Annotated Bibliography

Barns, Brooks, and Ian Lovett. "Californians Face Rival Ballot Initiatives That Would Raise Taxes and Aid Schools." New York Times. The New York Times Company, 10 Sept. 2012. Web. 23 Sept. 2012. <http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/11/us/californians-face-competing-tax-increase-propositions.html?_r=0>.
This New York Times article is written by Brooks Barnes, who has been a writer for the New York Times since 2007. Previously Barnes has written for The Wall Street Journal and The Philidelphia Enquirer. Barnes is a resident of Los Angeles (http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/people/b/brooks_barnes/index.html).
This article addresses the bigger picture surrounding the proposition, including the effect it could have on Jerry Brown's career/legacy and a competing proposition to temporarily raise taxes for education (prop 38). The article explains that voters may be wary to pay more state taxes because recently members of legislative staff were given raises and the state parks have hidden a $54 million dollar budget surplus. Actions like these make the state seem irresponsible to tax payers. The article also mentions that California tax payers have voted against the last eight proposed tax increases. The article breaks down poll numbers and what they mean for the initiative, taking into consideration the competing proposition 38. The article also briefly mentions where financial support is coming from for the measure (Indian casinos, soda companies, oil companies) and why. This article is fairly balanced, but the author seems to be pro proposition thirty. The author uses pathos, by characterizing Molly Munger (proponent of prop 38) as a wealthy lawyer and being sympathetic to Jerry Brown, and logos by citing statistics and quotations.

York, Anthony. "Gov. Jerry Brown Formally Kicks off Prop. 30 Tax Hike Campaign." Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 16 Aug. 2012. Web. 23 Sept. 2012. <http://articles.latimes.com/2012/aug/16/local/la-me-brown-taxes-20120816>.

Anthony York wrote this article for the LA times. The article gets much of it's information and context from from a speech made in August by Jerry Brown in Sacramento concerning Prop 30. The article explains that the proposition will increase sales tax throughout California by a quarter cent though 2016 in addition to raising taxes on high earning Californians until 2019. According to this article Propostition 30 could raise up to $8 billion a year to prevent a $5 billion cut to K-12 schools and keep a $250 million dollar cut for colleges at bay. This article (like the New York Times article by Brooks Barnes) addresses California's recent financial fumbles and Jerry Brown's dismissive statements about their relevancy to this Proposition 30. Also mentioned is the rival Proposition 38 which "would hike levies on anyone with an annual income of more than $7,316". This article states that money raised by Prop 30 won't be set aside specifically for school funding.  Like the New York Times Article this article did not argue strongly for or against prop 30 but just offered basic facts. This article was written at the beginning of Governor Brown's campaign and employs pathos by quoting the governor extensively when he talks about how to deal with flawed government. The author also uses logos and quasi-ethos by quoting from experts like Jerry Brown and critics of the proposition.

Reading Response #1 (Moore)

Michael Moore’s piece ‘Idiot Nation” describes some of the problems with America’s public school systems. Inspired by Moore’s own negative experiences in public school and his ensuing career as a political writer, Moore goes in depth to describe the decreases in funding for schools (which have led to deteriorating conditions of school buildings and outdated books in libraries and classrooms), the lack of public and financial support shown to teachers, and the increase in corporate sponsorship of schools, all of which have culminated in what Moore deems a ‘nation of idiots’ (Moore, 128)

                In the text Moore discusses many of the bad experiences that he had in school, among them being bored in the first grade when the children were learning to read (a skill which he already possessed), feeling imprisoned in “a two-thousand-plus-inmate holding pen” (Moore, 134) in high school, and dropping out of college when he couldn’t find a parking spot. Among his triumphs was successfully running for school board president as a senior in high school, becoming his principal’s boss overnight.

