TOW #25 - Recycling Electronic Waste Responsibly: Excuses Dwindle

Virtually everyone today uses electronics in some way or another, whether it be a cell-phone, a TV,  or a computer. But what happens when these electronics grow old and stop functioning correctly? Well, the user will replace them with newer tech, but where do the old electronics go? - Often times, they irresponsibly go to a landfill. On December 31, 2014, Molly Wood, frequent writer for the New York Times, wrote an article concerning E-Waste, its effects and ways to properly dispose of it. In order to inform the public of how to manage E-Waste, Wood employs relatable language as well as testimony from renowned sources.

Wood opens her article by explaining the issue as it exists, that is, explains what E-Waste is. In order to appeal to the reader, she uses unifying and relatable language stating, “maybe you replaced old electronics over the holidays or you’re just sweeping out the old and ushering in the New Year [...] For everyone’s sake, including Mother Nature’s try to get rid of your old technology the right way.” (Woods 1). Through her implementation of words such as “you” and by describing likely situations, Wood is able to show the reader how they can be contributing to this issue. Tying who is affected to this idea is more likely to make the reader brought to more attention. As a result of this, the reader may feel a sort of call to action to change the way they are acting, thus putting a stop to the production of as much E-Waste. Furthering these ideas, Wood includes statements from experts on the topic.

Through the inclusion of expert testimony on E-Waste, Wood is able to further describe the effects of the pollution. Speaking with James Kao, the CEO of a recycling company in California, called GreenCitizen, Kao said, “If you don’t know where the material goes, you could be thinking you’re doing the right thing, but it ends up being put on a ship and contributing to global dumping.” (Woods 6). By including statements such as those from Kao, Woods may cause people to realize that they are unaware of the ways that they may actually be affecting the rest of the world. For many, throwing something in the trash is a way of throwing away your problem, but this is not the case. In many cases, E-Waste is left in a landfill to deteriorate for hundreds of thousands of years, polluting the environment.

Ultimately, I do agree with Woods and that it is essential that E-Waste is correctly disposed of. Thankfully, many recycling centers and even stores like Best Buy now offer E-Waste recycling programs in order to properly dispose of this waste to reduce the environmental impact of getting rid of old electronics.

TOW #24 - Dispatches from the Edge: A Memoir of War, Disaster, and Survival (Anderson Cooper) Part II

In his memoir titled, Dispatches from the Edge: A Memoir of War, Disaster, and Survival, Anderson Cooper, a journalist having mostly worked with CNN, recounts the many times that he has been on the scene of, as the title says, war, disaster, and the struggle of people for their survival within these conditions. Writing in order to provide a new first person perspective of these major events to readers, Cooper was inspired to create his memoir after Hurricane Katrina. He is able to provide this perspective through his employment of testimony from others who have experienced the results of storms and personal anecdotes.

Cooper spends a large portion of his memoir talking about his experience surrounding Hurricane Katrina as this was a massive disaster that had major impacts on the lives of thousands of people. He writes of his interactions with a woman named Brandy Farris, a realtor for the company Century 21. She tells Cooper that following Katrina, there was a massive increase in the amount of people looking to buy property in New Orleans, sight unseen, even if the properties were underwater. “I’ve been doing real estate for twenty years, and I’ve never seen anything like it,” (Cooper 178).  Through his inclusion of the testimony from Farris, Cooper is able to show that some people unfortunately will take advantage of those who are affected. This is a side of a disaster that most people probably would not think of or consider. As a result, Cooper is able to provide an entirely new perspective to the reader, one that shows the destructiveness of storms and other disasters, not just to the physical world, but to the people there as well.

Nearing the end of the memoir, Cooper begins to wrap up his stories from Katrina. He speaks of walking through the streets and seeing the progress that had been made on the revival of New Orleans. He writes, “I head over to the house where a month ago they found the bodies of Edgar and Christina Bane and their two sons, Carl and Edgar Junior.” (Cooper 198). While this statement, may merely seem grim, it reveals a significant aspect of the results of a major disaster. Cooper obviously has been exposed to many disasters in his time as a reporter and this sort of occurrence, the discovery of dead, is likely a frequent occurrence. His nonchalant reaction to returning to the site however reveals that he has essentially been desensitized. This is why he is able to continuously visit the site of disaster. He shows the reader that these disasters also affect others indirectly through emotional damage, as seen with himself.

Overall, I very much enjoyed reading Cooper’s memoir as it provided me with a newfound perspective on major natural and manmade disaster in a sense that I would not have thought before. As a result, I would absolutely recommend this book to anyone that is interested in memoirs or autobiographies and especially anyone who is a fan of Anderson Cooper in particular. I am glad that I had the chance to read this book and am looking forward to my next IRB.

TOW #23 - Are We Raising Racists?

