Blog ch. 5 p 115. - ADOVAH

ADOVAH - What relations toward others do religious affiliations, practices, and beliefs often encourage, and how do those relations shape advocacy?

Religious affiliations, practices and beliefs often encourage relations toward the same group. Usually, actions are taken to help or benefit that community. Toward others, it may encourage sharing knowledge of what you believe and practice in hopes of enlightening or maybe even converting.

Religious affiliations do shape advocacy because if you are affiliated with a certain religious community, you are more prone to be influenced by that community as far as what you believe is right or wrong and what you are willing to speak out for. The community you belong to, whether it be large or small, plays an integrated role in advocacy..

In the ADOVAH website, you can see how the Jewish people in the group were all working toward the same goal of helping and shaping the community. They were able to feel comfortable amongst eachother doing what they set out for.

Editorials Blog - SJMN

The "Editorial: Valley Cities make progress on green building standards" brings light to a new movement - the green movement. The green movement is making its way across Santa Clara County's 15 cities. These cities have agree to meet the building standards of the LEED Silver standard for new or renovated public buildings.

The movement will help make more efficient use of water, land, and energy and discourage wasteful building practices. Communities will benefit in the sense that there will be a significant reduction in green house gas emission, the water supply will be stretched, and the new standard will help save about 20 percent of operating costs over the businesses' lifetime. All cities of the Santa Clara county will set different minimums but they will all use the standards of Build it Green and LEED(Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design). Many of the buisnsses have agreed with the central idea of "what's good for the climate is good for business."

I think this is a fantastic idea. I just hope it does not fade out like the last big movement that came out of the bay. Green house gas emissions is a ever popular issue and if buisnesses want to be viewed positively, they must act sensitively to the issue. From a global standpoint, any step taken toward a solution is generally a good one. This may not have the effect of adjusting a standard for a more harmful element such as automobiles but still, its in the right direction. Hopefully, if all goes well, more people will catch on to the buildling standardards and before we know it, the whole country is living green.

Editorials Blog - SJMN

At first, I was so certain global warming was a reality. I mean as an average American receiving the average knowledge, I still feel pretty confident that global warming is a reality. However, after reading this article, it made me a little skeptical as to what degree global warming has reached. (No pun intended)

This article brought to light a former astronaut who has a legitimate scientific background to support his claims. He says that global warming is not as intense as many scientists make people believe. Apparently, many scientists are building up the severity of global warming because of the need for grants. If they speak out against global warming, politicians and such will pull their funding.

Now when he puts it that way, it makes sense in my mind. I personally cannot say one way or another that I can prove anything. This article merely gave me another perspective.

In a related article, a question was asked, "Could it really be true that a single large volcanic eruption launches more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere than the amount generated by all of humanity over history?" Mercury news responded with "Greenhouse gas emissions from volcanoes make up less than 1 percent of those generated by today's human endeavors."

The volcano article can be seen here.

In addition, here is a related discussion regarding "Is Global Warming Real?

Editorials Blog - ch. 13

While reading chapter 13, I started to think about the though process that I generally go through upon reading any article. When I read,my thought process can be vaguely summarized as, "This is what its about, the author sounds this way, and I feel this way." There are factors that cause my mind to identify those things but they are generally overlooked once they have made their impression. Chapter 13 helped me understand why.

For example, typically, I don't consider how or why the author is an authority - I just figured that since they are in the paper, they are reputable. The first editorial analysis helped point out why this was. It also helped me understand that the lengths of the sentences play a role in how the article is meant to be read. This is also later introduced in the final editorial.

In the editorials about affirmative action, I was able to see more so how a picture can make a huge difference. After reading both sections, I considered how I would view each article had I removed the picture or, which I thought was more interesting, switched the pictures. How often do you see articles with white Americans speaking for affirmative action and articles with African-Americans speaking against it? What would you think?

When I got to the last editorial, I was relatively happy to be finished reading. This feeling was accompanied by a relaxation that was brought by the article. The serene image and the imagery the author used created a sense of peace despite the conflicts of what is going on globally. In all honesty, it made me want to go to the wilderness. It also reminded me of the movie "Wild America". Growing up, this movie made me very eager to learn and explore the natural world because of the adventure the characters went on.

PrintAssignment

Is San Jose a little out of shape? This piece titled "San Jose: Fit or Fat?" in the Metro brings to light the never ending issue of health. According to a recent Men's Fitness article, San Jose isn't fairing to well. It is listed as the 15th fattest city in the nation but in Women's Health and a Men's Fitness last month, San Jose ranked highly for health and fitness.

When I chose this piece, I was under the impression that by the time I finished reading, it would be established that San Jose is either Fit or Fat or possibly both. I think the author's reasoning for choosing the topic was to either show how San Jose is both Fat and Fit or to show how sources may show different results. This is made evident when both studies are revealed and show different results.