                I agree with Moore that public schools are failing children. Although I never ran for political office as a teenager, I had my qualms with the public school system. I loved school as a kid but was constantly bored in class. I spent most lunch hours reading in the library and was frequently reprimanded for reading under my desk during lectures (despite the purported ‘distraction’, I continued to do well on tests).  Once I hit junior high, though, my positive attitude about school took a nose dive (possible causes: hormones, punk rock music). I decided that my peers and teachers were morons and the school system was designed to drain me of my very will to live. I fantasized about being sent away to boarding school (preferably one specializing in Witchcraft and Wizardry) or at least going to the local private high school (despite the Catholicism), but that was a financial impossibility for me. I continued to attend school until the 10^th grade, when my dismal grades and desperate pleas convinced my parents to let me take the California High School Proficiency Exam.  A month into my sophomore year of high school I stopped attending classes and got a job at a Subway sandwich shop, gaining my ‘high school equivalency’ a few months later.

                Once I was out of school I spent a lot of time volunteering at the public elementary school where my mom was the office manager. Because of budget cuts the office assistant was getting fewer hours and my mom was expected to pick up all the extra work, which included being the de facto school nurse (the district only had one registered nurse who travelled from school to school) in addition to enrolling kids, watching kids who got sent to the office, calling parents, creating class rosters and doing endless paper work. Also due to budget cuts the school continuously increases the children to adult ratio, which forces teachers to act as babysitters.

                Moore’s attitude towards school and schooling, much like the one I developed, is one of frustration and disdain. Moore seems possessed of a desire for real learning, but believes that politicians are throwing up road blocks for teachers and administrators and severely disadvantaging the young people who attend public schools. Moore states that “political leaders – and the people who vote for them – have decided it’s a bigger priority to build another bomber than to educate our children” (Moore, 131). I agree with Moore that the attitude of American voters and politicians (themselves products of our flawed educational system) is a root cause of our floundering school system.

week one

My Prop 30 article from the LA times: http://articles.latimes.com/2012/aug/16/local/la-me-brown-taxes-20120816

1. 'Para Teresa' is written in English and Spanish because the shared culture of the combatants in the poem is central to their story. The poem is essentially about the two character's divergent reactions to the forces of assimilation in 1950's America, about how the narrator chooses to apply herself in school in order to make her family happy and to prove herself while Teresa chooses to rebel outwardly against the dominant culture. The bilingual nature of the poem is reflective of the conflict between trying to retain one's own culture, merge with the dominant culture, or find a balance between the two. The narrator seems to choose to write the more introspective lines in Spanish and the more descriptive lines in English, or at least the more emotional lines in Spanish and the more objective lines in English. The use of both Spanish and English gives it the feeling of a personal correspondence between the two main characters. the narrator also begins the poem with the phrase 'las palabras estas que explotan de mi corazon (these words that explode from my heart)' (Hernandez-Avila, 'Para Teresa'), setting the highly personal and seemingly private tone of the poem. the use of both Spanish and English sets up the poem as sincerely emotional and personal.


2. The narrator states "in the sixth grade, we did not understand ...but now in 1975 ... te comprendo, es mas, te respeto" (Hernandez-Avila, 'Para Teresa') When the narrator was a young girl she only knew her own way of thinking and living and Teresa (seeming frightening and strange to the narrator) only knew her own way. But as an adult the narrator is able to look back on this adolescent encounter and see it objectively; to take into account the time and place in the world and in their lives that the event occurred. Maybe at twenty-eight the narrator feels more like a Teresa, more aggressive and assertive, than she did as her sixth grade self. As our instructor mentioned, it is significant that the narrator uses the term 'pachucas' to describe Teresa and her friends. I had to look up the term (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pachuco), and I found that the definition lent cultural and historical context. Describing Teresa and her friends as 'pachucas' meant that they were culturally dangerous, the rebellious subculture of their time. As an adult the author is able to identify with and be proud of the dangerous outward rebellion that Teresa showed in the sixth grade.


6. Anthony York's LA times article on Prop. 30 explains Governor Jerry Brown's proposition to temporarily raise income tax on those earning above $250,000 a year and California state sales tax in order to prevent heinous tax cuts from California's public schools and universities. The proposition is expected to raise up to $8 billion a year. Opponents argue that the state of California has recently dropped the ball with the state parks budget and made significant accounting errors, as well as pointing out that "the money raised by Proposition 30 would not be earmarked specifically for education." (York, http://articles.latimes.com)