http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=120852934&sc=emaf
This article directly supports my social networking story and discusses the same trend I addressed in my story. The article shows only three ethnic groups (mine had five) but English-speaking Hispanics and non-Hispanic blacks use mobile devices more than non-Hispanic whites in every category (texting, emailing, IMing, watching video, playing music, getting on the interent, and getting directions). The article also attributes one of the reasons of this trend to communicating with family members in distant countries.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=102802880&ps=rs
Another article on ethnic groups and media outlets. Newspapers and broadcasts directed at a target audience of an ethnic minority are thriving at a time when most newspapers are struggling. For example, the article says in LA the number one TV station is Spanish-language KMEX.
Monday, November 30, 2009
Thursday, November 19, 2009
One sentence news recap of trend story
In Washington state, there has been an increase in PTO-sponsored elementary foreign language programs because the state does not have a mandated foreign language curriculum.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Beat Update Nov. 16
http://www.newsweek.com/id/222632
Even during the global recession we are currently experiencing, many European countries are spending big money on remodeling cultural infrastructure such as a new exhibition center for the British Museum, or simply building new ones like the museum of European and Mediterranean Civilizations in France. The article says many European museums are getting a "recession makeover." This is in sharp contrast to the state of museums here in the U.S. where staff, hours, shows, and renovations are all being cut-back.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5g_RVkRyq5w3swuwmZ5xS1jk5M7dAD9BRNBO80
This article from the Associated Press discusses a 12-year-old girl who pierced her nose as a way to express her Indian heritage; she is the daughter of an Indian immigrant. However, she was suspended from her school for violating a dress code. I found this article interesting because this issue could clearly fall into the realm of the First Amendment due to freedom of religion and expression.
Even during the global recession we are currently experiencing, many European countries are spending big money on remodeling cultural infrastructure such as a new exhibition center for the British Museum, or simply building new ones like the museum of European and Mediterranean Civilizations in France. The article says many European museums are getting a "recession makeover." This is in sharp contrast to the state of museums here in the U.S. where staff, hours, shows, and renovations are all being cut-back.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5g_RVkRyq5w3swuwmZ5xS1jk5M7dAD9BRNBO80
This article from the Associated Press discusses a 12-year-old girl who pierced her nose as a way to express her Indian heritage; she is the daughter of an Indian immigrant. However, she was suspended from her school for violating a dress code. I found this article interesting because this issue could clearly fall into the realm of the First Amendment due to freedom of religion and expression.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Trend Article
Parents wait in their idled cars to pick up their kids from school. The final bell rings as seven students bounce into class with Mr. Lara waiting at the front of the room.
The school day is over but, for some, class is not.
These seven Sunnyside Elementary students are attending an after-school Spanish class.
While most public elementary schools in Washington state do not currently incorporate foreign languages into the regular school-day curriculum, there are growing numbers of before- and after-school language programs supported by parent groups, PTAs, and community organizations, according to Michele Anciaux Aoki, the world languages program supervisor for the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction.
Sunnyside is the only one of three elementary schools in Pullman to join this trend. The school’s PTO initiated the Spanish program a couple years ago and continues to fund $1,500 a year to subsidize lessons. More than 70 Sunnyside students are enrolled in the program which offers Spanish classes ranging four difficulty levels. Students attend 45-minute classes twice a week that take place before or after school or during lunch break.
Students attend Spanish class during non-school hours because these classes are not a part of elementary curriculum. A mandated foreign language program does not exist in Washington state.
“There is no statewide requirement or curriculum for adopting a formal foreign language program [at the elementary level],” said Dave La Rose, superintendent of South Kitsap School District in western Washington.
“Since the education system has not considered learning another language a part of ‘basic education,’ many students in our public schools will never be given the opportunity to develop this critical 21st century skill,” Aoki writes in her article World Languages: State of the State.
The Washington state legislature will not pass a bill to implement a statewide curriculum for elementary foreign language anytime soon. As of now, a mandate would be impossible because of the lack of funding for such programs, Aoki said. Even if a mandate existed, the programs would be insufficient; there is not enough money to create a fully developed and effective program. Aoki said 60 to 90 minutes a week on a subject may introduce information to the children but it is not enough time to build skills. She compared learning to ride a bike to how these underfunded programs would run.
“Imagine learning to ride a bike, and once a week you rode a bike for half a block – you’d never learn to ride,” Aoki said.
Because of the absence of foreign language curriculum, many programs have been developed and implemented by parent groups and other organizations. Most of these new foreign language programs are developing in places such as Seattle, Lake Washington, and Vancouver school districts, said Aoki.
Of the 185 elementary schools on the west side of the Cascades that responded to the Mapping and Enhancing Language Learning in Washington State Survey, 26 percent offered a foreign language program. Of the 64 elementary schools on the east side that responded, 16 percent offered a program. This difference is explained by Aoki.
“It is very diverse in western Washington and the Puget Sound area, and there is a greater interest in global affairs,” Aoki said. “[In eastern Washington] there is not as great of an exposure and interest to connect to the rest of the world.”
