Friday, April 9, 2010

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Editorial

Affirmative Action: a centerpiece of Lyndon B. Johnson’s failed Great Society. It has been the reason for many court cases since the first piece of it was issued by John F. Kennedy in executive order 10295. The basis of affirmative action is to give preferential treatment to some racial groups when they apply to college or interview for a job. No matter which way you look at it Affirmative action is clearly unconstitutional and has also been extremely counterproductive to those racial groups it intended to help. When Johnson issued U.S. Executive Order 11246 and Executive Order 11375 in 1965, he regarded them to be great steps forward for equality in America. While this may have been true for a few years when laws like this were actually needed because of discrimination, they have quickly turned in to the most unfair laws in modern American history.
The first reason why Affirmative action must be dismantled is because it is actually hurting the racial groups that it is intended to help. Renowned economist Thomas Sowell claimed that affirmative action encourages slacking from the preferential groups because they feel that it will always be there to “bail them out.” This causes another problem and that is that under qualified minorities may get in to more difficult colleges that they can handle and thus lead to failure. A Princeton study clearly shows this, saying that if a college applicant is Black an average of 230 points are added to their SAT score, which is even higher than the amount of points typically added to a recruited athlete’s SAT. Furthermore when a minority is hired there often seems to be a cloud hanging over their hiring, regardless if they are qualified or not.
The second reason why affirmative action must be dismantled is because it is also hurting the racial groups that it is not intended to cover, such as whites and asians. The simple fact is that affirmative action is discrimination based on race. If it were white people gaining from this act instead of other minorities it would be an absolute outrage. White people and asians that are very qualified often get passed over for jobs because employers must hire a set number of minorities. The right thing to do would be to pull the plug on the whole program and let the more qualified person win because minorities clearly are able to compete without these laws.

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Editorial questions

1. What is a problem/issue that our entire student body (our school, community, country, etc.) faces today?

Affirmative Action

2. What is your view/position on the problem or situation?

We dont need it any longer

3. What would you like to achieve with your editorial? (What is the desired result?)

Convince that the whole program is unnecessary

4. How will you persuade your audience to adopt your viewpoint as theirs? List at least 4 persuasive points.

A. Outdated
B. Handcuffs business
C. Unfair to those not affected by law
D. Costs money to enforce

5. How will you motivate your readership to action in your conclusion?

By showing them how some qualified people are getting screwed over for people who arent even qualified

