Caroline Augenblick, 2W, http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/08/opinion/hounding-the-roma-in-france.html

What is the editorial's central claim?

The editorial’s central claim focuses on the increased discrimination of the Roma in France. The author declares that instead of harassing the Roma, France should end the discrimination, help combat their poverty, and assist them to enter in to France’s society. The European Union has already started to fund programs to help the Roma which should influence France to take the initiative to help too. 

2. What is a significant piece of evidence used to support the argument?

Recently, a mayor refused to allow a Roma baby to be buried in his town. Although many, such as Prime Minster Manuel Valls, made statements showing that this event was an insult to France, evidence shows that most remarks are meaningless. For example, in 2013 Mr. Valls said “that the Roma from Bulgaria and Romania can never be integrated into French society and should return to their countries or origin.” Other government leaders similar to François Hollande and Nicolas Sarkozy also have policies of forced evictions and deportations of the Roma population. Maria Francesca, the infant who died, lived in a house with no electricity or running water. Her community had already been evicted from nearby municipality. The mayor, Christian Leclerc, who denied her burial said she had “no right to a plot.” The Leclerc’s actions show how deeply rooted Roma prejudices are in France. 

3. What is your opinion of the claim? Add your voice.

I completely agree with the author’s claim. France should be progressive in its attitude toward accepting different nationalities. Even though many people dislike the Roma population, the Roma are in poverty and they need France’s help. By reading this article, I developed the impression that the Roma do not have good jobs or bring in much money. If France aids the Roma, it could create a better and more educated workforce. The long term affect of helping and educating the Roma would be positive for France because it would help their industry. 

Abbi Smith, 2W, http://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/editorials/2014/12/07/faa-flying-blind-drone-regulation/OO4HIaE4HQv037gJ2PbXyL/story.html

Central Claim:
I believe that the central claim of this article is that the use of commercial drones would benefit society. This article claims that these drones have already proven to be beneficial by surveying crops  and livestock, monitoring endangered species, and giving birds-eye-views on search and rescue missions.

Evidence Used:
The article used several different specific pieces of evidence including the already mentioned benefits of commercial drones. The article also used several different statistics as hard facts to support the use of drones. Specific companies such as Amazon, Domino's, and Google were mentioned as supporters of commercial drone use.

Opinion:
In my opinion, I feel like commercial drones are good for deliveries with companies such as Amazon, Google, and Domino's, yet I don't think that drones should be available to the public. Personally, I feel like drones could be an invasion of privacy around homes and personal properties. I would only be comfortable with commercial drones if the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) put heavy regulations and restrictions on who was able to own and control a drone. Overall, commercial drones could be beneficial for companies such as Amazon and Domino's, but I don't think it would be a good idea to offer the public access to commercial drones.

Wellesley College anti-Semitism 

Liz Clark

5W

http://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2014/12/11/wellesley-college-can-tiptoe-around-anti-semitism/WIvHJbNnp4s4U87VfoZfHP/story.html

1. What is the editorial's central claim?

The central claim made in this article by Lawrence Harmon is that discrimination around the world such as anti-Semitism and racial inequalities are still very present in everyday life. 

2. What is a significant piece of evidence used to support the argument?

Back in 1983, Harmon while writing for the Jewish Advocate weekly newspaper received copies of correspondence between the Wellesley president, Ruth Adams, and the religion professor at the time, Roger Johnson. In these letters, there were debates over the appointment of a Jewish chaplain. Harmon claims that these letters showed primary points of anti-Semitic view points. Specific evidence of anti-Semitisim in the past of Wellesley college includes the facts that during the 1930s and ’40s, Wellesley College managed its discomfort with Jews by limiting their enrollment to about 10 percent. Even decades later, Jewish professors were deemed incapable of teaching courses on the New Testament. It wasn’t until 1981 that a Jewish professor was hired in the religion department. Later on in the 1990s Tony Martin, an extremely anti-Semitic professor of Africana studies, wrote his own book called “The Jewish Onslaught”. Wellesley college were afraid from this to confront the issue with anti-Semitism that was so prevalent in the history of the college. 

3. What is your opinion of the claim? Add your voice.

Overall, my opinion on the matter is that anti-Semitism is a very critical offense especially when there are Jewish people attending the school. This topic is very important to present day time because there has recently been many acts of discrimination such as police attacks seen to be as racial attacks. This article is meant to focus on anti-Semitism, but to me it also is clearly stirring up more about discrimination and racial inequalities than just anti-Semitism. 

Lucy Alexander, 5B, http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21636040-experiments-designed-learn-more-about-ways-geoengineering-climate-should-be-allowed

CLAIM:

The editorial’s central claim focuses on the potential remedies for global warming. It makes the point that although methods of geoengineering, such as spraying minuscule pieces of salt into clouds to make them “shinier,” may seem risky and potentially harmful to the environment, they could be used as insurance and can not be ignored in the fight against global warming if current methods fail to work.  

EVIDENCE:

The editorial pushes for the conduction of experiments to see if geoengineering is a feasible solution to global warming. It argues that “The experiments would be far too small to have any climatic effects. The amount of sulphur put into the stratosphere by the experimental balloon would be 2% of what a passenger jet crossing the Atlantic emits in an hour.” Therefore, we should have no excuse to not put these experiments to work. There is also no evidence that the planet is going to miraculously start getting cooler. The editorial mentions that even with carbon emission cuts, it will still take a while for the cuts to make an impact on the environment, and in the meantime, the temperature will keep rising. To prove this, the editorial says that “Although they have not soared in the past couple of decades as they did in the 1980s and 1990s, there is a fair chance that this year will tie with the hottest on record.” Thus, geoengineering experiments should be seriously considered for the future.