Many parents push the implementation of a foreign language program because of the educational benefits to their children. Learning a foreign language at the elementary level compared to high school can be advantageous to students for two reasons: brain development and social aspects.
“The main reason is all the evidence of brain development,” Aoki said. “As a child, we’re able to take in information in a different way. Learning a language in high school can be helped by activating that capacity as a child.”
Erik Lara, one of Sunnyside’s three Spanish instructors and a WSU student, suggests that learning Spanish helps students learn other languages in the future.
“Grasping the Spanish language can help them learn other languages because of the Latin base,” Lara said.
Socially, young children are more open in general to learning new things, Aoki said.
###
Contacts:
Michele Anciaux Aoki
World Languages Program Supervisor
Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction
(360) 725-6129
Erik Lara
Spanish Instructor
Sunnyside Elementary
(541) 861-8124
Dave La Rose
Superintendent South Kitsap School District
(360) 874-7009
The school day is over but, for some, class is not.
These seven Sunnyside Elementary students are attending an after-school Spanish class.
While most public elementary schools in Washington state do not currently incorporate foreign languages into the regular school-day curriculum, there are growing numbers of before- and after-school language programs supported by parent groups, PTAs, and community organizations, according to Michele Anciaux Aoki, the world languages program supervisor for the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction.
Sunnyside is the only one of three elementary schools in Pullman to join this trend. The school’s PTO initiated the Spanish program a couple years ago and continues to fund $1,500 a year to subsidize lessons. More than 70 Sunnyside students are enrolled in the program which offers Spanish classes ranging four difficulty levels. Students attend 45-minute classes twice a week that take place before or after school or during lunch break.
Students attend Spanish class during non-school hours because these classes are not a part of elementary curriculum. A mandated foreign language program does not exist in Washington state.
“There is no statewide requirement or curriculum for adopting a formal foreign language program [at the elementary level],” said Dave La Rose, superintendent of South Kitsap School District in western Washington.
“Since the education system has not considered learning another language a part of ‘basic education,’ many students in our public schools will never be given the opportunity to develop this critical 21st century skill,” Aoki writes in her article World Languages: State of the State.
The Washington state legislature will not pass a bill to implement a statewide curriculum for elementary foreign language anytime soon. As of now, a mandate would be impossible because of the lack of funding for such programs, Aoki said. Even if a mandate existed, the programs would be insufficient; there is not enough money to create a fully developed and effective program. Aoki said 60 to 90 minutes a week on a subject may introduce information to the children but it is not enough time to build skills. She compared learning to ride a bike to how these underfunded programs would run.
“Imagine learning to ride a bike, and once a week you rode a bike for half a block – you’d never learn to ride,” Aoki said.
Because of the absence of foreign language curriculum, many programs have been developed and implemented by parent groups and other organizations. Most of these new foreign language programs are developing in places such as Seattle, Lake Washington, and Vancouver school districts, said Aoki.
Of the 185 elementary schools on the west side of the Cascades that responded to the Mapping and Enhancing Language Learning in Washington State Survey, 26 percent offered a foreign language program. Of the 64 elementary schools on the east side that responded, 16 percent offered a program. This difference is explained by Aoki.
“It is very diverse in western Washington and the Puget Sound area, and there is a greater interest in global affairs,” Aoki said. “[In eastern Washington] there is not as great of an exposure and interest to connect to the rest of the world.”
Many parents push the implementation of a foreign language program because of the educational benefits to their children. Learning a foreign language at the elementary level compared to high school can be advantageous to students for two reasons: brain development and social aspects.
“The main reason is all the evidence of brain development,” Aoki said. “As a child, we’re able to take in information in a different way. Learning a language in high school can be helped by activating that capacity as a child.”
Erik Lara, one of Sunnyside’s three Spanish instructors and a WSU student, suggests that learning Spanish helps students learn other languages in the future.
“Grasping the Spanish language can help them learn other languages because of the Latin base,” Lara said.
Socially, young children are more open in general to learning new things, Aoki said.
###
Contacts:
Michele Anciaux Aoki
World Languages Program Supervisor
Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction
(360) 725-6129
Erik Lara
Spanish Instructor
Sunnyside Elementary
(541) 861-8124
Dave La Rose
Superintendent South Kitsap School District
(360) 874-7009
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
math practice
1. 7885
2. 17% failed; 83% passed
3. median = $40,000
mean = $67,500
The median is more accurate
4. It's a 20 percent increase from the 5 percent
5. a. 25% decrease
b. 33% increase
6. about 11%
7. median = $207,000
mean = $790,600
8. 3 slices each
9. more likely to be assaulted in Pullman
Spokane: .002 (25 per 10,000 people)
Pullman: .007 (73.2 per 10,000 people)
10. $150,000
2. 17% failed; 83% passed
3. median = $40,000
mean = $67,500
The median is more accurate
4. It's a 20 percent increase from the 5 percent
5. a. 25% decrease
b. 33% increase
6. about 11%
7. median = $207,000
mean = $790,600
8. 3 slices each
9. more likely to be assaulted in Pullman
Spokane: .002 (25 per 10,000 people)
Pullman: .007 (73.2 per 10,000 people)
10. $150,000
Monday, November 2, 2009
Beat update Nov. 3
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jbmNYV4bVa620tYFdux8Vep3ZdbA
This article reports the outcome of a new study between one's genes and their culture. The study focused on cultures that are either collectivist or individualistic. "In China and other east Asian nations, for example, up to 80 percent of the population carry this so-called "short" allele, or variant, of a stretch of DNA known as 5-HTTLPR."
