COMM 337- Sarah Palin story

1. This story about Palin illustrates how McCain is trying to defeat Obama and how Palin will be a good VP for McCain.

2. This story also mentions the daughter of Palin and her pregnancy issue.

3. Thornburgh also describes how his interviews with Palin were just about her and how she presents herself to the public.

COMM 337- Waiting for Schadenfreude

1. I think the sentence, "It was, rather, about a sense that the wrong people had inherited the earth," is the 'line' for this story.

2. The source of conflict Judith Warner refers to is about the Gilded Age where low to middle class people are not being treated well and are classified as losers.

3. There weren't any real surprises to me because Warner describes that the financial crisis is the "Root of all Evil" for the economy. She also describes how the bosses of corporations make all the money while the employees make little money even for their efforts to improve the Market.

Analysis Paper 3- Brady hits snag

The article, Brady’s Recovery Hits Snag was written by Shira Springer and published in The Boston Globe on October 24, 2008. Springer discusses New England Patriots’ quarterback, Tom Brady and his knee injury that occurred on the opening week of the 2008 NFL season. She also describes how Brady’s knee is infected and what the doctors are doing to treat his injury so that he will be able to make a full recovery and possibly play next season. This story Springer wrote is a feature story for the newspaper.
First, Springer describes how Brady is handling the injury by stating that he went through a second procedure on October 15 and is being treated with a six- week course of IV antibiotics. She also stated that Brady’s recovery process is not compromised by the infection in his knee because the doctors are cleaning the wound properly and hope that Brady will make a full recovery and return to playing football. Therefore, Springer states that Brady is being taken care of by his personal doctors and the Patriots’ medical staff is supporting Brady’s decision on choosing a personal doctor.
Springer then discusses how the infection could have long term problems by damaging Brady’s knee even further. She explains that the doctors are trying the find the bacteria that infected Brady’s knee, but their best hypothesis for the bacteria would be staph which the doctors state is the most common cause in the septic joint infecting the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and medial collateral ligament (MCL). Springer then mentions the possible problems that the infection can cause which include long-term knee problems, a decrease in mobility, stiffness, weakness, and lingering pain. These effects can possibly harm Brady because if the infection grows too large; he could possibly never regain full motion on the knee that would force him to retire from the NFL. Therefore, Springer’s description about the infection in Brady’s knee suggests that the infection could cause serious problems for him and his career.
Another thing Springer describes about the knee injury is how doctors progress in a normal surgery. She explains that the doctors handle both ACL and MCL injuries by trying to fix the MCL injury or by letting the MCL injury heal naturally. The next step after the MCL is repaired is to fix the ACL injury and the patient will heal in a certain amount of time. The doctors told Springer that a normal knee surgery takes several months to repair, and that the patient should be able to make a full recovery and continue with his or her career. Therefore, Springer’s description about a knee operation clearly shows what doctors have to do in order for the patient to have a full recovery.