6. How will your editorial serve a public purpose?

It will expose a flaw in society

Feature story

President George Walker Bush
January 20th, 2009. The end of possibly the most maligned political term ever in American Politics. A man who had given eight years of service to his country was now being booed by the very people who had put him in office in the first place. The man being booed, of course, was George W. Bush. In the year 2001 he had been perhaps the most beloved man in America with near all-time high approval ratings that were estimated to have been about 90%. However, by late 2008 Bush’s ratings had taken a complete 180 turn and he know held the record for the lowest ever presidential approval rating (17%). How could someone possibly lose so much popularity, so fast? Simply put Bush made some mistakes, but that is not all, the public gave up on Bush when he needed them the most.
The saga of Bush on the national scene begins way back when he became the governor of Texas. In 1994, after working on his father’s Presidential campaign, Bush ran for governor against a popular Democrat incumbent. Bush ended up winning the election handily, however, shortly thereafter reports surfaced about smear tactics used by Bush in his campaign, claiming that Bush had started untrue rumors about his opponent. The scandal created the first major backlash against George Bush as a politician. Critics claimed Bush was a “trickster” who had had no morals and would do anything to get in office. Some people rose in defiance of Bush but were quickly quieted as he met with great success in the areas of crime and education all while enacting the state’s largest ever tax cuts. This all led to increased popularity for Bush and he won reelection with a record 69% of the popular vote. As his popularity grew even greater, Bush decided that he would run for President in 2000.
As the final nomination for the Republican Presidential candidate drew nearer, it became clearer that the only person who stood in Bush’s way was John McCain. What followed was described by the Boston Globe as being one of the most, if not the most, negative campaigns ever in American politics. For example one ad implied that John McCain’s adopted daughter was actually an illegitimate child. This campaign added to the image that, in many liberals minds, Bush was very untruthful and corrupt in his values. Bush was able to easily wrap up the Republican nomination eventually, and he was set up to face Vice President Al Gore of the Democratic Party.
Little did anyone one know that the 2000 election would go down as one of the most controversial in the history of the country. The election was so close in Florida that multiple recounts were necessary and eventually found its way to the Supreme Court which ruled that Bush had won the Presidency despite being beaten in the popular vote by over half a million votes. So a cloud hung over a very happy day for Bush as he was the first president in over a hundred years to win the Presidency while losing the popular vote. On his inauguration day, 10,000 protesters rallied not far from the White House, decrying what they perceived as an unfair election, even though the Supreme Court had ruled in his favor. Furthermore there were attacks on his character including claims that he was a dumb cowboy and that he had the lowest IQ ever for a President. Most estimates put his IQ at around 130, so it is unlikely that he had the lowest IQ ever for a President.
Despite these attacks on his character Bush pushed through with his agenda. He started talks with North Korea over the Nuclear issue and resolved the debate over stem cell research . At this point in time Bush’s approval ratings were around the 50-60% range and suddenly the big event came that completely changed the dynamics of his presidency. On September 11, 2001 Al-Qaeda fanatics flew planes through the World Trade Center in the largest terrorist attack of all time. Following the attack President Bush gave an emotional speech to the American people and announced plans to create a Department of Homeland security. This was the height of Bush’s popularity as he set a Gallup Poll record with a 90% approval rating. Everybody, it seemed, approved of the war on Terrorism and bin Laden became the country’s greatest villain. Although his success in the war on Terror early on was mostly responsible for his spike in approval ratings, he also became more popular by enacting the largest tax cut in American history. Bush also passed the No Child Left Behind act which sought to decrease gaps in education between different income and racial brackets of the population. The No Child Left Behind Act enjoyed broad bipartisan support in Congress including an endorsement by the late Democratic Senator Ted Kennedy. However liberal critics often pointed to Bush as being indifferent to education needs and that he underfunded educational programs. Many of the populace, in fact, were misled to believe that Bush’s educational policies were a complete failure. When asked what he believed was the result of Bush’s educational policies, Asad Rizvi responded that they were a “complete failure.” This assessment is interesting considering that Bush increased federal spending on education by $14 billion during his first four years in office and state test scores for math and reading have increased drastically.
Yet another controversial act by Bush in his first term was to create the White House Office of Faith Based and Community Initiatives. The focus of this office was to give government aid to faith based charitable organizations. He also removed limits that barred the government from giving money to religious organizations. Critics slammed Bush for violating the principle of separation of church and state. However this was ridiculous because any religious group had access to receive funds Christian, Muslim, Buddhist or anything else. Critics continued to attack, however, saying that almost everyone on the office’s advisory was Christian. Well that would make sense considering the fact that 80% of the people who live in the U.S. are Christians. Regardless, Bush’s critics never seemed to let the issue die.
As the economy continued to struggle during Bush’s presidency and his opinion polls continued sliding, some ugly rumors about Bush began to be circulated. One of the most ridiculous was that Bush himself had helped plan the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center. Another bad rumor was that the President was a racist and that he hated black people. This could not be farther from the truth, in fact. He appointed the first black Secretary of State, Colin Powell and then succeeded him with Condoleeza Rice a black woman. Just for good measure he appointed Alberto Gonzalez, a Hispanic, to the post of Attorney General. So what did these critics even base their arguments on? They pointed to the fact that Bush had hinted that he didn’t completely agree with Affirmative action, which to begin with is completely slanted in favor of minorities.
The simple fact of the matter is that although Bush made some mistakes with the economy, he otherwise made America a better place to live. He made America safer by bringing the fight to the terrorists, he improved education and he brought financial support to charitable organizations all while staying true to his morals and America’s.

Monday, March 8, 2010

Final Hard News Story

Project Natal. Does this sound unfamiliar? “Yes”, said senior Steve Denzer, “I had no clue about it.” Well for those who don’t know Project Natal, it may be the biggest advancement in gaming technology ever. After the watching the promo video, gaming expert Mark Besonen agreed, saying,” it wont be the biggest advancement ever but at least the biggest any high school student has seen in their lifetimes.” Project Natal is software being developed for the Xbox 360 that would allow gamers to play games without the use of a controller. It also has a feature that scans the person using the xbox and recreates a visual image of them allowing users to try on clothes virtually.
Without needing a controller anymore, hand motions are used to play games with Project Natal. For example when playing Project Gotham Racing you use your hands to grasp an invisible steering wheel and rotate it to drive the car. While playing Top Spin you act like you are holding a tennis racket and run around your living room as if it were the tennis court. However, perhaps unfairly, Project Natal will undoubtedly draw comparisons to the Nintendo wii. Most seem to think that Project Natal will be superior though. “Project Natal will be better”, says Mark Besonen, “Because the wii still uses a controller and the 360 has better games.”
An exciting new prospect of Project Natal is that it is expected to draw many new gamers from new demographics. The theory is that people who don’t know how to use a controller will know how to play with Project Natal because it uses simple hand motions that are easily compatible to the games being played. However, this presents a problem because the hand motions may be very complex for some games, such as Call of Duty. For example, in Call of Duty the hand motions for changing weapons and zooming in with a scope may be very complex and confusing. This has not deterred mainstream gamers, in fact Steve Denzer lists Call of Duty as the first game that he would want to try on Natal.
The hype for Natal has yet to be generated in the mainstream public, but gaming insiders know that it has the capabilities to completely transform gaming as we know it. “It is very possible we will see many imitators of Project Natal in the coming years”, said senior Mark Besonen, “If it is successful.” Well only time will tell if Project Natal is a success story or a complete failure. One thing, however, is certain and that is that Project Natal has the right the ideas for moving video gaming in to the next generation. When asked what his favorite feature of the new Project Natal was, senior Eli Golder said, “I am most excited for the scan that takes place when you enter the room.” That’s right, Natal scans the user’s body and face and so it automatically logs the user on to the correct profile when the system is turned on. That is some high tech equipment.

