Kilbourne Blog Post

Blog 10/21/12 Kilbourne

                The article “Two Ways a Woman Can Get Hurt” Advertising and Violence by Jean Kilbourne is about the dangers of sex in advertising. She writes about the role these advertisements play in women’s lives. Advertisements for almost any product have used sexually explicit ads that are degrading to women in order to promote their product. Unfortunately these ads have a lot of unintended consequences, for instance they promote objectification, and violence toward women.

                Kilbourne uses many examples to explain how depicting women as sex objects is dangerous. She states that these ads promote violence towards women because they objectify them, making it easier for men to abuse women. She says that “Turning a human being into a thing, an object, is almost always the first step toward justifying violence against that person. It is very difficult, perhaps impossible, to be violent to someone we think of as an equal, someone we have empathy with, but it is very easy to abuse a thing” (585). Kilbourne makes a good point that even though the ads themselves don’t directly cause violence, they justify it, and embed it into society. These ads give the message to men that it is ok to harm women, and it gives the message to women that they are less than men and to expect to be abused.

                Kilbourne acknowledges that men are often objectified as well, and it isn’t ok, but it also isn’t as dangerous. The reasons for this are when men are objectified there never in any danger, and it holds little bearings with reality. When women are objectified it is more frightening because it is often true. The connection these ads have with reality are uneven between men and women, women are almost always the ones depicted in a way that is dangerous and far too close to reality.

                I personally agree with Kilbourne completely, women are unjustly treated as being inferior to men in every aspect of society. Even though I believe that society today has made great strides in the way that women are being treated. Unfortunately we still have a long way to go, women’s rights are still an issue today and are constantly being addressed in current politics. Recently the Lilly Ledbetter act was passed which makes it illegal for an employer to pay a woman less than her male coworkers for the same job. An issue that is often spoken about in the news today is issues regarding a woman’s right to choose what she is allowed to do with her body in the regards of healthcare, contraceptives, and abortions. There are controversial issues today regarding a woman’s rights, but there has never been political issues regarding a man’s rights as it relates to healthcare, and I don’t ever expect to see such a debate. I believe that these issues do relate to what Kilbourne is saying because it is primarily male politicians trying to make these decisions for women. These politicians objectify women, much like ads depict them. It’s unfortunate to see how society treats women at this point in history and believe that everyone should do their part to make a difference.

Proposition 30 Op-Ed Final Draft

Op-Ed Prop 30

Emilio Cantu-Gil

Professor Stacy Knapp

English 2B

October 14, 2012

                California is renowned for its world class educational system that educates millions of students every year. People travel from all corners of the earth to study here in the Golden State. Unfortunately, if the budget crisis continues, this won’t be true for much longer. California’s educational system has faced $20 billion in cuts in the past four years, and as a result over 30,000 educators have been laid off. California will suffer, taking its students down with it, unless California passes Proposition 30. Prop 30 is the only initiative on the ballot this November that protects school and safety funding. As a community college student I will be personally impacted by the passage of Prop 30, along with 15,000 other students whom I attend Cabrillo College with.

Proposition 30 is important for California and its citizen’s future, not only because it prevents further cuts to schools, ensures further funding for safety programs, but it also balances the budget. It accomplishes these goals by raising income taxes by 1% for only the wealthiest families making over $500,000, 2% for families making $600,000, and 3% for families making $1,000,000 or more. For individuals making $250,000 their income taxes will be raised by 1%, individuals making $300,000 will be raised by 2%, and individuals making $500,000 will be raised by 3%. It also raises sales tax for everyone a quarter cent for every one dollar you spend for the next four years. According to the California Labor Federation, California sales tax will still be lower under Prop 30 than it was last year. It is estimated that 90% of Prop 30’s revenue will come from California’s highest earners.

Prop 30, if passed, will prevent future cuts to schools by raising billions of dollars in revenue. This will allow for smaller classes, updated textbooks, more teachers and faculty. It ensures further funding for public safety programs by guaranteeing it in the states constitution. In addition safety programs will be localized so elected officials can decide how it best helps their community. It will also help fund certain prison programs. Prop 30 balances the budget by helping pay for years of debt that the state of California has accumulated.

The Independent Voter Network opposes Prop 30, and claims that the budget crises is the result of systematic, legislative and budgeting issues that can’t be fixed by a tax increase. Instead they believe we need to enable legislature without the “shackles” of term limits, so they can save California with supreme legislative power. They say that budgeting is a “nuanced process” that should only be handled by our elected representatives. If we as a state don’t like what are legislators are doing, we can simply remove them from office in a future election. Personally, I don’t believe the solution that is being proposed by the Independent Voter Network will effectively fix our state budget issues. If this was a valid solution to our budget issues, wouldn’t they already have been enacted? The budget crisis needs a more effective and immediate solution, and Prop 30 is that solution.

