RA Joan Morgan

        From Fly-Girls to Bitches and Hos, by Joan Morgan, talks about the impact that hip-hop has on black culture and what it reflects about that culture.  Rap is a huge part of the culture that it comes from, as well a big part of modern pop culture.  Morgan  stresses the fact that so much of the subject matter of the music is hateful from black people to black people.  There is lots of misogyny and degrading lyrics towards women.  There is negative criticism towards black feminist women that talk negatively towards hip-hop because critics claim the female black feminist is taking sides of the white culture.  

      This article presents very good points about the current struggles among the black people in the United States.  Morgan uses all of Aristotle’s appeals a good amount but I think that she uses Pathos the most.  She brings up points about how, in order to strengthen culture among black people, the music must change so that women are not victimized anymore.  A main problem is that black men don’t have a way they are socially allowed to express their feelings so they have to use violent and hateful ways such as harsh lyrics in the music.  This is a unique approach to most of the previous perspectives on rap music.  She is acknowledging the struggles that exist among the black culture in this country.  Morgan uses Ethos when she talks about her experience as a black feminist.  She tells about how her views differ from other black feminists and how she is is negatively criticized by some parts of black culture because of her unique viewpoints.  There is also an introduction before her writing that talks about what she has done as an author and activist.  Although Morgan doesn’t use any facts or statistics, her Logos is strong.  She discusses the history of influential artists such as Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac Shakur.  She discusses their lyrical content and the affects it has on its listeners.  

      Joan writes this article to her readers in order to raise awareness and bring a new perspective to the issue of sexism in hip-hop and black culture.  Many people have discussed these issues, but Morgan talks about how the black men are, “engaged in a war where the real enemies- racism and the white power structure” (604).  Most arguments don’t give the black males any slack.  They are generally blamed for being negative and not having respect but in this article, Morgan acknowledges that they, along with black women are victimized by the system.  They constantly have ideas, ingrained in their brains by society, that tell them that they won’t succeed and that they won’t live past their twenties.  Everyone needs to be able to love themselves before they can show love for others and this is the problem that exists among black men.   They don’t have the opportunity to deeply feel the pain from oppression and its turns into negative energy that is portrayed in the music.  

RR #2: Bro

     In “Bros Before Hos”: The Guy Code, Michael Kimmel discusses how our society and modern day world looks at masculinity.  He discusses the expected duties of a “man” including how he is supposed to look, act, and talk.  Society has unwritten rules that teach them that they need to be strong, tough, emotionless, stoic, big, and better than the rest of the men.  They can’t cry or talk about any potential problems they have; it’s better to express these feelings with anger or violence.  These ideas are the sad truths in our current society and they are instilled in the minds of our boys from a very young age.  It isn’t ok to be a “wuss”, a “sissy” or more popularly a “pussy”.  There is a huge fear of being thought of as a homosexual among male peers. 

      Kimmel brings up a good point that the only people that matter who judge masculinity are other male peers.  Men are so caught up with the judgement of male peers and have a great fear of being thought of as less than manly.  They need to have more and better material objects, not show any emotional vulnerability, and appear to have unfaltering strength.  

Kimmel brings up great points that wouldn’t come to mind naturally but make complete sense.  He is writing this in order to raise consciousness to how our modern society views how a man should be.  It is important to be aware of this so we don’t continue to pass down the trend of the narrow-minded idea of masculinity.  All of the young men that he interviewed expressed that they got their idea of how to be a man from another, usually older, man in their life.  Whether it is from a dad, coach, uncle brother, priest or somebody else it seems to be consistent that boys learn that they need to be tough and not become effeminate.  It is important that this standard of being a man is changed.  It can be harmful to a person emotionally if they can’t express their true feelings due to fear of negative judgement from peers: “No wonder boys are more prone to depression, suicidal behavior, and various other forms of out-of-control or out-of-touch behaviors than girls are” (616).  

     For the majority of the paper Kimmel uses pathos to express his points to his readers.  He brings up points about the sadness of the current state of how our society views masculinity and what is expected of men.  They are forced to repress their feelings that everyone should feel comfortable expressing.  Boys are raised to be emotionless, tough, and better than the rest by the men that they look up to in their lives.  Kimmel isn’t blaming these men because they too are victims of the system that they come from.  He just intends to raise awareness of the strict standards men have to pertain to.  We need to become more conscious as a culture and not judge the men in our society so strictly.

