Find an article that relates in some way to the things we have been talking about in class. Summarize the article, then respond to it in some way. Agree, disagree, or other. Why did you pick it? How does it connect to our class?
- One paragraph summary of source.
- One paragraph response to source.
Include a link to the text. Should be about 250 words in length.
“Gen Z Is Stressing Out: Finding Solutions for Hopelessness and Helplessness” is an article written by Prudy Gourguechon for Forbes. I thought this story would seem appropriate for my journal response because it talks about a wide variety of problems in American society and how these problems can mentally and psychologically impact people belonging to the Generation Z classification. The article starts off with the major topic of mass shootings, revealing that “75% report mass shootings as a significant source of stress” (Gourguechon). Later on, it is shown that Generation Z is practically stressed about other major issues but yet seem less likely to vote because they feel they do not have enough experience. Gourguechon’s story concludes by stating that just doing something and joining others in communities will lead to the reduction of hopelessness and helplessness.
The fact that the newest generation of American thinking is extremely concerned about the country’s state is great. Unfortunately, a lot of today’s youth suffers from stress, as the article states, which could cause one to question their self esteem. The article breaks down into three parts: Generation Z has a lot of stress; Gen Z is not voting because of said stress and possible ways for younger people to find self-confidence. While reading this article, I thought of the students from Parkland who became gun control advocates after the shooting at their high school. A young person like David Hogg can serve as an example for young people throughout the world because Hogg survived a severe traumatic experience and decided to make a change for the world. I believe that the article does a great job by showing what young people can do to make a change for the better: do something.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/prudygourguechon/2018/10/30/gen-z-is-stressing-out-finding-solutions-for-hopelessness-and-helplessness/#5d2a18173c98
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https://www.forbes.com/sites/prudygourguechon/2018/10/30/gen-z-is-stressing-out-finding-solutions-for-hopelessness-and-helplessness/#5d2a18173c98
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Kaitlynn Sims
Professor Ramos
English 102
12 September 2019
I chose this article due to the opinions and feedback that Monday’s class discussion concerning the Amazon forest fires sparked. The article from the very beginning states that essentially most, if not all, of what we’ve been hearing in the media is untrue in many senses. The viral images and tweets from many celebrities and even the President of France, were wrong. Many of the images were from places such as Montana, India, and Sweden; and those that were of Brazil were from years ago. The information is not wholly wrong in that yes, the forest fires in Brazil have increased 80% from the year before. The difference is that it is only 7% above the figures from the last decade, and that is a drop in the bucket compared to year before. In 2010, the amount of forest fires recorded in Brazil were nearly double what has been recorded this year. Daniel Nepstad, a leading expert on the Amazon forest, goes on to say that the forest should also not be quoted as being the “lungs of the world” as in turn, the Amazon uses up nearly as much oxygen as it produces. Overall, throughout the article the most poignant information is that the real danger that the Amazon forest faces are accidental forest fires fueled by the dry underbrush. Underbrush that has dried out and died due to climate change.
I can’t say that the article is without its problems, but I can say that I mostly agree with its stance. I think that this article and the dramatization of the events unfolding in the Amazon are prime examples of how as a society we display ignorance and seek to only confirm our beliefs. We very rarely take the time to vet the information we are taking in, and thus we go believing and even relaying to others said information. When we are called out on it, we often double down, rather than trying to find proper sources to back up our claims. I think something this article also points out is how we are willing to bring up topics just to talk about them and place blame, but not actually seek solutions. Brazil has been doing very well in the aspect of conservation, but has received little to no congratulation or support for their efforts. Dr Nepstad outlines this is several different places throughout the article and from other sources I have found. As it stands, I believe we really need to stop retweeting photos and misinformation in order to make ourselves seem worldly, and rather donate to causes we believe in. As cliche as it may sound, actions speak louder than words.
Here’s the article: https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelshellenberger/2019/08/26/why-everything-they-say-about-the-amazon-including-that-its-the-lungs-of-the-world-is-wrong/#6f8f30ab5bde
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Phillip Perez
9/13/19
Journal 2
Mr. Ramos
Why are the Amazon fires staring in South America? Many citizens are concerned about how the fires are starting. The Amazon fires are caused by natural causes and illegal activity.
First of all, the Amazon Rainforest fires are caused by natural causes. One reason the Amazon experiences a lot of fires is because of the extreme drought. The fire is started by high temperatures and dryness. Water is evaporated by the Amazon. My second reason that shows how the Amazon experiences fires from natural causes is due to lighting. The reason why lighting starts fires is because of electric charge to the ground ignites the fire.
