The End of America's Car Culture?

Blog Post October 23rd 2013

Ayman Jabr 707

   up-Front Magazine: Issue 10/7/13

   

This article “The End of America's Car Culture?” by Alessandra Potenza talks about how teenagers are getting out of the habit of cars. It also talks about how teenagers rather prefer there mobile phones and bikes than cars.

Alessandra Potenza talks about how teenagers are getting out of the habit of cars. It also talks about how teenagers rather prefer there mobile phones and bikes than cars. For example, it shows that since 1983 the percentage of teenagers getting drivers licenses went down 20 percent. Also it included that almost half (46%) of teenagers would choose Internet access over owning a car. It also includes that car companies such as Ford, Chevrolet and Mercedes-Benz have all started to produce cars that are basically like moving smartphones. Car brands are trying to make teenagers buy their cars by making them like the things teenagers like. These teenagers parents and grandparents were obsessed withs cars and getting a drivers liscence as their 16^th birthday present. Back then, ALL teenagers wanted cars just as teenagers today ALL want smartphones. In this article “The End of America's Car Culture?” Thilo Koslowski states that the iPhone is the Ford Mustang of today. This shows how back then everyone wanted ford mustangs just as how everyone wants an iPhone today.

This article “The End of America's Car Culture?” by Alessandra Potenza connects to teenages because it shows how teenagers want different things every generation. Just how back then teenagers used to want cars and how everything now is about smartphones and internet access.

Minimum Age and Minimum Wage

Blog Post, October 16th 2013
Ayman Jabr Class 707

up-FRONT Magazine: Minimum Age and Minimum Wage

                               by:JOSEPH BERGER

    In this article "Minimum Age and Minimum Wage" by:Joseph Berger, talks about how child labor has changed from the 20th century. It tells how children used to work in coal mines and sweatshops for long hours and barely any pay. It shows how minimum wage has grown from 25 cents in 1938 to $7.25 nowadays.

    

   In this article "Minimum Age and Minimum Wage" by it talks about how child labor has changed from the 20th century. Sally Greenburg of the National Consumer League notes that child labor "perpetuated a cycle of poverty". She means that child labor continued the cycle of poverty. This cycle is effected today in places like China, India, and Bangladesh. In these countries children are still put to work in coal mines. 17 percent of the children in Bangladesh aged 5 to 14 are work for part of the for only 37 dollars a month. Working Conditions in that country are so unsafe that more than 1,100 people were killed this year in the collapse of an eight-story industrial buliding. Now taht there is no terrible working conditions for children they have a higher minimum wage which is $7.25 nowadays. People are still complaining for a higher minimum wage but if they do that wouldn't be accepting many people to hire. This would make it harder for teens and others that want to start working.

   This article made me think deeper about humanity because it showed how kids were a hundred years ago and how they were put to work in coal mines and sweatshops under terrible conditions and serious health risks.  I am thankful that the FLSA had came through since child labor is extremely bad in my opinion. This article also made me think about how it is for kids in other countries such as  Bangladesh, China ,and India and how they still work in coal mines in terrible conditions with serious health risks.  

YOUNG GIRL SHOVELING COAL IN A COAL MINE

Ayman Jabr 707 

Up-Front magazine: Where your Cell-Phone Goes To Die by: Leyla Acaroglu

Prompt: Is it acceptable for electronics manufacturers to pay developing countries to take the U.S’s  e-waste? What do you think it would take for U.S Cell-phone manufacturers to change their e-trash disposal practices? Support your response with facts from the text.

   This article “Where your Cell-Phone Goes To Die” by Leyla Acaroglu is about how the U.S is paying countries to take their electronic trash. In these countries such as Ghana, India, and China children are going through cell-phones and electronics digging in to tem so they can sell the parts for a little amount of cash.

    This article “Where your Cell-Phone Goes To Die” by Leyla Acaroglu is about how the U.S is paying counties to take their electronic trash. I personally don’t think that this is acceptable since people in countries like Ghana, China, and India are doing dangerous things trying to get cash from the metal in cell-phones. For example, it says “ In India, young boys smash computer batteries with mallets to recover cadmium, covering their hands and feet with toxic flecks. It also states “Women spend their days bent over vats of hot lead “cooking” circuit boards so they can remove silvers of gold inside”.  This is very dangerous and can exposure serious health risks and is certainly not acceptable. The U.S Cell-phone manufacturers have to change their e-trash disposal practices. They should stop sending their electronic trash to countries. They should try to inforce a law that they would have to recycle our electronic trash.

   This article “Where your Cell-Phone Goes To Die” by: Leyla Acaroglu made me think deeper about humanity because it told me what people would do just to get little cash. How young kids were smashing compute batteries just to get the cadmium. They were harming themselves getting covered with toxic flecks. This is very harmful and this makes me feel so bad about what is happening in their countries. They risk their health for a couple dollars. This is why this article “Where your Cell-Phone Goes To Die” by: Leyla Acaroglu made me think deeper about humanity.

YOUNG BOY GOING THROUGH E-WASTE

Author’s Craft - Literary Devices

"Witches, The Absolutely True Tale of Disaster in Salem" by: Rosalyn Schanzer

  Ayman Jabr Class 707

"Witches, The Absolutely True Tale of Disaster in Salem" by: Rosalyn Schanzer is about the witch trials in the 17^th century. Like I said in my other blog, many women and women were accused of being witches even the judges got accused for being witches. These trials were crazy, day after day friend against friend were accusing eachother of witchcraft and the black arts. Rosalyn Schanzer adds many amazing literary devices that hypes things up a lot. IMAGERY….. SIMILIES…..METAPHORS were all great. The author Rosalyn Schanzer enhances the story with literary devices like metaphors. For example she added “The women had two personalities” the author added this because she wanted to show the reader how the women acted all innocent but really were witches harming the afflicted.

 Imagery helps  create a picture in your head by reading the text. Metaphors and Similies compare two things. Overall literary devices enhance the story real well and authors put them in so the reader can have pictures in their head about the story.