Rebuttal. Should Teens Be Allowed To Vote - Vinh.

After reading Vinh's opening statement, I feel that was not able to carefully grasp the statement he was trying to make since it was only three sentences long. He points out that the 26th Amendment was changed to make it so that instead of the voting age stay at twenty one, it changed to eighteen. He gives one source which does not look like a fairly well thought out resource because of the many adds and other links connected to it. The way I see it is that this website is a short summary of the changing of the Amendment but does not give detailed information about it. 

Vinh states, Voting age has always been a problem. In 1971, congress pass down the 26th amendment which change the voting age from 21 to 18 (Here). Before that, voting age minimum was 21, but why was the 26th amendment proposed to the constitution and

As you can see, he did not even complete his last sentence. Also his commentary has nothing to do with his argument since he is against having the voting age be lowered. Yet in his statement, he supports the age change for voting 3 years lower, he may not realize that eighteen is also considered a teenager.  


If Vinh had finished his argument I bet that it would be very well thought out and followed up by good supporting details, but since he did not finsh, I feel that his argument is not very strong. I talked to Vinh in class and he said that he would finish his debate and change it yet I have not seen a change in it since this morning. 


I feel that teens should be allowed to vote so that they can help enlighten the minds of other adults that have been influenced by the stress of politics. Since teens have fresh minds and are well educated, we should be able to change the world. Many great political figures express how important it is to let children speak their minds but if they go against their stand and keep us from voting then they are contradicting what they are saying. I believe that there should be at least some way in which teenagers could tell the world how they feel. To do so, we teenagers must stick together and come up with very intelligent and well thought out political input.

Should Teens Be Allowed To Vote? -pro.

After doing research on the topic of teen voting, I agree with the majority of people all around the world. Their answer? Yes, teens should be allowed to vote.


In an article that I read by Mike Hardcastle titled, "Top 5 Reasons YOUth Should Vote" he stated, "You live in a democracy and that means that you get a say in who runs your country, and by way of this privilege you also get a say about how your country is run." This statement by Hardcastle is very true.


If we teenagers live in a country run by democracy which allows many citizens to vote, why are we excluded in this voting process? Teenagers should be allowed to vote because some measures or laws affect us too, when this is the case there is no reason why we shouldn't be allowed to add our input to benefit our city/state/country.


In another article I found by Desiree Bailey titled, "Should 16-Year-Olds Have The Right To Vote?" she stated, "The teens who would be mostly likely to vote if the voting age is lowered do have strong opinions and ideas about public policies. And, say the advocates of a lower voting age, teens would bring a fresh new perspective to politics, their energy and spirit reminding adults of the excitement they once felt when they saw a world before them ready to be changed." At the time that Bailey wrote this she was 1 year away from turning 18 and looking forward to the process of voting. I agree with her thoughts on teen voting because many teens that are admitted the ability to vote will not take the opportunity to do so while teens that are interested will take the opportunity and change the perspective of adults with their input. Maybe by doing so, teenagers can enlighten the minds of adults and make them think about other people other than themselves. What I mean by saying this is, adults that do not have children don't care about school budget cuts and other things like that; but if teens put their input and explain to them your reason for why it is important that they vote a certain way maybe the outcome of the law will change.

To conclude my blog, I believe teens should get the right to vote and change the world with their thoughts on political events.

Celie's Relationship With God.

In the book The Color Purple, by Alice Walker, the protagonist character Celie is writing letters to God on each page. This book is different because it is a collection of her letters, not really a story like book although it still has a message. These letters tell us about her character traits because she is very committed to God and has a lot of faith in him. She also doesn't have many people that she cant trust or turn to in life so she turns to God for her answers. In the book Celie says,

"I can spell G-O-D I  got somebody along."

This quote shows that she has a lot of trust in Godd and no matter what she will always look to him in her time of need. Celie is also very weak both mentally and physically, she is scared to stand up for herself since men are always superior to her. A quote from the book that explains this is,
"Don't let them run over you, Nettie say. You got to let them know who got the upper hand." Following this quote Celie is still afraid to tell Mr. _____'s kids no. This shows that Celie is too weak to stick up for herself. I predict that this is the reason why she always looks to God for help.

Another quote from the book that shows her belief in God is,

"I say write. 

She say what?

I say, write. 

She say, nothing but death can keep me from it.

She never write."

This quote shows that she was trying to persuade another person to write to God so that the person's prayers/troubles will be fixed. When she said that woman never wrote, she explains that this is why her troubles have not gone away, God can help.

"She ast me about the first one whose it is? I say God's. I don't know no other man or what else to say."

 When Celie's mother question where the baby came from and what man it came from, Celie has a hard time telling her whose it is since it was her father's. Instead Celie tells her mother that it is God's. This is another reason why I strongly believe Celie is a strong follower of God.

Celie's messages to God tell me that when nobody else can help her, God can.

 

 

Response to Bianca's blog- Substitutes.

After reading what Bianca had to say about her feelings toward having substitutes, I feel ashamed of the way my class (including me) acts when a substitute teacher is around. In her blog she stated,

"Every time we have a substitute at ASTI, it seems that my class almost always takes advantage of them, and I personally get annoyed every time it happens. In fact, no offense to anybody, but it is rude. For example, when the substitute is doing attendance, people would continuously talk and then miss their name being called. As a result, class is stalled, and the whole class is affected because then we have less time to do our work."