If Prop 30 doesn’t pass the consequences will be astronomical for students in the California educational system. Schools will suffer an additional $6 billion in cuts; $5.8 billion of those dollars will be cut from public education. Students attending the CSU system can expect a $150 tuition increase, and K-12 students will have their school year reduced by three weeks. According to the California Federation of Teachers, the cuts to Cabrillo College will result in a 7.3% reduction in funding. This $3.5 million dollar cut is equivalent to denying admission to 780 students, cutting one in thirteen classes, or eliminating five average-size programs. This will result in a reduction in support staff, reduced counseling, and cuts in services. These services include the Writing Center, Math Learning Center, Tutorials, Children’s Center, Financial Aid, Division Offices, The Library, Student Employment, Student Affairs, and other services that greatly support the students. Just the reduction in services will eliminate roughly 95 positions, and these are just the cuts that are occurring to Cabrillo. Imagine the devastating impact that these cuts will have on the other millions of students throughout the state. To me, and other students, this could mean that classes that we need to transfer may get cut, or it may take longer for us to complete our AA degrees. For other students it means that they’ll need to take out more loans because tuition has become more expensive, or they can’t get the occupational classes they need in order to go back to the work force. These cuts are very real and will be felt by every student and their family.

Prop 30 is supported by people and organizations that have California’s best interest at heart. According to yesonprop30.com and the California Labor Federation these groups and people include Governor Brown, the League of Woman Voters of California (LWVC), individuals in law enforcement, educators, community groups, the CSU board of trustees, Academic Senate, California Faculty Association, CA Student Association, CA Teachers Association, among others. These groups advocate and fight for Prop 30 because they all agree that passing Prop 30 is is the best thing for California’s students, and its future.

I cannot stress enough how vitally important passing Prop 30 is for the future of California’s education. This Proposition will protect and ensure continued funding for all levels of our educational system. If you are a student, this decision will directly affect your education as it does mine. If you are a parent, this will affect your child’s education, and the community you live in. If you are an educator or law enforcement professional, this will affect you and your community. If you are a California Citizen, and you care for our students, public safety, a balanced budget, and the future of California, there is absolutely no reason you shouldn’t vote YES for Proposition 30!

Works Cited

"Cabrillo With or Without Prop 30." PowerPoint. Cabrillo College. Cabrillo College Federation of Teachers, 27 Aug. 2012. Web. 2 Oct. 2012.

"Newspapers throughout the State Agree - Yes on Prop 30." YES on 30. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Oct. 2012. <http://www.yesonprop30.com/>.

"Proposition 30 Best Option Available to Fund Schools." The Modesto Bee. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Oct. 2012. <http://www.modbee.com/2012/10/13/2412776/yes-on-proposition-30.html>.

 "Take a Stand for Schools and Local Public Safety." California Labor Federation. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Oct. 2012. <http://www.calaborfed.org/index.php/site/page/yes_on_prop_30_take_a_stand_for_schools_and_public_safety>.

"Unfiltered Political News. For You. By You." Independent Voter Network. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Oct. 2012. <http://ivn.us/2012/09/10/proposition-30-wont-fix-california-budget-issues/>.

Prop 30 Almost-Final Draft

Op-Ed Prop 30 Almost-Final Draft

Emilio Cantu-Gil

Professor Stacy Knapp

English 2B

October 14, 2012

                California is renowned for its world class educational system that educates millions of students every year. People travel from all corners of the earth to study here in the Golden State. Unfortunately, if the budget crisis continues the way it is, this won’t be true for much longer. California’s educational system has faced $20 billion in cuts in the past four years, and has laid off over 30,000 educators. California will suffer, taking its students down with it, unless California passes Proposition 30. Prop 30 is the only initiative that protects school and safety funding.

Proposition 30 is important for California and its citizen’s future, not only because it prevents further cuts to schools, but because it ensures further funding for safety programs, and it balances the budget. How it does this is it raises income taxes 1% for only the wealthiest families making over $500,000, 2% for families making $600,000, and 3% for families making $1,000,000 or more. For individuals making $250,000 their income taxes will raise 1%, 2% for individuals making $300,000, and 3% for individuals making $500,000. It also raises sales tax a quarter cent for every one dollar you spend for four years, which, according to the California Labor Federation, will still be lower than last year’s sales tax. 90% of prop 30’s revenue will come from California’s highest earners.