Finally, Springer describes how Brady’s knee got injured and what joints are suffering the infection. Brady injured his knee when a defensive tackle of the Kansas City Chiefs hit Brady’s knee with his shoulder pad and Brady was feeling extreme pain. Brady injured his MCL and ACL ending his season with the Patriots. Doctors stated that the septic joints could possibly be infected; therefore, the doctors had to wash out Brady’s knee two to three times so that the risk of infection would not become a major concern during the surgery. Also, Springer illustrates that the infection in Brady’s knee is a fairly common treatment for the doctors to handle. Therefore, Springer states that the doctors will be able to clean Brady’s knee and wash out the infection so as to continue the surgery which will take several months.
In this writer’s opinion, Springer did a good job reporting this feature story about Tom Brady for a few reasons. The first reason is that Springer did a good job describing how doctors handle a knee surgery by cleaning the knee for any infection and then starting on the surgery. Basically, describing the ACL and MCL and which joint is normally infected supports Springer’s thesis about a knee surgery and how doctors use the proper treatment to repair the knee so that athletes like Brady can make a full recovery from the injury.
Another reason why this writer thinks that Springer did a good job writing this feature story is that Springer explained how long the procedure would take for Brady’s knee to completely heal. She illustrates by explaining the length of time the doctors predicted for Brady’s knee to be completely repaired so that he will be ready for the 2009 NFL season. Basically, Springer stated that the knee injury will keep Brady off the field for the rest of the 2008 season. Therefore, Springer explained with details on how long the recovery will take and she used direct quotes from the doctors who explained the process of the surgery and how they will be able to treat Brady’s knee with good care.
Finally, this writer thinks that Springer wrote well because it covers one of the most valuable players in the NFL. Basically, this story covered one of the best players in the league, and Springer, like many other NFL fans, hopes that Brady will make a full recovery and be able to play football again for the New England Patriots. Also, this writer thinks that Springer wrote about a player that has had a huge impact not only on fans, but coaches and players of the league as well. In other words, with the loss of Brady, teams will have a better chance of winning against the Patriots, but they also hope that Brady will get his knee repaired and will be able to play next season so that players and coaches will have a challenge provided by one of the best players in the NFL. Therefore, Springer emphasizes that Tom Brady is one of the best players in the NFL and she made sure that her story will give complete coverage on how Brady’s surgery is progressing.
After reading this article, this writer thinks Springer made a good feature story for the newspaper and for sports fans that follow football. Therefore, this article has a big impact not only on sports fans, but also the players who have sustained a serious injury and will be missing an entire season.

