader in political journalism, while managing to balance the piece with the “so what” aspect. If the piece was simply a profile on Mike Allen, then I think I would be left wondering why Allen is any different than any other political journalist. Included in this is piece are multiple sides of Mike Allen; his personal life complete with hyperactivity and eagle scout credentials; his professional career including his high-profile contacts; and lastly who reads what he writes and for what purpose. With all three aspects included, I think that the piece is very complete and interesting. In my opinion, it’s debatable whether Allen's role in the White House is the more important element of this story, or if it’s simply a profile on “ ‘the most powerful’ or ‘important’ journalist in the capital.” Mark Leibovich clearly highlights Allen’s role in the White House, saying, “America’s most influential people will read [Playbook] before they say a word to their spouses.” At the same time, Leibovich concludes the article by describing Allen as a “a never-married 45-year-old grind known as Mikey.”
"The Texas Curriculam Massacre"
I have always thought that Texans were different than the rest of the Americans, but after this article I can affirm that this is true. I am just at aw that Texas is concerned about whether or not it is appropriate to have a drawing of a female breast on a test when so many cutbacks are occurring in our public education system. I think that since Texas no longer has George Bush in office to set an example of true "Texan ideals", Texas is trying to retain the media attention that has since been lost since Obama took over office. On the other hand, coming from a very democratic community, I think it is unfair for us to judge and dislike Texas because of its conservative views. Texas is Republican and it is conservative as well. These aspects are not going to change, but I think that as the United States of America, we should be accepting to different outlooks and opinions that make our nation so diverse and interesting. Lastly, I feel bad for the kids that are in public schools in Texas because when they live in other states, or nations, they will look completely unintelligent and narrow minded.
Texas:
I found this article to be extremely well written and interesting. The stance that the author posed was both insightful, Texan, and recognisant of arguments on both sides of the issue. The picture he paints around secession and the validity of various statespeople's claims to disregard any federal law if it does not abide by the state constitution are particularly interesting. It seems to me that it would be best if the right wing could consolidate their views more accurately about constitutionality, they would be much more successful in pushing their agenda. The MA angle on this article is something that is also equally pertinent to life in our smaller community. It seems to me that people frequently do not give much thought to these dialogues that people further towards the right are having. I would love to see people at MA breaking down their political perspectives on a more complex level while being more aware about political debates in other areas.
"The Texas Curriculum Massacre"
This piece really fascinated me. I had never really thought about the influence that I single state could have on various actions of the country, including nationwide curriculum. In a way, it makes a lot of sense. Texas is the state with the second-largest population (after California, of course), and so the products that it demands could quickly become the products that are most manufactured, thus cornering others out of the market. In this way, Texas is capable of "buying" the education style of the entire country. At the same time, I feel that there should be a way to make various curricula available to everyone. I would also think that California would have more influence in this tug-of-war, as it is the largest state. Some parts of the curriculum that they are considering changing - such as only teaching creationism or removing non-Anglo history - frightens me a bit. I think that it is important to learn a wide variety of theories and learn about many different peoples. While I recognized that it is not possible to teach everything in the space of a year and that the SBOE must pick what it finds to be most important as the central curriculum, I think that they could make much better choices than including the inventor of the yo-yo.
Another part of this piece which fascinated me was the aspect of Texan independence. I found this idea a bit playful and funny, even if it didn't quite fit in with the overall tone of the piece. I can understand why Texans would want the ability to set their own educational standards, without having to listen to the arguments or influence of other states. I could certainly see Texas as its own country, since it is both large enough and very culturally independent. However, since Texas is a part of the United States, I believe that the SBOE should at least look to the curricula of other states before making any radical changes in its own.
Braking Away:
What an interesting article! I thought Chris Raschka did a great job illustrating the sort of scorn he gets from the wide variety of other people that do not stop at stop lights or stop signs. It seems that people often break simple and seemingly minute laws just because other people do, even if they may be legitimate. Similarly, I think the MA angle on this issue would be quite interesting: traffic violations! I roll stop signs, I speed, I use my turn signal sparingly, I know where every single cop in Marin hides, and I have never been pulled over or gotten a ticket. I'd love to write an article interviewing tons of MA student about traffic violations and tickets, parking and driving around campus, and dealing with cops around Marin.
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