Prop 30, if passed, will accomplish a lot. It prevents future cuts to schools by raising billions of dollars in revenue. This will allow for smaller classes, updated textbooks, and more teachers and faculty. It ensures further funding for public safety programs by guaranteeing it in the states constitution. In addition safety programs will be localized so elected officials can decide how it best helps their community. It will also help fund certain prison programs. Prop 30 balances the budget by helping pay for years of debt that the state of California has accumulated.

The Independent Voter Network, who oppose Prop 30, claim that the budget crises are the result of systematic, legislative and budgeting issues that can’t be fixed by a tax increase. Instead we need to enable the legislature without the “shackles” of term limits, so they can save California with supreme legislative power. They say that budgeting is a “nuanced process” that should only be handled by our elected representatives. If we as a state don’t like what are legislators are doing, we can simply remove them from office in a future election. Personally I don’t believe the solution that is being proposed by the Independent Voter Network will effectively fix our state budget issues. The budget crisis needs a more effective an immediate solution, Prop 30 is that solution.

If Prop 30 doesn’t pass the consequences would be astronomical for California. Schools will have to suffer an additional $6 billion in cuts; $5.8 billion of those dollars would be cut from public education.  CSU students can expect a $150 tuition increase, and K-12 would get 3 weeks of school cut. I know that in my Jr. College, Cabrillo College, this would mean a 7.3% reduction in funding, that’s $3.5 million. This would be equivalent to not admitting 780 students, cutting one in thirteen classes, or eliminating five programs. This would result in less staff availability, reduced counseling, and cuts in services. These services include the Writing Center, Math Learning Center, Tutorials, Children’s Center, Financial Aid, Division Offices, The Library, Student Employment, Student Affairs, and others that greatly support the students. Just the reduction in services will eliminate roughly 95 positions, and these are just the cuts that are occurring to my JC, imagine how it affects all other schools in the state.

Prop 30 has the support from people and organizations that only have California’s best interest at heart. According to yesonprop30.com and the California Labor Federation these groups and people include Governor Brown, the League of Woman Voters of California (LWVC), individuals in law enforcement, educators, community groups, the CSU board of trustees, Academic Senate, California Faculty Association, CA Student Association, CA Teachers Association, and others. These groups advocate and fight for Prop 30 because they all agree that passing Prop 30 is is the best thing for California’s students, and its future.

I cannot stress enough how vitally important passing Prop 30 is for the future of California’s education. If you are a student this decision will directly affect your education as it does mine. If you are a parent, this will affect your child’s education, and the community you live in. If you are an educator or law enforcement professional, this will affect you and your community. If you are a California Citizen, and you care for your states future, there is absolutely no reason you wouldn’t vote YES for Proposition 30!

Works Cited

"Newspapers throughout the State Agree - Yes on Prop 30." YES on 30. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Oct. 2012. <http://www.yesonprop30.com/>.

 "Take a Stand for Schools and Local Public Safety." California Labor Federation. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Oct. 2012. <http://www.calaborfed.org/index.php/site/page/yes_on_prop_30_take_a_stand_for_schools_and_public_safety>.

"Proposition 30 Best Option Available to Fund Schools." The Modesto Bee. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Oct. 2012. <http://www.modbee.com/2012/10/13/2412776/yes-on-proposition-30.html>.

"Unfiltered Political News. For You. By You." Independent Voter Network. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Oct. 2012. <http://ivn.us/2012/09/10/proposition-30-wont-fix-california-budget-issues/>.

Prop 30 Rough Draft

Op-Ed Prop 30 Rough Draft

                California is renowned for its world class educational system that educates millions of students every year. People travel from all corners of the earth to study here in the golden state. Unfortunately if the budget crisis continues the way it is, this won’t be true for much longer. California’s educational system has faced $20 billion in cuts in the past four years, and has laid off over 30,000 educators. California’s educational system will suffer, taking its students down with it, unless California passes Proposition 30. Prop 30 is the only initiative that protects school and safety funding.

Proposition 30 is important for California and its citizen’s future, not only because it prevents further cuts to schools, but because it ensures further funding for safety programs, and it balances the budget. How it does this is it raises income taxes 1% for only the wealthiest families making over $500,000, 2% for families making $600,000, and 3% for families making $1,000,000. For individuals making $250,000 their income taxes will raise 1%, 2% for individuals making $300,000, and 3% for individuals making $500,000. It also raises sales tax a quarter cent for every one dollar you spend for four years, which will still be lower than last year’s sales tax. 90% of prop 30’s revenue will come from California’s highest earners.