Analysis Paper 2- The Fall of America Inc.

The article, The Fall of America, Inc. was written by Francis Fukuyama and published on October 13, 2008. Fukuyama gave his opinion mainly on the current state of the U.S. economy. In his opinion, the economy is in bad shape by relating to the history of the U.S. and how the next U.S. president will handle the situation for the future of the country. Therefore, Fukuyama wrote this piece as an opinion on bad decisions for the U.S. economy.
In his article, he refers to U.S. history on how the economy was in bad shape during the Reagan administration. He describes how Reagan was trying to create a capitalism that would bring about low taxes, light regulation, and a government that would be in charge of the economic growth of the U.S. However, Fukuyama states that Reagan’s plan backfired which created deregulation that had a huge affect not only on the U.S., but the world. Fukuyama also uses the term “Reaganism” that describes how governments can expand their authority. Also, this term was used to describe how Reagan tried to make tax cuts so that the government and wealthy people would be receiving the money while everyone else struggles to maintain a balanced budget.
Fukuyama also describes how President Bush messed up the economy by stating that between 2002 and 2007, the countries Europe and Latin America viewed the U.S. economy as a, “cowboy capitalism.” In other words, Fukuyama is blaming President Bush for creating havoc in the Middle East by invading Iraq and raising the prices of oil and gasoline so that he could use American dollars to fund his war. Therefore, Fukuyama is stating that the Bush administration put the U.S. economy far more in debt with the funding of the war in Iraq. Money was printed and sent to the Middle East instead of being used to stabilize and support the US economy.
Fukuyama then starts talking about the future of the U.S. economy with the upcoming presidential election between Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain. He states that Obama wants to make better political relations with the countries of Russia and China by way of diplomacy. Obama believes that if the U.S. pulls its troops out of Iraq and focuses on bringing the gasoline and oil prices down, then the economy will recover from severe debts, but not all at once.
However, Fukuyama states that McCain is like Teddy Roosevelt because the last few debates, McCain has been saying that if the U.S. leaves Iraq, it will be a failure. Fukuyama also stated that McCain has been calling out against the Wall Street and SEC chairman, Chris Cox because Wall Street received a 700 billion dollar bailout to avoid a bankruptcy and possibly another depression. Therefore, Fukuyama is criticizing both candidates because Obama’s policy is not considered an ideological process and McCain’s policy is not considered intelligent, but trigger happy.
Finally, Fukuyama states that in order for the U.S. economy to change, the country must live under a democracy. Fukuyama believes that a republic is a bad way of governing a country because President Bush wasted billions of U.S. dollars on Iraq and has done nothing to help the economy. In other words, Fukuyama illustrates that Bush did nothing to help his own people, but he certainly had time to spend a lot of money for his war in the Middle East. Also, Fukuyama related how the Bush administration is similar to the Nixon and Reagan administrations by explaining how each president handled the economy by trying to cut taxes which took a lot of jobs away from the citizens living in the U.S. In return, foreign countries, such Russia and China are noticing that Bush is really destroying not only the U.S. economy, but the world economy as well because almost every country relies on the U.S. dollar.
In this writer’s opinion, Fukuyama is one hundred percent accurate about the U.S. economy being in very bad shape. One reason why this writer thinks that Fukuyama is right about the U.S. economy being in bad shape is that he read in the article about the 700 billion dollar tab to help Wall Street avoid a stock market crash. In other words, this writer thinks that Fukuyama did a good job explaining how the 700 billion dollars can put the U.S. in greater debt, but also make it a challenge for the person who becomes president.
Second, this writer thinks that Fukuyama did a good job comparing both the Nixon and Bush administrations based on foreign policy because Fukuyama illustrates how both Republicans were focusing on handling both the Vietnam War and the War in Iraq. Basically, both men were more focused on how to spend money for Iraq and Vietnam, but also how many troops should be deployed to war. Therefore, Fukuyama has a very strong point about both presidents ruining the U.S. with their foreign policy overshadowing the economy.
Finally, this writer thinks that Fukuyama is right about the Republicans ruining the U.S. economy whenever a Republican is President of the United States. He explains how Reagan, Nixon, and Bush ruined the economy by asking for billions of dollars to help each of their egocentric foreign policies. In other words, each president did not care about the economy because each of them erroneously thought that the U.S. economy was in great shape.
Based off this third reason, Fukuyama thinks that living under a republic is worse than living under a democracy. For example, Fukuyama illustrates that President Bush uses the term democracy as a military action against countries that are ruled under tyranny. Basically, President Bush uses democracy as an excuse just to start a war in the Middle East. Therefore, these three reasons illustrate why this writer thinks that Fukuyama is one hundred percent accurate about the U.S. economy being in bad shape.
After reading and analyzing this article, Fukuyama clearly states that the U.S. economy is in terrible shape due to previous U.S. history and the current administration funding the War in Iraq. Therefore, the next U.S. president must focus on rebuilding the economy to help every American live in a country of peace and prosperity.

COMM 337- Mark Danner review

I am in class today.

Mark Danner's article is well written because it is discussing the 2008 election from the beginning that makes it a feature story. I think he does a good job comparing McCain to Bush because McCain has the same foreign policies as President Bush while Obama is focused on the economy. Also, Danner does a good job of using words that replaces profanity. I think people should not hear profanity because it gives a bad image to society. Therefore, this article illustrates how both candidates plan to run the U.S. with their policies.