On March 14th of 2017, the New York Times published an article written by Jennifer Harvey, an op-ed contributor for the paper, on the ideas of racism in the growing youth of the world. The article comes at a time when racial tensions in the United States are at a seemingly all time high, with supporters of Donald Trump taking his messages to the extreme as seen with alt-right supporting groups. In order to display the effects of these messages on the youth, Harvey utilizes personal anecdotes and uses current world examples. In the opening sentences of her text, Harvey describes her daughter learning about George Washington in her elementary school. However, the school provides a very one dimensional version of history that paints men like Washington as completely peaceful and freedom loving heroes, which truly is not the case. When Harvey told her daughter that many political figures, including Washington, owned slaves, her thoughts changed completely. This is quite significant as it displays the ineffectiveness of education of the youth on historical topics like racism. It is absolutely essential that children are not only taught of the peace and freedom that people once fought for, but it is extremely important that children are also taught of the immense suffering that so many ethnic groups have endured throughout history. To complement the issues of racism within the youth, Harvey also explains the various sources that children are now exposed to. It unfortunately seems to be nearly everyday that news breaks about the vandalism of a Jewish cemetery, the burning of a mosque, or attacks against specific racial groups. With children today being exposed more and more often to these sorts of behaviors, it is possible that they will begin to believe that this is an acceptable form of behavior. For this reason, we cannot allow for these ideas to grow within the most influenceable minds in the world. We must show the youth that ideas of racism are absolutely NOT acceptable. Overall, I do believe that Harvey was able to effectively start a push for this idea as a parent in modern society. I also believe that is of the utmost importance that this message is continually spread.

TOW #22 - Want to Fix Schools? Go to the Principal's Office

On the 10th of March, 2017, Op-Ed columnist for the New York Times, David Leonhardt, wrote an article titled Want to Fix Schools? Go to the Principal’s Office. The article focuses on the importance that principals hold in a school environment and the steps that are being taken more recently to improve what they are able to do in order to make sure that schools are a better place for everyone. In order to do this, Leonhardt employs anecdotes from various students as well as principals and teachers. He also utilizes expert testimony.

The article opens with Leonhardt telling of Gregory Jones, the principle of Kenwood High School, which is located in Chicago. Jones had investigated after a fight at the school and found that a junior by the name of Maya Space had witnessed. After conferencing with her later, he realized that she was not on the track to graduate, and had ended up calling her mother. The three were then able to meet in order to discuss what they could do to improve Maya’s situation and increase the chances that she would graduate. This is only one example of a principal in one school, but it displays just how dedicated principals can be to their students. Jones wanted nothing less than for this one student in his school to succeed, so he went through the trouble of setting up meetings and studying up on her student record in order to figure out methods of improvement that would work for her. This is of extreme importance for students in a school, to have an elder who is looking out for the students, but this is only one example of how a principal can express their worth to a school environment.

In an interview conducted by Leonhardt, he received word from the mayor of Chicago, Rahm Emanuel, on his thoughts of the schooling situation and those similar to Maya Space. He stressed the importance of principals stating that “principals create the environment. They create a culture of accountability. They create a sense of community. And none of us, nationally, ever debate principals.” Through this statement, Emanuel is able to not only stress his opinion of principals to the public, but he also suggests a possible way to improve the condition of schools - by bringing the ideas that these school leaders present to a national level. This, as a result, will have the potential to improve schooling across the United States.

Overall, I do believe the Leonhardt was effective in showing that principals do have a very important role within schools in the United States and that more people should work to realize this. As a result going forward, I will be more considerate of the ideas that are put forward by my principal and school administration and will listen to what they say and think more before I make my own opinion on the subject.

TOW #21 - Declined With Thanks

Title of Political Cartoon: Declined With Thanks

The Antis - “Here take a dose of this anti-fat and get thing again!”

Uncle Sam - “No. Sorry! I never did take any of that stuff, and I’m too old to begin.”

During the late 19th century leading into the early 20th century, American imperialism was on a rise. The idea of American imperialism was one of the largest debates in American history; the anti-imperialists versus the pro-imperialists. In this cartoon titles, “Declined With Thanks”, the author is describing the time period of US imperialism and showing the true debate behind it. On the left, there are three people that are known as “the Antis” which clearly oppose US imperialism.  Then on the right we have America as Uncle Sam and the person altering his clothes is President Mckinley. The artist of the cartoon is not clearly on one side or the other, as the artist is merely contrasting the two sides.  This cartoon is geared toward an audience of politicians and people interested in this specific time period.  The use of symbolism and parallelism is quite evident in an attempt to contrast and reveal the opposing sides of this major debate on imperialism.

The symbolism is seen through the names that are written on Uncle Sam’s pants.  The names are treated as the added territories that US wants or has already gaines. Uncle Sam is clearly representing America in this cartoon.  But Uncle Sam is very large in this drawing as the US is gaining more and more territories.  Uncle Sam’s outfit is being altered by a tailor, but in this case President Mckinley.  As Uncle Sam gets bigger and bigger, he will have to come to the tailor to get altered once again which in comparison to the more territories added.  As US gains more territories, they will have to face more troubles and changes that the President will have to deal with.

The parallelism can be seen at the two quotes at the bottom, one where the Antis are saying, “Here take a dose of this anti-fat and get thing again!”  Then Uncle Sam replies with, “No. Sorry! I never did take any of that stuff, and I’m too old to begin.” When Uncle Sam replies, there is some parallelism to previous times of America.  By having Uncle Sam saying that he is too old to begin to start taking an “anti-fat dose” it is then given that America has been expanding its territories since the birth of the nation.  This statement by Uncle Sam also has some parallelism to the Manifest Destiny time period.  This rhetorical device helps to show just how America has always been expanding, and isn’t going to stop any time soon.

In my opinion, I believe that the artist successfully demonstrated the true debate between the pro-imperialists and the anti-imperialists.  Although I would side with the anti-imperialists, I am still able to see and understand both opinions from each side.