Prop 30 Op-Ed Final Polish

Daniel Eden

English 2

S. Knapp

10/16/2012

The Education Crisis

            California is amidst one of the worst budget deficits that the state has ever seen.  For years the public education system has been taking large budget cuts in order to keep the state afloat.  Schools are firing teachers and cutting classes as the tuition rises.  This year the state faces a potential $6 billion dollar cut to the K-12, Community College, University of California and California State University programs if Proposition 30 fails.  Additionally, there will be cuts to City Police Department grants, CalFire, and the Department of Parks and Recreation among others.  This measure, Proposed by Governor Jerry Brown, would raise the state sales tax by .25% for four years and raise the income tax on individuals making $250,000 or more a year, for seven years.  The extra revenue would go towards public education as well as public safety.  If the proposition does not pass there will be automatic trigger cuts on January 1st taking about $6 billion from California school funding.  Another measure to potentially save the school budget cuts is proposition 38, which would raise income taxes for Californians making $7,000 or more a year from 2013 to 2024.  This is a well-intentioned proposition, but it will lock taxpayers in for 12 years and raise money that is not all guaranteed to go to schools.  The education system can’t afford to take any more cuts.  Proposition 30 needs to be passed in order to save the California Public Schools from more potentially devastating budget cuts.

            As a student in the California Public School System for the past 16 years, I know how important the schools are to the state and how much they have changed since the budget cuts in recent years.  I have seen teachers cut and the classroom sizes grow in K-12 schools while classes and sessions are completely cut from Community Colleges.  Students and families can’t afford to pay more when they already struggle to pay for tuition that has been rising for years.

            We allow our youth to have opportunity stripped from them if we don’t pass Prop. 30.  Tuition will rise and classes will be cut, making it hard for students to afford to go to college, therefore giving them less opportunity to be financially successful in our competitive economy.  According to a study done by the US Census Bureau, “Over a work-life, individuals who have a bachelor’s degree would earn on average $2.1 million - about one- third more than workers who did not finish college, and nearly twice as much as workers with only a high school diploma. A master’s degree holder tops a bachelor’s degree holder at $2.5 million. Doctoral ($3.4 million) and professional degree holders ($4.4 million) do even better.”  This is clear proof of the impact education has on financial success.  The potential trigger cuts would create unequal educational opportunity across the state.  We need to take responsibility for the futures of our youth and fund the schools provided to them.  California used to have one of the leading school systems in the nation and world, but now has fallen in many categories.  The California School Board Association states that we now rank 49th in teacher to student ratio with an average of 20.9 students per 1 teacher.  Public Education in California is in an emergency.

            Opponents of proposition 30 claim that this measure doesn’t guarantee that any of the extra revenue will go to our school systems.  This holds no validity because the official title and summary of proposition 30 prepared by the attorney general states that it, “[a]llocates temporary tax revenues 89% to K-12 schools and 11% to community colleges”.  The extra revenue will be put into an Education Protection Account (EPA) that cannot be touched by the legislature.  Opposition also argues that it is unfair to raise taxes on only the rich in order to fund the schools.  The wealthiest people in the state can afford the tax increases that would save the state.  California cannot afford to raise income tax across among the poorest of our citizens, as Proposition 38 would do, and if neither proposition passes, our students will be paying more in tuition.  This election, we can decide who we want to pay more: our students, the poor and middle class, or the richest people in our state.

            If the trigger cuts go into effect, the K-12 system would lose about $5.5 billion in funding.  This would force K-12 schools to take 3 weeks off of the regular school year.  That would force the curriculum to be in taught in a shorter time, reducing the quality of the education, either speeding it up or cutting it out completely.  Taking this much money out of our basic education would have terrible long-term effects on our young students.

