Topic proposal for policy paper

For my policy paper, I will be choosing to write about a global proposal argument. Today in our society the media has become overwhelming. On a daily basis we are subjected to over 3,000 ads. However, media does not discriminate against who they show their ads too. Therefore, young girls with body image problems are shown thousands of half naked, seemingly perfect bodies everyday. What kind of message can this be sending them? Women who struggle with self esteem problems are reminded on an hourly basis that they are not as skinny and “perfect” as girls in magazines. But what is the media to do? It’s really not entirely their fault. As a society, we have come to rely on the media to tell us what it beautiful. 

If we were to no longer except their interpretation of beauty, they would no longer be able to sell us the image that is ruining our society. Recently Dove has come out with Campaign For Real Beauty, it is designed to promote natural beauty and promote the self esteem of young girls. The campaign urges parents to talk to their children about their body image and explain to them that the media is not real. Dove has put together multiple ad’s and commercials that are both informative and inspirational. They highlight the flaws within the media and promote the idea of natural beauty. Parents need to use the Campaign For Real Beauty to reach out to their children. We need to put a hold the media’s power now before it can take over another generation. 

This position is based off of my claim that the media is destroying the self esteem and body image of young girls, as well as adults, in our society. From my bibliography I will use “The Media’s Effect” by Body Image and "The Relations among Body Image, Physical Attractiveness, and Body Mass in Adolescence” by Child Development. I will also use information from the Dove Campaign to help address my solution to the media crisis. 

I am somewhat concerned that I will not be able to find enough information on how the Dove Campaign has actually helped people so far. Statistical evidence would really be helpful, however so far I have not be able to find any. I am also concerned that it is going to be hard to relay the powerful messages of each of their advertisements through my writing. I don’t know whether or not it would be wrong to go in depth about each ad and how they help my proposal, or if I should just use a broad description of them and focus more on my interpretation of how they could help change the world.    

in class writing #2

I believe that the USC campus should try to optimize parking for students, instead of optimizing their income off of parking tickets. There are no where near enough places to park on campus that help students conveniently get to class, without having to worry about parking tickets and fines. I think that if you are a student or teacher here at USC that live off campus, you should have a sticker on your car, and should not be charged to park at meters. Furthermore, there should be more available meter spots made for these people, or the price to park in a garage for a few hours a day should be dropped drastically. Any given day when leaving for class students know that parking is going to be an issue. This is something that the campus could easily fix if they weren't so consumed with making money. To think that it costs the same for a student who permanently lives in a dorm and leaves their car in a garage for the majority of the time, as for a student who parks in there for a few hours a week to attend class is ridiculous.

in class writing

My perspective on the drinking age has changed greatly throughout my high school and now into college years. Before I had no problem thinking that one needed to be 21 to drink alcohol, now however I think it's rediculous for it to be anything but 18. As a college student, I am surrounded by drinking. Everytime I'm in a situatation which could potentially turn out bad, I can think back to a prior experience and most of the time know how to handle the situation. Unfortunatly for teens who are sheltered and do not decided to drink till they are 21, due to the law, they will not have had this expereince. These now adults, will not have gained any experience, and therefore will not know how to handle themselves in the real world. Also, now that I am 18 and understand all of the privliges I have, its hard to understand why having a drink isn' t one of them.

SWA #11

For articles, I think a good measure of credibility is the authors overall tone. It’s not necessarily the length or even the publisher, it’s more based on the context of the paper. If the author uses sufficient research to back up their claim and while doing so they manage to appeal to the egos, logos, and pathos of their argument, then their article should be creditable. In cases where an article does not have these qualities, one could still use this article to decided what would not be effective. Also, just because the article overall seems to not be creditable, that doesn’t mean that the whole thing should be disregarded. Creditable articles should posses an effective egos, logos, and pathos claim, while seeming unbiased and using reliable sources to back up the argument. The easiest way for an article to become non creditable is when the author expresses bias, and lacks a fully developed argument. Using non scholarly sources for information in also another easy way for the author to seem unreliable to the reader.  

Overall, if the author uses a convincing tone, unbiased opinion, reliable sources, and an argument that balances between the logic and emotion of the reader, their article should be nothing other than creditable. 

I believe that the “Columbia Council Should Support Mission, Homeless” is the most effective essay because it is persuasive, factual, and it inspires people to take action. The article opens be presenting facts about the City Councils stance on the cities homeless situation. The arguments appear to have a strong ethos and logos, making the reader easily persuaded. The pathos of the argument is of course that the writer is talking about homeless people. The end of the article is especially inspiring. It urges the City Council to gain the strength and knowledge it will take to make our city a better place.

SWA #9

To use the term “retard” directed at someone in a derogatory way, is most defiantly  “hate speech”. It is not that it is unfair to the person it is directed at (most likely having no real disability), it is however very hurtful and hateful for the family member or someone with an actual disability to have to hear, even if just in simple passing. It’s also not fair that television and the movie industry can simply toss the word around as if it is not going to hurt anyone. They have no idea who could be watching. The last thing a person with a disability needs is to feel less about themselves. By using a hateful term like “retard” to a person that has no real disabilities can only make a person with a disability feel even worse. The word should not be used. It is hurtful and disrespectful. 

To say the word retarded is “hate speech” is wrong. Yes maybe to the poor person who is being called the retard by their classmates and peers, but not to the person with an actual disability. First of all- no one would call someone with a disability retarded. That is a very outdated term for something we now call “special needs”. By advocators for special needs programs to say the word “retarded” is hate speech, they are just throwing themselves under the bus. You would not find a mother or father saying “yes- my child is retarded”... so how can they assume that by using the word, this is who a young child on the playground is comparing their peer to. If this was the case, female dogs should take offense to the term “Bitch” and homosexuals should be offended anytime something is deemed as “Gay”- even though this is a term that they openly use to disclose their sexual orientation.