This article was more so confusing than providing any clarification as to the question of if San Jose is either fit or fat. There is only one study dont by Women's health and two by Men's Fitness. This makes me question as to why they did not include the second Women's. Is there possibly something that will do more than confuse the reader? It is not provided which brings me to the next conclusion. This must be to show how San Jose is a combination of both. If the studies are reliable and valid, than San Jose is both Fat and Fit. By leaving the definite answer at the end out, the reader is made to think what is possible.

Overall, this piece was not very good if clarification is what you seek. The author tries to incorporate a cheezy pun at the very end but it does not really hold much water. This article's title is a little misleading because it implies two options which usually end up with a choice between two. The was frustrating because of how out of the two options picked, the reader is left with more choices than they started out with. Fat? Fit? Both ?

OnlineAssignment

According to an article from the San Jose Mercury News website, San Jose mayor Chuck Reed will be going to Washington along with the Los Angeles mayor Anotnio Villaraiosa and San Diego mayor Jerry Sanders on behalf of California while congress works on President Obama's stimulus bill. Now in all honest, I normally wouldn't care about all this buisness pertaining to the Recession. I always seemed to have this belief that regardless of what happens politcally or economically, life will go on and I will continue to live uneffected. I chose this article in particular because I recently came to a realization that I am going to be effected and the sooner a solution comes into play, the sooner we can all go back to living normally.

I think the author's main goal is to highlight the fact that the mayor is going to embark on this arduous journey to our nations capital on for the sake of the city and state he represents. This essay is more geared toward Californian's and more specifically San Jose residents. One can recognize this because of the way that Mayor Reed is seemingly having to go through a bit of trouble for the sake of California. The author mentions how Reed dislikes travel and how the trip is a "nightmare version." The explanation goes on to mention how he will endure and put his discomfort aside for the state. Eventually the essay gets to a point where Reed says California can be the means of ending the Recession. This all plays into what I believe the purpose of the essay is.

This essay is meant to make the San Jose Mayor Reed look particularly good. The author does deviate and speaks a little bit about the plan involved and touches on some details but then it eventually shifts back to Mayor Reed. This theme is seen throughout the essay, even in the tittle. The tittle is "San Jose Mayor Heading to Washington to Talk Stimulus. " There is no mention in why or how he is making the trip

As I went back to the essay and re-read the text, it was not so much that I had to revise my original idea but I was more so able to identify things that were in. I personally enjoyed reading this article because despite the way it idolized Reed, it shows that some sort of action is being taken to preserve California.

blogblog hw

Darren Sumida

Blog of a blog.

In Dr. Angelina Karpovich's e-Journal, "I Blog, Therefore I am" she speaks of blogging in a way that many are able to relate to. Karpovich uses intricate vocabulary in her descriptions, but in general, she points out a variety of aspects that are constant to the community of online bloggers. As a reader and a occasional blogger, it is not difficult to identify what Karpovich is depicting.

"I Blog Therefore I Am" begins with the author introducing the correlation of blogging and a disease. Karpovic continues by roughly explaining how the academic research blog was intended to be seprate from her academic career however personal influence have found a way to leak into it. Next, she brings to light a common topic of how starting a solo discussion is difficult because of the role comfort plays. She found comfort and was able to blog as a result of discovering some of her friends blogging. Karpovich touches on issues such as netspeak, and how the blogging enviornment allows for one to recreate identity. All of what she says are essentially encountered by many people and her blog does a fine job of pointing out the consistencies of online journals.


I thought the tittle was a clever play on the quote by Descartes, "I think therefore I am." I feel that in blogging, one are able to assert them self many ways. Like in the quote, existence is created by the action. On thing I realized was how by making thoughts come to life on the virtual text provides a means to cement one's self in history. The internet will most definitely be around for a myriad amount of time and whatever marks are made, regardless of the magnitude, will be around for a long time to come.

Being an occasional blogger made it possible for me to relate to certain issues Karpovich brought forward. As a individual writing on something publicly displayed, there are a number of thoughts that come into play. Two of the most prevalent are, "How can this be said in the best way," and "How does this reflect me." Many people are set on not carring about what other people think but seen in many blogs, they format their ideas in a way that will intrigue people or convince or merely to create a better understanding. Some bloggers write just for the sake of writing but still, they think about what they say and often times change the wording because they are unsatisfied with how it is composed.

I enjoyed reading this blog for the most part. I feel that it touched on certain habbits that are consistent in the blogging community. People are aware of what they do, but this blog by Dr. Angelina Karpovich makes clear that many people do have the same tendencies. Blogs are windows not only to the issue presented by its author but also a glipse of the writers private thought.