The Amazon also experiences of fires are because of illegal activity. Many times Amazon fires are started by clearing forest in using wood for money. Data gathered by Natural Geographic states that eighty –eight percent of fires increased by farmers.
The combination of dryness and farming crops is the current reason for these Amazon fires. Due to these long lasting erratic fires the natural organisms are being demolished. This will cause the rainforest to need restoration for new life and more air to breathe clear.
Climate change is what is causing the rapid fires in Brazil. Clearing areas illegally is also what is causing the extreme fires in the rain forest. The fire is causing high dryness in the rain forest is why the fires are continuing. Fires are erupting in South America; the citizens are concerned. The causes are natural and manmade.
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Victorville scored an F rating for air quality in the American Lung Association’s 20th annual report card, however local air experts disagree. The state of the air 2019 report shows that California cities rank on the list as most polluted in the nation. Experts now say climate change is effecting clean air progress. A report concluded that over 90% of Californians live in areas affected by unhealthy air. California cities rank as the most polluted in the U.S. for unhealthy ozone, smog days, particle pollution, soot days or year-round particle levels. In San Bernardino county, the air we breathe may put our health at risk. The state of the air 2019 report also showed that the poor air quality poses a health threat to the 2.1 million residents already dealing with asthma, COPD, lung cancer, cardiovascular disease and diabetes. We need to confront the reality that climate change is making the job of cleaning our air much more difficult.
Bad air quality is affecting our loved ones, their health is declining. We need to get to a place where we can be safe in our own neighborhoods.
https://www.vvdailypress.com/news/20190426/san-bernardino-county-air-quality-receives-failing-grade
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/an-entire-generation-is-losing-hope-enter-the-witch/2018/11/13/a939001e-e6c9-11e8-bbdb-72fdbf9d4fed_story.html?noredirect=on
Brianna Wellman
Professor Ramos
English 102
13 September 2019
I chose this article going off of our Monday discussion about how “this generation does not care about the future.” Although it may seem as though we do not care to our older generations still around, but the cold hard truth is not that we don’t care, but more that we are losing hope for any sure future we might still potentially have. It seems as though recently, the only thing going on in this world is tragedies and heartbreak which psychologically is not very motivating to have only negativity surrounding them constantly. All the extremely huge mass shootings the past few years, all the hurricane damages, the wildfires wiping out entire cities and massive forests, a president who has no idea how to keep his mouth shut instead of just doing his job, and so much more. It is not that my generation does not care about our future, or about resolving these problems, but we don’t know what to do anymore.
Sure, if everyone voted then we could find a way to get an extremely wonderful president in office, but everyone would have to be on the same page and generally that is not the case considering people support Trump even now. We can’t do anything about massive hurricanes and wildfires tearing up everything and causing intense damage. The most we can do is find a way to donate to the cause, spread the word, or volunteer for cleanup. As for the mass shootings, a surefire way to attempt to stop these is to psychologically analyze the true reason and motive each shooter has. Banning guns will not help no matter how much people say so because that would only leave the law-abiding citizens empty handed, while the criminals all had weaponry they illegally obtained. So yes, we do want to fix these issues and we do care about our lives, our futures and our potential, but it gets quite overwhelming and sad that we are unable to make a huge change without everyone being on board.
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Eleanor Mc Voy
English 102
The article that I read is called “California’s unfulfilled promise on access to safe water” written by Phoebe Seaton. The article explains that in 2012 former California governor Jerry Brown signed Assembly Bill 685. That made California the first state in the nation to legally recognize the human right to water. Now that climate change is enhancing more and more each day it’s important that our new governor, Gavin Newsom support legislation that California will ensure the promise of clean water for all.
So far as I was reading this article I was shocked that our state is still having to have a discussion if we as the people of California deserve to have clean drinking water. Made me really sit back and think about the people of Flint, Michigan who do not have any sort of clean water in general. Besides what Jaden Smith provided a couple months ago, and he is still continuing his work for Flint as well. Because we as the people of our Nation, State, and City know that we deserve the right to not to only water but clean water in general. It still is a heated discussion within the Nations’ legislation if we deserve that or not. Because some of those people believe it’s a privilege and not a right. It is up to us as the people of our country at this point to stand up for ourselves and others, that we deserve that right. Even though it is good to know that we still have people in our legislation speaking for us on that right of clean water. Again, it is sad that it even has to be a discussion if we as the Nation deserve water let alone clean water.