In my mind I can picture the class she is talking about because I am in that same class. She has a good point when she talks about how it can be really annoying when a sub is taking attendance and nobody is listening. When I am not the one talking in class I tend to get annoyed of the extent certain people go to to be obnoxious and a disturbance to the class.

Subs come into a class with a good idea of how they want their day to go. Too bad it is the complete opposite in reality. Kids are rude once they walk into the door. Five minutes into class a sub can see paper being passed, kids with earbuds in their ears, roaring laughter progressing from different parts of the room and the aching headache she/he gets when having to experience this.

Later on in Bianca's blog I found her take on a possible solution as to how we can end the constant distractions in class.

"To solve this problem of having substitute teachers being interrupted and disturbed by the constant talking, I want to propose that the class just stop talking, or at least whisper, when the substitute is taking attendance, or when they are giving out instructions. Not only would that be nice for the substitute, but also nice for classmates."

She has a good point when making this proposal and I feel that not only should this point be made with a substitute teacher, it should be addressed when our actual teacher is around also.

After reading Bianca's blog I feel bad for EVER messing around in class only because I knew the sub would not mind. It really is childish and this behavior should not be tolerated at a high school such as ASTI.

Response to Alex Noble's blog- Overachievers Reflection.

After reading Alex's blog on his ideal college that he would like to attend, it gave me ideas as to what people prefer to see when entering a college campus and what colleges are the most appealing.

He began his blog by saying two of the most elite colleges in the United States, Harvard and Yale. It was interesting seeing what first two colleges come to his mind when thinking about Ivy League colleges. Many people have high expectations when asking a student where they are attending college, to most students it is very hard to answer that question since they may be enrolled to a college not as well known as others. The colleges that first appear in the mind of people are always UC's, Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, Cornell and others that don't come to my mind at the moment. I think that colleges label people. What I mean when I say this is that depending on what college you attend it reflects an instant title of intelligence that a student has. Alex writes in his blog something similar to this point,

"When most people hear that someone graduated from an Ivy League school they instantly assume that they are of high intelligence."

This is not always true, I know many people that have been accepted to highly ranked colleges that didn't seem like they would make it. Stereotypes are often utilized when talking about colleges. I believe in the idea that although a student is not enrolled in the best college in the nation, at least they are enrolled in college. That college may be the best choice for them due to financial, environment and intellectual reasons. It may be the college BEST suited for the student.

Later on in his post, Alex talks about his perfect college. He states,

"I would want the college to have courses relating to computers and programming or cinematography. The college would have a good student center to do homework and get supplies for college life."

This is a good idea to add in his "perfect" college since it applies to the profession that he prefers, he also adds to the post by incorporating his hobbies such as being in the snow and skiing.

Elite Colleges. Yes or No?

The debate that has been going on in class is, will you have a better life if you graduate from an elite college? Why or why not? After reading the New York Times's debate on this I came to a conclusion as to whether or not elite colleges are the best choice to succeed in life.

The New York Times did an article titled, "Does It Matter Where You Go To College?" out of the seven responses to the question the least persuasive one was by Martha O' Connell. O' Connell titled her response, What You Do vs. Where You Go. Her main point was that, the college you attend does not affect how your life will turn out later on. Many successful people enrolled in colleges that are not as well-known, yet they managed to become famous. She stated,

"The “oohs” and “aahs” follow as the audience learns that Steven Spielberg, Steve Jobs and Bill Gates dropped out of college, that Oprah Winfrey is an alumna of Tennessee State and that Ken Burns graduated from Hampshire College."

Although her point is very much true in some cases, not every student turns out to be a celebrity mid-college. I can see where she is coming from when she talks about the outcome of successful college dropouts but I do not agree that it is the same for every student that enrolls in a average college. The way I see it is that celebrities are very lucky people. Connections through friends and family allow them to be successful, but without them the likeliness of succeeding after dropping out of college is very slim. What O' Connell is trying to tell her readers is that aspiring actors or singers will be able to succeed even if they are attending a minor college. I am not saying that smaller colleges are pathways to failure, I am just disagreeing with the way O' Connell worded her point. This is the post that I found least persuasive.

The post that I agreed with the most was, "Graduate School Matters More." by David Breneman. In his response, he declared that attending elite colleges for undergraduate school is not as important as attending an elite college for graduate school. He stated,

"If that path [Graduate School] is likely to be chosen, then what matters most is that the undergraduate college is substantial enough academically to give the student a high probability of being admitted to the graduate or professional school of choice."

What he is trying to say here is that if a student wishes to go to graduate school, the college that they attend for undergraduate school can be an average school more well-known than others but not as elite as what people expect. He backs this information up by saying,

"Performing at a high level in a good quality but not highly prestigious college may give a student a better chance of getting into graduate or professional school than being lost in the middle of the pack in a highly selective institution. The quality of graduate or professional school will matter more in the long run to a student’s success in life than the ranking of the undergraduate college."

Breneman implies that being successful during undergraduate school at an average college is more appealing to graduate school professors than failing at an elite college. He also says that the main aim for college is graduate school and if it is an option for a student then they can focus more on the graduate school they attend rather than undergraduate school. This was the most persuasive post.

My thoughts on elite colleges is that they are very appealing when applying for jobs and it is nice to see the reaction of people when telling them where you are enrolled. I would rather go to an elite college because of the many opportunities that will come out of it. Other people may look at it in a different way and I respect their input in the debate of whether or not elite colleges are necessary to succeed in life.