Analysis Paper 1- The Politics of Water

The Milwaukee Magazine published a political article titled the “Politics of Water” on March 3, 2008. Barbara Miner, the author of this article, reviewed the Great Lakes in the Midwest of the United States by explaining a little history about the lakes, illustrating a disaster scenario, and mentioning how the lakes can shape the future of the United States and the world. Therefore, this article is a chronological piece that describes the past and the present.
Miner started the article by describing some U.S. history of the Great Lakes dating back to the late 1800s. She describes how Waukesha which is also called Spring City played a huge role with the Great Lakes because it has sweet- tasting spring water that many tourists all over the nation would come to taste and drink it. Basically, Miner is describing how this city is a tourist attraction just because of the spring water.
Another part of the history Miner used was the year 1965, which is the year when the U.S. Army Corp. of Engineers studied the water of the Great Lakes to relieve droughts in the Northeast. In 1981, the U.S. government paid 2.2 billion dollars for a pipeline from Wyoming to the Great Lakes designed to carry coal slurry. These two dates show how the U.S. government is trying to preserve fresh water for the future.
Miner illustrates a disaster scenario of the Great Lakes by using the Aral Sea as an example. The Aral Sea is part of Russia which has been polluted for many years and over that time, the seas began to drought. The reason Miner used the Aral Sea as an example of the Great Lakes is that it used to be the fourth largest lake in the world.
She also discussed global warming as a disaster scenario because it is changing the world’s climate rapidly. With global warming rising at an alarming rate, the salt waters will expand because the glaciers are absorbing and holding the fresh water hostage which is a valuable resource for the United States and the world. Therefore, Miner shows how global warming can have a bad affect on the Great Lakes.
Finally, Barbara Miner goes into detail about the Great Lakes and discusses methods that can be used to shape the future of the United States. She explains how important the lakes are because they provide a fresh water supply for the Midwest and they are part of a tourist attraction. Miner explains that the fresh water supply shapes the economy of the Midwest in the U.S. by being a useful resource for farmers to plant the crops such as corn and soy beans. It also allows tourists to explore the different sites by boat and travel to different states by going across the lakes instead of taking an airplane or driving long miles across state borders. These examples show how Miner is illustrating the importance of the lakes in the United States.
Also, Miner illustrates how the Great Lakes are being referred to as a resource for the nation. She states that the water of the Great Lakes will be the new oil in the future, and she gained this information from water experts who stated this as a prediction. A method Miner would probably use would be where car dealerships are switching from gasoline and oil to water. Basically, dealerships can provide cars and trucks that get better mileages without the use of oil and gas as a necessity which will put oil and gas companies possibly out of business. Therefore, oil and gasoline will become obsolete in the future when humans will figure out how to run cars on water.
Another thing that Miner discusses about the Great Lakes that can shape the future of the United States is that the U.S. government is trying to establish a long term water supply by 2010. In other words, the government is trying to maintain a consistent water supply for every person in the United States by trying to prevent droughts from occurring in the Midwest and in the Gulf Coast. Also, the government is trying to bring global warming to a halt by trying to quarantine pollution from factories. Miner illustrates how Congress is trying to establish some new federal laws that will regulate the water of the Great Lakes because the lakes are starting to lack amounts of fresh water for the people due to drought and global warming. Therefore, this information she used illustrates how the Great Lakes are being regulated by the U.S. government.
Ms. Miner states that Waukesha is the villain of the Great Lakes for two reasons. One reason is that the city of Waukesha has hotels for travelers that can find a place to stay for a couple of days or weeks which allows the people to tour the city rather than the Great Lakes. Basically, Miner is saying that the city is becoming a tourist attraction which is taking a lot of water supply from the lakes. This reason shows how Waukesha is affecting the Great Lakes.
The final reason why Waukesha is a villain to the Great Lakes is that the city has major sites for tourists to visit. These sites are making tourists stay in Waukesha longer than normal because they are taking a huge amount of water supply from the lakes for the city’s water parks, restaurants, and buffets. Basically, entertainment parks and food businesses are using large amounts of fresh water to make tourists feel welcomed to the city and providing good water for hungry people. Therefore, the city is a huge tourist attraction that uses a lot of fresh water from the Great Lakes that some people would state that the city is a villain to the lakes.
This writer thinks that Miner’s writing is well written for a few reasons. One reason is that she explained the history of the Great Lakes and how they affected the United States. Another reason is that the use of fresh water not only has a national effect, but an international effect that can put oil companies out of business by using water as a resource for an alternative fuel for vehicles. The final reason is that Miner uses suggested solutions for the Great Lakes to prevent droughts in the near future. These reasons show why this writer understands why Miner did a chronological piece to make a report for a magazine.
Therefore, this article is presented in a timeline so that Miner could explain to readers how the Great Lakes have a big affect on the United States and how they are important to people and the future because of the fresh water the lakes provide.

COMM 337- Market Ideas

RHS Football: Beckett Media and Riverton Register

NFL and College football: The Bulldog

College football rankings: Sharing the Victory