Friday, March 5, 2010

Project Natal

Project Natal. Does this sound unfamiliar? “Yes”, said senior Steve Denzer, “I had no clue about it.” Well for those who don’t know Project Natal, it may be the biggest advancement in gaming technology ever. After the watching the promo video, gaming expert Mark Besonen agreed, saying,” it wont be the biggest advancement ever but at least the biggest any high school student has seen in their lifetimes.” Project Natal is software being developed for the Xbox 360 that would allow gamers to play games without the use of a controller. It also has a feature that scans the person using the xbox and recreates a visual image of them allowing users to try on clothes virtually.
Without needing a controller anymore, hand motions are used to play games with Project Natal. For example when playing Project Gotham Racing you use your hands to grasp an invisible steering wheel and rotate it to drive the car. While playing Top Spin you act like you are holding a tennis racket and run around your living room as if it were the tennis court. However, perhaps unfairly, Project Natal will undoubtedly draw comparisons to the Nintendo wii. Most seem to think that Project Natal will be superior though. “Project Natal will be better”, says Mark Besonen, “Because the wii still uses a controller and the 360 has better games.”
An exciting new prospect of Project Natal is that it is expected to draw many new gamers from new demographics. The theory is that people who don’t know how to use a controller will know how to play with Project Natal because it uses simple hand motions that are easily compatible to the games being played. However, this presents a problem because the hand motions may be very complex for some games, such as Call of Duty. For example, in Call of Duty the hand motions for changing weapons and zooming in with a scope may be very complex and confusing. This has not deterred mainstream gamers, in fact Steve Denzer lists Call of Duty as the first game that he would want to try on Natal.
The hype for Natal has yet to be generated in the mainstream public, but gaming insiders know that it has the capabilities to completely transform gaming as we know it. “It is very possible we will see many imitators of Project Natal in the coming years”, said senior Mark Besonen, “If it is successful.”

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Interview Questions

1(G). What feature about Project Natal excites you the most?

I am most excited for the scan that takes place when you walk in to the room

2(G). What would you expect an upgrade to Natal would cost for individual xbox users?

I would expect it to be a couple hundred dollars

3(G). What gaming console company would you say has came out with the most innovative products as of late?

I would say playstation 3

4(G). Would a project like Natal weigh on your decision of what gaming system to buy?

Yes i think it would because i would rather have an upgraded system then a basic system

5(B). Would you be interested in purchasing an upgrade to Natal for your xbox?

Maybe if it wasnt too expensive

6(G). Do you think that Project Natal would be compatible with a large number of games?

Yes i think so because you actually are the person that you control

7(B). Do you think that Project Natal could possibly attract gamers from new demographics?

Yes because of its uniqueness and beacuse people would be curious about it

8. When would you expect Project Natal to be on the shelves?
9(B). Would Project Natal make the 360 too similar to the wii?

No because the wii also uses a controller and the 360 has better games

10(B). Would Project Natal be the greatest gaming technological advancement of all time?

Not of all time but definetly the biggest advancement we have seen so far

11(D). Do you believe that many other peers would be interested in such a product?

Yes because alot of people bought the wiii ad its better than the wii

12(B). Will other gaming companies try to imitate Project Natal?

If it is successful then yes

13(D). Would you say many people seem to be aware of Project Natal?

Not at all i had no clue

14(D). What would you say your overall excitement level towards this product is?

Id say a 6 because the games i have now satisfy me enough

15(D). What would be the first game you would want to test on Project Natal?

Call of Duty