http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/10/28/new.and.emergent.jews/
This provides an alternative look at some Gen X and Gen Y Jews that are taking a rather untraditional approach to their Jewish heritage.
This article reports the outcome of a new study between one's genes and their culture. The study focused on cultures that are either collectivist or individualistic. "In China and other east Asian nations, for example, up to 80 percent of the population carry this so-called "short" allele, or variant, of a stretch of DNA known as 5-HTTLPR."
http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/10/28/new.and.emergent.jews/
This provides an alternative look at some Gen X and Gen Y Jews that are taking a rather untraditional approach to their Jewish heritage.
I read Seymour Hersh's My Lai Massacre.
Many of the quotes were very interesting - they created a lot of emotion and showed character and some were very revealing. Here are a few that really stood out to me:
"At one point, he said, more than 20 villagers were lined up in front of a ditch and shot.
'They had them in a group standing over a ditch-just like a Nazi-type thing. ...One officer ordered a kid to machine-gun everybody down, but the kid just couldn’t do it. He threw the machine gun down and the officer picked it up. ...' Terry said. 'I don’t remember seeing any men in the ditch. Mostly women and kids.'
Later, he and the platoon team he headed were taking a lunch break near the ditch when, Terry said, he noticed 'some of them were still breathing. ...They were pretty badly shot up. They weren’t going to get any medical help, and so we shot them. Shot maybe five of them. ..' "
- When I read this quote I felt like I was reading insider information that shouldn't be told to the public; I was surprised and appalled. This gives insight to what really went on in Vietnam.
"Asked what he thought at the time, Meadlo said, 'I just thought we were supposed to do it.' Later, he said that the shooting 'did take a load off my conscience for the buddies we’d lost. It was just revenge, that’s all it was.'"
- This gives interesting insight to what the soldiers felt while in war and would never have the same impact if it weren't a direct quote.
"'They didn’t put up a fight or anything. The women huddled against their children and took it. They brought their kids real close to their stomachs and hugged them, and put their bodies over them trying to save them. It didn’t do much good,' Meadlo said."
- This quote is very graphic and revealing. When you read it, it is really easy to picture in your mind.
Besides the quotes, a lot of his articles were hard to follow because of the extent of military jargon used. I also did not like the use of questions as transitions into new paragraphs/ideas.
As a journalistic work, Hersh's articles brought an overseas issue home at a time when TV wasn't as prevalent. Also, this was an issue that the military wanted to cover up so without Hersh's determination to write this story it probably would not have ever been told. I think it may have served as a check on government and military action in general.
Many of the quotes were very interesting - they created a lot of emotion and showed character and some were very revealing. Here are a few that really stood out to me:
"At one point, he said, more than 20 villagers were lined up in front of a ditch and shot.
'They had them in a group standing over a ditch-just like a Nazi-type thing. ...One officer ordered a kid to machine-gun everybody down, but the kid just couldn’t do it. He threw the machine gun down and the officer picked it up. ...' Terry said. 'I don’t remember seeing any men in the ditch. Mostly women and kids.'
Later, he and the platoon team he headed were taking a lunch break near the ditch when, Terry said, he noticed 'some of them were still breathing. ...They were pretty badly shot up. They weren’t going to get any medical help, and so we shot them. Shot maybe five of them. ..' "
- When I read this quote I felt like I was reading insider information that shouldn't be told to the public; I was surprised and appalled. This gives insight to what really went on in Vietnam.
"Asked what he thought at the time, Meadlo said, 'I just thought we were supposed to do it.' Later, he said that the shooting 'did take a load off my conscience for the buddies we’d lost. It was just revenge, that’s all it was.'"
- This gives interesting insight to what the soldiers felt while in war and would never have the same impact if it weren't a direct quote.
"'They didn’t put up a fight or anything. The women huddled against their children and took it. They brought their kids real close to their stomachs and hugged them, and put their bodies over them trying to save them. It didn’t do much good,' Meadlo said."
- This quote is very graphic and revealing. When you read it, it is really easy to picture in your mind.
Besides the quotes, a lot of his articles were hard to follow because of the extent of military jargon used. I also did not like the use of questions as transitions into new paragraphs/ideas.
As a journalistic work, Hersh's articles brought an overseas issue home at a time when TV wasn't as prevalent. Also, this was an issue that the military wanted to cover up so without Hersh's determination to write this story it probably would not have ever been told. I think it may have served as a check on government and military action in general.
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