            Over the past 3 years, the enrollment at California Community Colleges has decreased by more than 485,000 students due to budget cuts.  The cuts have also forced about 15% of the courses to be taken away which has turned away thousands of students.  If 30 fails, the California Community College Chancellor’s office states that, “Community Colleges would be cut by another $338 million in the middle of the academic year, which translates into 180,000 fewer students.  Colleges would be forced to slash course offerings even further, lay off more educators and borrow more.”  If it passes they will, “receive $210 million in additional funds in 2012-13.”  This extra funding would help to make room for an extra 20,000 students.  Our Community Colleges desperately need this extra funding. I have waited for a spot in overcrowded classes and been forced to stay in school for extra time because there is no open space available.  The California State University system has received cuts of $750 million in the past 4 years and faces another $250 million if Prop 30 doesn’t pass.  According to Carla Rivera of the Los Angeles Times, CSU students will face a 5% tuition increase if the measure fails and a 9% tuition refund if it passes.  All we need to do is temporarily raise income and sales tax and we can save our K-12 and higher education.

            Proposition 30 is written to save the current status of the California public education system.  If we don’t vote yes on 30, our schools will face a $6 billion cut from K-12 and higher education.  As citizens of the state we need to save the already underfunded education system.  We have the power to keep the schools open for the full school year and avoid costly tuition hikes and cut classes.  The alternatives include raising income taxes on some of the poorest people in California, or allowing massive trigger cuts which would be detrimental to the education system.  This temporary tax increase will have lasting effects on the future of our young citizens.  Help save our education by passing Proposition 30 in November.

           

Bibliography

Day, Jennifer C. and Eric C. Newburger. "The Big Payoff: Educationa lAttainment and

Synthetic Estimates of Work-Life Earnings." U.S. Census Bureau. N.p., July 2002. Web.

12 Oct. 2012. <http://www.census.gov/prod/2002pubs/p23-210.pdf>.

Rivera, Carla. "Cal State System to Hike Tuition 5% If Prop. 30 Fails." Los Angeles

Times. Los Angeles Times, 18 Sept. 2012. Web. 13 Oct. 2012.

<http://articles.latimes.com/2012/sep/18/local/la-me-0919-cal-state-fees-2-20120919>.

California School Board Association

http://www.csba.org/en/~/~/media/46DA0EAFE7364D70B541F5950D26DC9A.ashx

Proposition 30 Official Title & Summary

http://vig.cdn.sos.ca.gov/2012/general/pdf/30-title-summ-analysis.pdf

California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office

http://californiacommunitycolleges.cccco.edu/PolicyInAction/KeyFacts.aspx

Prop 30 Op-Ed Final Draft

California is amidst one of the worst budget deficits that the state has ever seen.  For years the public education system has been taking large budget cuts in order to keep the state afloat.  Schools are firing teachers and cutting classes as the tuition rises.  This year the state faces a potential $6 billion dollar cut to the K-12, Community College, University of California and California State University programs if Proposition 30 fails.  Additionally, there will be cuts to Department of Developmental Services, City police department grants, CalFire, flood control programs, Local water safety patrol grants, Departments of Fish and Game and Parks and Recreation as well as DOJ law enforcement programs.  This measure, Proposed by Governor Jerry Brown, would raise the state sales tax by .25% for four years and raise the income tax on couples making more than $500,000 a year for seven years.  The extra revenue would go towards public education as well as public safety.  If the proposition does not pass there would be “trigger” cuts on January 1st taking about $6 billion from the school budget.  Another measure to potentially save the school budget cuts is proposition 38, which would raise income taxes for Californians making $7,000 or more a year from 2013 to 2024.  This is a well-intentioned proposition, but it will lock taxpayers in for 12 years and raise money that is not all guaranteed to go to schools.  The education system can’t afford to take anymore cuts.  Proposition 30 needs to be passed in order to save the California Public Schools from more potentially devastating budget cuts.

As a student in the California Public School System for the past 16 years, I have a good sense of how important the schools are to the state and how much they have changed since the budget cuts in recent years.  I have seen teachers cut and the classroom sizes grow in K-12 schools while classes and sessions are completely cut from Community Colleges.  Students and families can’t afford to pay more when they already have a difficult time paying tuition that has been rising for years.  If 30 fails, we take away many students’ chances to go to college and put people of lower socioeconomic status at a disadvantage.    