Prop 30, if passed, will accomplish a lot. It prevents future cuts to schools by raising billions of dollars in revenue. This will allow for smaller classes, updated textbooks, and more teachers and faculty. It ensures further funding for public safety programs by guaranteeing it in the states constitution. It will also localize safety programs so elected officials can decide how it best helps their community. It will also help fund certain prison programs. Prop 30 also balances the budget by helping pay for years of debt that the state of California has accumulated.

If Prop #0 doesn’t pass the consequences would be astronomical for California. Schools will have to suffer an additional $6 billion in cuts; $5.8 billion of those dollars would be cut from public education.  CSU students can expect a $150 tuition increase, and K-12 would get 3 weeks of school cut. I know that in my Jr. College, Cabrillo College, this would mean a 7.3% reduction in funding, that’s $3.5 million. This would be equivalent to not admitting 780 students, cutting one in thirteen classes, or eliminating five programs. This would result in less staff availability, reduced counseling, and cuts in services. These services include the Writing Center, Math Learning Center, Tutorials, Children’s Center, Financial Aid, Division Offices, The Library, Student Employment, Student Affairs, and others that greatly support the students. Just the reduction in cervices will eliminate roughly 95 positions, and these are just the cuts that are occurring to my JC, imagine how it affects any other school in the state.

Prop 30 has the support from people and organizations that only have California’s best interest at heart. These groups and people include Governor Brown, the League of Woman Voters of California (LWVC), individuals in law enforcement, educators, community groups, the CSU board of trustees, Academic Senate, California Faculty Association, CA Student Association, CA Teachers Association, and others. These groups advocate and fight for Prop 30 because they all agree that passing Prop 30 is is the best thing for California’s students, and its future.

I cannot stress enough how vitally important passing Prop 30 is for the future of California’s education. If you are a student this decision could directly affect your education if it does mine. If you are a parent, this could affect your child’s education, and the community you live in. If you are, or care about educators and law enforcement professionals, this could affect you and your community. If you are a California Citizen, and you care for your states future, there is absolutely no reason you wouldn’t vote YES for Proposition 30!

Op-Ed Outline

Prop 30 Op-Ed Outline

                I would start the essay by introducing Prop 30 and its overall purpose. Then I’ll explain how it’s a controversial topic that has drastic consequences for the California Educational system because the results will effects millions of students and teachers. I’ll explain the current situation regarding California’s education system. It’s suffered from $20 billion in cuts in the past four years and 30,000 jobs have been lost. The results are higher tuition, less availability of classes for students, reduction in services that are being offered, and staff and lots of faculty layoffs. I’ll end the introductory paragraph by saying that 30 can make or break California’s higher education.

                The second and third paragraph would go further into detail about proposition 30. I would explain what would happen if prop 30 doesn’t pass.  For example, schools face an additional $6 billion in cuts. Schools will lose half a billion in funding, city police will lose 20 million grants, and UC tuition would hike up by 20%.

                The third paragraph would address the positive things that would happen if prop 30 were to pass. I would say that prop 30 would give billions of dollars in funding, guarantee public safety funding, and it would balance the budget.

                In the fourth paragraph I would explain how prop 30 directly affects everyone. I would explain how sails tax will increase a penny for every four dollars, and it would still remain lower than it was last year. Also I would say that income tax only affects people earning $500,000 or more. I would say that it would ask the wealthiest of Californians to pay their fair share.

                In my conclusion I would explain my credibility as a student who feels the effects of the budget cuts. Paying for tuition, getting classes, and my higher educational experience will be much be improved dramatically if Prop 30 passes.

Prop 30 Annotated Bibliography

Prop 30 Annotated Bibliography

1.

"Yes on Prop 30 -- Take a Stand for Schools and Local Public Safety." California Labor Federation. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Sept. 2012. <http://www.calaborfed.org/index.php/site/page/yes_on_prop_30_take_a_stand_for_schools_and_public_safety>.

This article is an opinion editorial supporting Proposition 30. The authors’ start the article by explaining how years of cuts have drastically hurt California’s educational system. They strongly use ethos and logos by claiming that Prop 30 will give California a chance to come back through three solutions. First Prop 30 will prevent the $6 billion in cuts that schools face if it doesn’t pass. Instead, Prop 30 will do the opposite and provide billions of dollars to funding education. Second Prop 30 will require that public safety is a priority and is required in California’s state constitution. This would make it so funding cannot be cut without a vote. As a result there will be more police to keep our streets safe. Third it will help California pay its deficit and balance its budget.