The Link: https://www.pe.com/2019/01/12/californias-unfulfilled-promise-on-access-to-safe-water/
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I chose this article because of the topics that we were discussing this last Wednesday, about a ‘green’ movement that can be established at Crafton. That discussion made me remember about this amazing effort that was put into cleaning the beach of Versova in Mumbai which in turn caused the reappearance of baby turtles on its sand. This effort took about two years and systems were put in place to prevent the accumulation of trash to reach that stage again. This article showed that it is possible to be a force of change to make the world better as one man started this initiative of cleaning the beach, inspiring hundreds to lend their hand in this effort. With the ever-increasing pollution of our waters, we could do to take after this person to take a bit more interest into improving our ecosystems, just being interested in helping is not enough, but as this man shows actions are what mattered. This is because no matter how many laws or policies are put in place, if people don’t seem to care or contribute to the cause nothing significant will happen in improving the situation. Ultimately, it all depends on the people and what they want to happen, as they are the ones to decide who to elect based on what they would like to see be done. This article reminds me that if a cause is something that a lot of people are passionate about, people will flock to it and provide their support in whatever form they can. It is important because our oceans, which provide us food among other things is being destroyed with all the pollution and more people need to be acting in resolving it before even more irreparable damage is done.
https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/mumbai-beach-clean-up-turtles-2/
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Andres Tinajero
Professor Ramos
English 102
September 15, 2019
https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2019-08-05/recycling-center-business-replanet-shuts-down
California’s largest operator of recycling redemption centers has shut down and laid off 750 employees. It has closed all 284 of its centers. It leaves people less options to recycle which is becoming a bigger and bigger problem. It is especially concerning for those who live in poverty or experience homelessness and rely on recycling for income, they don’t have many places to turn to. The closures could also mean more pollution in landfills. People will either throw their recyclables directly into the garbage or place them in curbside recycling bins, which are often filled with contaminated material that must be discarded. We need to be able to access proper places to recycle or this is going to become a much bigger problem in the future. Everything is about money, so they could figure out a way to make more money out of recycling.
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The article I chose discusses climate change and the correlation it has on the wealth disparities between nations. It starts off stating what most of us know if you’ve taken any history class, which is the world’s most developed countries in the world are pretty much the ones to blame for the global climate change but it’s the poorest countries that will suffer the most from it. We’ve already seen it in the form of political instability and violence that is partially influenced by droughts and poor harvest that have driven millions from their homes in sub-Saharan Africa and Central America. A recent study from Stanford University concluded that climate change affects the poorer nations hardest in part because they are unable to pay for projects that can help circumvent the effects of climate change. The article’s tone isn’t to blame but to show it’s all of our problems.
I chose this article because it spoke to exactly what Professor Ramos stated on Monday but on a global scale. We talked about how climate change in the US is going to hit us, meaning the everyday person, the hardest. The elite have the funds to find alternate methods of living through the conditions in the future. But this article helped me to see that same example but on a global scale and how it is affecting some nations even now. It’s kind of a full circle process when you include immigration issues in this. While we are already starting to see the effects of people flocking here for refuge you can only imagine it’s going to get worse and who are we to turn away people who are running from a problem we had a huge hand in creating. Now I’m not saying the issue belongs to the US alone and neither is the article but it’s a global issue that we all are apart of.
Link: https://apple.news/Ad11cWGzgTBiJSezAIMinqA
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In the article, “These are the World’s 10 Most Serious Problems, According to Millennials”. Abby Jackson talks about what the main concern millennials, who participated in a survey, have which is climate change. “ for the third year in a row, millennials who participated in the World Economic Forum’s Global Shapers Survey 2017 Believe climate change is the most serious issue affecting the world today.” I agree with this; I’ve noticed that the past few years the summers have been getting hotter and hotter meaning ive Spent most if not all of my summers inside. I never understood why but as I’ve gotten older I’ve come to gain more knowledge of the situation. I’ve spent most if not all of my summers inside. I never understood why but as I’ve gotten older I’ve come to gain more knowledge of the situation. But with climate change being number one with a heaping 48.8% from the survey applicants, Large Scale conflict/ war (38.9%) and inequality (income,discrimination) (30.8%) are second and third to that. I think that this is very good to know because as I was reading I’ve come to agree with what we believe to be concerns especially ones that really caught up. Everyone knows that climate change/global warming exist but no one talks or act on i I think that this is very good to know because as I was reading I’ve come to agree with what we believe to be concerns especially ones that were really caught up. Everyone knows that climate change/global warming exist but no one talks or acts on it. Why? Who really knows, it could be a number of things. It could be that the generation before us expected us to do something but who’s to say we won’t do the same. Complicated topic like so, need and must be talked about more often so that the people who want change and care enough to achieve it can take small steps to get what we want.