If we don’t pass Prop. 30, we are allowing our youth to have opportunities stripped from them.  Tuition will rise and classes will be cut, making it hard for many students to afford to go to college and therefore giving them less opportunity to be financially successful in our competitive economy.  According to a study done by the US Census Bureau, “Over a work-life, individuals who have a bachelor’s degree would earn on average $2.1 million — about one- third more than workers who did not finish college, and nearly twice as much as workers with only a high school diploma. A master’s degree holder tops a bachelor’s degree holder at $2.5 million. Doctoral ($3.4 million) and professional degree holders ($4.4 million) do even better.”  This is clear proof of the correlation between higher education and financial success.  The potential trigger cuts would create an unequal opportunity for education across the state.  We need to take responsibility for the education of our youth and fund the schools provided to them.  California used to have one of the leading school systems in the nation and world, but now has fallen in many categories.  The California School Board Association states that we now rank 49th in teacher to student ratio with and average of 20.9 students per 1 teacher.  Public Education in California is in an emergency and needs immediate help.

Opponents of proposition 30 claim that this measure doesn’t guarantee that any of the extra revenue will go to our school systems.  This is completely untrue because the official title and summary of proposition 30 prepared by the attorney general states that it, “[a]llocates temporary tax revenues 89% to K-12 school and 11% to community colleges”.  The extra revenue will be put into an “Education Protection Account” that cannot be touched by the legislature.  Opposition also argues that it is unfair to raise taxes on only the rich in order to fund   the schools.  The wealthiest people in the state can afford the tax increases that will help the entire state greatly.  Our state cannot afford to raise income tax across among the poorest of our citizens, as Proposition 38 would do, and if neither proposition passes, our students will be paying more in tuition.  This election, we can decide who we want to pay more: our students, the     poor and middle class, or the richest people in our state.  We can avoid cutting college classes and raising tuition throughout the California Higher Education System by temporarily raising taxes on the extremely wealthy.

The potential cuts to the K-12 system are equal to about $5.5 billion.  If the K-12 system received these cuts they would have to take 3 weeks off of the regular school year.  That would force the curriculum to be in taught in a shorter time, reducing the quality of the education because it would either have to be sped up or cut out.  Taking this much money out of our basic education would have a huge negative affect on our young students.

Over the past 3 years, the enrollment at California Community Colleges has decreased by more than 485,000 students due to budget cuts.  The cuts have also forced about 15% of the courses to be taken away which have turned away thousands of students.  If 30 fails, the California Community College Chancellor’s office states that, “Community Colleges would be cut by another $338 million in the middle of the academic year, which translates into 180,000 fewer students.  Colleges would be forced to slash course offerings even further, lay off more educators and borrow more.”  If it passes they will, “receive $210 million in additional funds in 2012-13.”  This extra funding would help to make room for an extra 20,000 students.  Our Community Colleges desperately need this extra funding. I have seen classes cut and been forced to stay in school for extra time because there are no open spaces available for required classes.  The California State University system has received cuts of $750 million in the past 4 years and faces another $250 million if Prop 30 doesn’t pass.  According to Carla Rivera of the Los Angeles Times, CSU students will face a 5% tuition increase if the measure fails and a 9% tuition refund if it passes.  All we need to do is temporarily raise income and sales tax and we can save our K-12 and higher education.

Proposition 30 is written to save the current status of the California public education system.  If it is not passed our schools will face a $6 billion cut from K-12 and the higher education system.  As citizens of the state we need to save the already underfunded schools.  We have the power to keep the schools open for the full school year and avoid costly tuition hikes and cut classes.  The alternatives include passing proposition 38 which raises income taxes on some of the poorest people in California, or allowing massive trigger cuts which would be detrimental to the education system.  Help save our education by passing Proposition 30 in November.