OPINION:

I would agree with the editorial that we definitely need to find other methods to address the problem of global warming. The idea of spraying reflective particles into the air made me nervous at first because I thought that it would negatively affect the environment. After reading the editorial, I determined that it is a good idea to look into geoengineering. Performing small tests would not affect the environment and would provide substantial information as to if geoengineering is a good option. I think we should definitely perform many tests to be sure of all of the consequences of geoengineering before we actually do anything on a large scale. I personally feel that we should use geoengineering as a last resort (if it does work), because I think there are probably many other methods that would be safer, more effective, and not cause as much debate, such as more cuts on carbon emissions and the creation of smaller, more fuel efficient cars.

Walter Conrad
Period 3 - AP Language and Composition
Link:  http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/04/opinion/sunday/the-liberation-of-growing-old.html

Article:  The Liberation of Growing Old by Anne Karpf
Date Published:  January 3, 2015

What is the editorial's central claim?

The editorial's central claim seems to be that the growing "ageism" in America needs to stop.  The author comments on the fact that old people in contemporary society are mostly seen only as a drain on resources or a looming problem despite the fact that old people have real value and experience. Overall, the claim is that Americans should become more accepting and welcoming of age, an inevitable part of every person's life.


What is a significant piece of evidence used to support the argument?

The author uses multiple pieces of evidence to support the argument.  First of all, she tells a little about her own life as a 64-year-old woman.  This fact lends credibility to her claim because she has experienced what she is writing about firsthand.  The author also references certain actions that are taking place in the US which seek to include old people and break the barrier between young and old; for example, creative city spaces in Portland, Oregon are designed to be more inclusive for old people, and "intergenerational charter schools" in Cleveland, Ohio are helping to allow young people and old people to maintain closer contact.  Her use of evidence supports her claim that old people have something to offer and that ageism is unnecessary and silly.


What is your opinion of the claim?

In my opinion, the claim is accurate.  For some reason, in this society old people are the subjects of countless demeaning stereotypes.  Ageism is very silly and very counterproductive. Americans seem to be afraid of old people rather than embracing the fact that they will one day be old too.  I also definitely see the barrier that is forming between young and old people.  I barely ever see anyone "old" unless my grandparents come to visit.  I think that old people definitely have something to offer.  After all, they have lived a long life already and probably have a great deal of knowledge and many experiences to share.  That said, I do wonder about the effects that a rapidly growing elderly population may pose on a society such as America.  The cost of supporting so many people has the potential to be great.  However, that is certainly not the fault of old people themselves; it's just natural.  We all age.  We all contribute to the problem.


Does anyone look forward to growing old?

Editorial of the Day: Still Failing Syria’s Refugees

Jack Venden, Period 3, link: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/14/opinion/sunday/still-failing-syrias-refugees.html?_r=0

The author’s central claim is that the wealthier countries in the United Nations like China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Britain, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, and the United States are turning their backs on the 9 million Syrian refugees who have been displaced by the civil war that has been raging in their home country for four years. He/she claims that countries like Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, and Egypt (Syria’s neighbors), as well as Germany and Sweden are taking in as many refugees as their economies and territories can support while, larger, more prosperous nations are taking in few, if any, Syrian refugees and leaving the burden to the less wealthy nations.

Facts:

Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, and Egypt alone have accepted 3.2 million Syrian refugees

China and Russia (who have funded Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad’s military campaign against the rebels) and wealthy Gulf states like Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (who back various militant groups in the war) have refused to take a single refugee

the United States has only accepted a total of 300 Syrian refugees

4) I think the United States, Russia, China, and the European powers should accept the responsibility of being the world’s most powerful nations and provide temporary living facilities for Syrians within their own borders until the war comes to an end.

1. Annabelle Elvidge, Period 3, http://www.theforecaster.net/news/print/2014/12/08/intentionally-unreasonable-maine-yarmouthians-are/219663
2. Within this editorial (by Steve Woods) his central claim is about how with modern day technology and its availability, it is important to take time to recognize, honor, and understand the people and places connected to one’s past.
3. Woods supports his claim with soft facts about the town of Yarmouth, having shared names in Cape Cod and Nova Scotia, but centrally about Yarmouth, Maine’s roots in Yarmouth, England. He then uses a personal anecdote about how he conversed with the mayor of Yarmouth, England to schedule a visit for himself and his daughter. He talks about his journey as a wake-up call where the connection between both towns were connected with more than just the same name; “...we shared a sense of community and history; some common, some born from conflict, and some divided by an endless ocean.” Woods also explains that in order to help people reconnect with the roots of where they live that there should be an exchange program where students from each Yarmouth switch locations and live in the other Yarmouth for a period of time, essentially to gain an understanding of the connection between the two.
4. My opinion on this topic is quite the same as the Woods’. I think it is important to know exactly who and what your home originates from. Regardless of how quick and easy it would be to simply use Google Earth and get a sense of the origins of a town, experiencing it and getting a first-hand understanding is without a doubt more beneficial.

Outside information/facts:

“The River Yar is a body of water that approaches the mouth of their harbor, hence, Yar-mouth, or Yarmouth.”

Yarmouth, England’s first Town Charter was established in 1135 A.D

Questions:

-do you like the idea of this type of exchange student? Would you want to go to Yarmouth, England

-paul/ricky wanted me to ask if we think that we should still be a colony of england…

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