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David Lam
The article, “Why a Real Life Purge Would Be Terrible for the Economy,” by Jeff Ewing, starts by introducing the Purge film series. The series would purge (Murder) people and explaining that it will lower crime rate and improve economic growth. The author explains that a real life purge would cause the wealthy and l to prey on the weak. Not only will it cause social inequality, but it would cause these wealthy people to become violent in nature. In short, they will commit murders, because it will become a normal thing for them. This will also cause a problem with life insurance policies which may have to exclude purge related deaths in their policies. To conclude the author explains that a purge will eventually cause a monopoly for large businesses and destroying small businesses.
I believe everyone has thought of a purge at least once in their life. Though a part of me feel the world will be a better place if certain people didn’t exist, I will have to agree with the author. A purge would only cause people who are already violent in nature to get away with murdering innocent people. Eventually, the only people left will be the ones with the most resources and the mind to kill so many people. I chose this article due to a discussion in class about population control and critical thinking. Though I don’t agree that a purge is the ideal method for population control, it is necessary to look at different ideas people may have in order to be a critical thinker.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffewing/2018/06/26/4-real-world-economic-consequences-of-the-purge-or-its-terrible-for-the-economy-too/#317d46e928c0
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https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2019-09-14/california-legislature-fail-legislation-single-use-plastics
The LA Times reported on two bills in California that did not pass in the article, “California lawmakers fail to act on recycling bills to phase out single-use plastics.” The article explains that the bills, Senate Bill 54 and Assembly Bill 1080, aimed to eliminate 75% of single-use plastic by 2030 thus reducing the amount of waste in our landfills and environment. Supporters of the bill were urged to call their representatives and tell them to vote to pass the bills in the hopes of setting an example for the rest of the world, but lobbyists and industry groups opposed many aspects of the bill and found it to be riddled with kinks that should be worked out before passing. Despite celebrity, social media and popular support, the bills did not secure enough votes to pass. However two bills, AB57 and AB792, did pass and will make a short term difference in plastic production and recycling in California. I found it interesting that our just voted on these recycling bills just after our class discussed how to better recycle on campus. The bills were meant to also alleviate the pressures of individuals and businesses now that many local and state recycling centers have closed. The fact that lobbyists from the plastic industry are the reason two major single-use plastic bills didn’t pass just goes to show how important it is for us all to do our part to recycle, vote, and contact our representatives so that the environment we live in and food we eat is not effected by the rapidly growing amount of plastic waste we are producing.
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Diana Chicas
https://www.fastweb.com/student-life/articles/the-15-easy-ways-students-can-go-green
In this article titled, “15 Ways Students Can Go Green”, author Elizabeth Hoyt describes various ways students can easily go green around campus. Her first example is for students to take notes electronically. She states that is helps the environment by reducing the use for paper and saving trees as well as money. Her second example is by having students start using reusable bags for purchases in stores and anywhere else. This reduces the use for plastic which helps the environment. A third way is by having students start to use refillable water bottles. Since many plastic bottles end up in oceans from not being recycled, using reusable bottles will save plastic from being wasted and from being dumped in the ocean. A fourth way is by recycling paper all the way to bottles. It will help stop causing more landfills and trash. 5th way is to power down your electronics when they are not being used. It saves electricity and reduces the cost of bills. A sixth way was by buying less and borrowing items. For example instead of buying DVDs to borrow them from stores or download them electronically instead to save plastic. Her 7th example is to walk or bike more. This reduces carbon dioxide in the environment and saves the usage of gas. Her 8th example is by saying students should use energy efficient light bulbs. They last longer and are brighter so the use of having more lights on won’t be as necessary. Her 9th saying is saving energy by turning down the thermostat. It saves money and uses less energy that hurts the environment. Her 10th way is by saying to eat sustainable seafood. Companies that use harvested seafood hurt the environment because the way they are raised hurts the environment. In her 11th example she describes how we should reduce meat consumption. Producing livestock causes more use of water and CO2 than transportation. Reducing meat saves half of the energy used to produce the meat.
Her 12th example is by not purchasing aerosol products that cause hole in the o-zone lair to help the air because better. 13Th way is to reduce water usage in the shower to save the environment. Her 14th description is by supporting eco friendly brands rather than brands that hurt the environment. Her final example is by opting out of junk mail. Not having junk mail saves trees from since the amount of junk mail is reduced. Most of these examples are already taught to us from early age but are still very valid to this day. Most colleges should promote these ideas to us in order for the environment to be saved. By finding small ways to help the environment will eventually lead to huge results just from the small things we do now. We should have these examples in practice in our daily lives and be promoted more in college.
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