U.S. Census Bureau

California School Boards Association

Proposition 30 Official Title & Summary

California Community College Chancellor's Office

LA Times Article by Carla Rivera

Prop 30 Op-Ed Rough Draft

California is amid one of the worst budget deficits that the state has ever seen.  For years the public education system has been taking large budget cuts in order to keep the state afloat.  Teachers are getting fired and classes are being cut as the tuition rises.  This year the state faces a potential $6 billion dollar cut to the K-12, community college, and California State Universities if Proposition 30 fails.  This measure, Proposed by Governor Jerry Brown, would raise the state sales tax by .25% for four years and raise the income tax on couples making more than $500,000 a year for seven years.  The extra revenue would go towards public education as well as public safety.  If the proposition does not pass there would be “trigger” cuts on January 1st taking about $6 billion from the school budget.  Another measure to potentially save the school budget cuts is proposition 38, which would raises taxes for Californians across the board.  The schools can’t afford to take anymore cuts.  Proposition 30 needs to be passed in order to save the schools before it falls farther below the rest of the country.

As a student in the California public school system for the past 16 years, I have a good sense of how important the schools are to the state and how much different they are since the budget cuts in recent years.  I have seen teachers cut and the classroom sizes grow in K-12 while classes and sessions are completely cut from community colleges.  Students and families already have a difficult time paying tuition that has been rising for years.  If 30 fails, we allow people of lower socioeconomic status to be at a disadvantage because they won’t be able to afford the rising costs of tuition.    

If we don’t pass Prop. 30, we are allowing our youth to have opportunities stripped from them.  If tuition is raised and classes are cut, many students will not be able to afford to go to school and therefore have less opportunity to get a good paying job.  The potential trigger cuts would create and unequal opportunity for education across the state.  We need to take responsibility for the education of our youth and fund the schools provided to them.  California used to have one of the leading school systems in the nation and world but now has fallen in many categories.  We now rank 49th in teacher to student ratio with and average of 20.9 students per 1 teacher. The wealthiest people in the state can afford the tax increases that will help the entire state greatly.  We can cut our class sizes and keep classes and affordable tuition throughout the California higher education system.

The potential cuts to the K-12 system are equal to about $5.5 billion.  If the K-12 system got cut they would have to cut 3 weeks off of the regular school year.  That would force the curriculum to be in taught in a shorter time, reducing the quality of the education because it would have to be sped up.  Families of these students would also have to provide care for their children for the extra amount of time that they are usually in school.  

Aside from the funding to schools, Prop. 30 guarantees extra funding for public safety.  This will help keep police on the streets and our communities safer.  Other issues such as early releases from jail will likely continue if the safety system does not receive extra funding.  

Proposition 30 is written to save the current status of the California public education system.  If it is not passed our schools will face a $6 billion cut from K-12 and the higher education system.  As citizens of the state we need to save the already underfunded schools.  We can keep the schools open for the full amount of time and avoid tuition hikes and classes cut.  The alternatives include passing proposition 38 or allowing the massive cuts to happen.  Proposition 38 will raise the income taxes across the board which the low income homes cannot afford.

Proposal

California’s Proposition 30, lead by Governor Jerry Brown, is designed to raise taxes in order to help fund the public school system in California.  I strongly feel that this measure should be passed.  My motivation for being in favor of this proposition is to save the school system that is already hard to afford for many.  As a California Junior College student, I know how hard it is to get through school already.  Classes are overfilled while many more get cut, and the tuition prices keep raising.  I write to the California voters who need to be aware of the seriousness of our current situation.  

Logos: The budget cuts over the past few years have been detrimental to students and employees of the school system alike.  A greater cut into the budgets would create a situation in which many more students will not be able to go to school.  This will hurt our economy when people don’t get an education and are not able to get jobs.  Raising the taxes only on the very wealthy will only affect a small portion of the population of California.

Ethos: I have lots of experience in the California school system because I have been a student in it for the majority of my life.  I have seen how badly the budget cuts have affected the schools and how many classes have been cut and teachers have gotten let go. 

Pathos: As citizens of California, we need to fight for our public schools and not let them turn into poorly funded government institutions.  If 30 is not passed, we are allowing our youth to have opportunity to be taken from them.  If the schools lose funding, only the wealthy families will afford to send their kids to school.  This will create a very uneven playing field for families with different socioeconomic statuses in a system that already doesn’t offer equal opportunity.  

Proposition 30 needs to be passed to save our schools from becoming more expensive and losing quality.