                Then the authors use pathos and ethos by saying that prop 30 will demand that the rich pay their share. This brings up strong feelings of fairness by making the rich pay a little more taxes. They also state that tax rates will be lower to the average person other than a slight rise in sales tax. The types of supporters for the proposition are listed as well to further support their argument; they say that they have broad support from educators, law enforcement, Governor Brown, community groups, healthcare advocates, and the League of Women Voters of California.

                The article was most convincing because of its use of ethos. Two pages of the text was dedicated to explaining in further detail how Prop 30 works, who supports Prop 30, how revenue won’t be lost, how it prevents school cuts, explaining its role in public safety, and how it will balance the budget. I found this article interesting and convincing and definitely will personally be a supporter of Prop 30.

2.

"Unfiltered Political News. For You. By You." Independent Voter Network. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Sept. 2012. <http://ivn.us/2012/09/10/proposition-30-wont-fix-california-budget-issues/>.

This article is an opinion editorial that opposes Proposition 30; it is significantly shorter than my previous article, and has fewer valid arguments to back up the author’s claims. The authors started the article by stating that California has a low credit rating, that California has had a $16 billion budget gap, and that Prop 30 will erase the deficit.

The article continued by stating facts about the spending cuts in California, such as funding in California has been decreasing since 2008, and that California is ranked 47^th in the country for Per-pupil spending. The article tries to claim that the reasons for these cuts are a result of systematic error that cannot be fixed by raising taxes. They continue the article by continually blaming spending cuts on the spending cuts and bad legislation.

The solution the article suggests is that California should remove term limits from the legislature in order to avoid further budget cuts. They end up stating that raising taxes makes sense, but that budgeting should be left to professionals and if we don’t like our legislators, we should simply remove them from office. Personally I think that the article contradicted itself and had a very weak argument.

RA #1

Rhetorical Analysis

Question 1

John Taylor Gatto wrote an article called Against School, which appeared in Harper’s Magazine in 2003. In this article he presents an argument on why he believes the school system is both childish and boring.

Gatto was a school teacher in New York for thirty years. During those years he has observed that there is boredom amongst the students and the teachers. If asked, the students would blame the curriculum and the teachers for their boredom. The teachers would blame the students. He realized at that point that something was wrong and needed to change.

Naturally Gatto would try to find different ways to teach that would motivate both him and his students. He said “Often I had to defy custom, and even bend the law, to help students break out of this trap.”(149) As a result, the school system retaliated, Gatto returned from a sick leave to find himself without a job. They had destroyed any evidence of him being granted the leave, and he had lost his teaching license. These acts by the school led Gatto to conclude that the school system is both childish and boring.

I agree with Gatto’s beliefs about the school system, I too think that it is childish and boring. I value a strong education, and I appreciate it, but I don’t agree with the way that we receive that education. I don’t think getting up at 6 a.m. every day, five days a week, for twelve years, only to do busywork for six hours is productive or healthy. I always got the impression that teachers were disappointed with the way they were required to teach, and that were being trained to think and to act in a certain way, rather than being educated. Although there were teachers, classes, and subjects that I enjoyed and were valuable to me. Overall I felt that I was trapped in a monotonous cycle and I wished there was a better way. Then I found one.

In eighth grade I received a lower back injury that forced me to lie off of sports. Classwork was easy, so I found myself with a lot of time on my hands. I knew that I was to attend Aptos High School next year and I would have to take at least two years of Spanish. The Spanish courses at the High School were notoriously bad, so I decided to take Spanish at Cabrillo College. I knew that one semester of Spanish at Cabrillo would count for two years of High School Spanish and it is UC transferable. Ever since that class I took at least one class every semester, including summers, for the length of my High School career. I realized that the extra classes gave me an advantage over the other students, allowed me to get ahead in school, and study the subjects I’m actually interested in. I ended up graduating a year early from High School with 42 transferable units under my belt. Now I’m at Cabrillo for a year and I plan to transfer to UCSD next year.

Taking an alternative method to my education wasn’t easy though. The High School fought me the entire time, the only member of the high school that supported me was my counselor. The rest of the faculty thought that I was being selfish, and that I was only trying to cheat the system. They were never helpful, and were reluctant to accept my units and they tried to force me to take unnecessary placement tests although they couldn’t benefit me. If it wasn’t for the support of my parents and my counselor I would still be there today. So from my experience I also think that the school system is both childish and boring.