Op-Ed Entry Four

Sarah Reichenbach

Op - Ed Entry Four

July 12, 2009

AP Language


Clean, Sexy Water

By: Nicholas D. Kristoff

Published: July 11, 2009


Even when he was left with nothing Scott Harrison truly gave back. A few years ago Scott Harrison wasn't a man who cared about anything but himself; but now he's running his own million dollar charity. While on a trip to South America he under went a spiritual crisis and decided to really give a helping hand. Mr. Harrison volunteered as a photographer for Mercy Ships,his experience while working with a boy who had a tumor that was literally suffocating him effected Mr. Harrison so much he decided to start a charity that would give clean water to the people that need it most. The charity does more than just give drinking water to these people, though. They supply latrines, they teach people how to wash their hands (which cuts back on forty-five percent of diseases), and the clean water helps keep children in school that would normally spend all day fetching clean water for their families. This charity makes sure every dollar donated goes straight to helping the cause. Mr. Harrison can make sure this happens because he uses his 500 most committed donors to covering all administrative cost. Mr. Harrison also is working on a way to show every single person (no matter how small their donation) how their donations help. He hopes to have a website up in september that using google earth will allow them to see how their money is helping these people. In three years Charity Water has managed to raise ten million dollars due to this marketing genius who uses the lastest social networking to get the message out about Charity Water. Charity Water is more than just a helping hand, the people behind Charity Water change lives.

The first article of Kristoff's that I read left me unsure of his ability to write consistently on one topic and make it interesting; with the article "Clean, Sexy Water" the title and the article are a hit and they're both intriguing. "Clean, Sexy Water" was brilliantly informative. The start of the article has a great pace; it sets the tone of the piece by appealing to the everyday audience and then switches the tone to a more enlightening earthy feel. Kristoff does a great job of explaining the charity, why the charity was started, the marketing, and how you can be a part of it. It's an article that will make you want to help Scott Harrison, his eleven employees, and his many volunteer workers. Kristoff writes about an extraordinary cause started by a man who had it all, lost it all, and got in all back again in the name of charity. This is a truly spectacular article.

The King Is Dead, Long Live the King

This opinion editorial was different than most I had read. Firstly, the author seemed to have very little, if any, purpose for writing this editorial. Also, the article truly intrigued me. He described how the legend lived on after the death of superstar Elvis Presley and how he believes Michael Jackson will similarly follow in his footsteps. The author also went on to describe how ironically they are related by marriage; Lisa Marie Presley married Michael Jackson uniting the two legendary men.

I believe the author may have wanted to compare and contrast the two legend's deaths. They are, and will be, very similar characters in history. Although they came from two very different musical and ethnic backgrounds, Michael Jackson and Elvis Presley will be legends in the music and entertainment industry for a very long time. After his death, Elvis's manager was quoted saying, it's not the end. Likewise, Michael Jackson left over 200 tracks left unpublished. Even though Michael was a legend, he still has some very large shoes to fill if he is going to upstage Elvis.

Op Ed 4

When Gail Collins wrote her column Michael, a Foreign Affair, Michael Jackson had just passed away less than two weeks before. Beginning by mocking CNN, Collins catches her readers' attention, and more than likely angers them. Collins' satirical comments about Jackson's death may be true, but are not necessary to say so soon. Whenever someone famous dies, the media is instantly involved, reporting on new controversies and rumors with no remorse. Collins is right when she pokes fun at Jackson's dermatologist and a few that spoke at his funeral, but everyone gets carried away, especially when there's money and attention involved. 

Collins acts far more superior than the all other reporters, writing about how she would do things differently if in charge, and acts as if Jackson's death had absolutely no affect on her. While her point about the Foreign Affairs Committee is completely valid, Collins needs to chill. Her article will do nothing to slow the Jackson mania that has overtaken the media, and, if anything, generate more publicity for those seeking it by becoming involved in Jackson's memorial. Jackson was incredibly famous, but his death, like all others, will soon cease to be a money making news story, and Collins needs to sit back and wait for that day.

No Recovery in Sight

We are all aware of the ills of our current economic environment. There is no doubt right now that America is in a recession. Even in this bad situation, politicians tell us that the recession is going to end soon. Though these words serve to relieve our stresses, Bob Herbert takes us out of that fantasy and reveals the reality of the situation. Herbert claims that the economy is even worse than what it was forecasted to be; with the unemployment rate skyrocketing. He also claims that even if the economy is to recover, this recession has already left a permanent damage to our society by cutting employment to young Americans. In this article, Herbert argues that politicians are ignoring these daunting statistics and that these facts should be held with more importance.
Other than a few more fact to exploit the flaws of our economic structure, there is really not much I could say in response to Herbert’s argument. I agree with all of his negative remarks about our economy. Herbert uses qualified statistics and historical evidence to support his position. He also accompanies these facts with recent events and findings. I believe Herbert does a great job in affirming his point of view. I would suggest that he puts more statistic and facts to support his arguments. Our nations debt was over trillions back in 2008 before the recession. As our employment rate is decreasing, our wealth gap is increasing; more money is going towards those that are already rich and less is going to those that need it. Our middle class is diminishing meaning that even after the recession the poor does not have a bridge to obtain wealth. All these issues are challenges that are not explicitly addressed by the federal government that I believe could have made Herbert’s argument that much more effective.

Op-ed Article #4

This week’s article is about a boy who grew up without a dad. On a trip to India, he happened to see his father on TV and set up a meeting. After 27 years of life, he finally got to meet his father when they met in a hotel lobby. This was very interesting to read because a son usually benefits from having a father figure in his life. I am pleased to hear that the writer grew up successfully and has a great life but I know it must have been hard for him to do this. I know this when Jason, the columnist, states, “My mother struggled to raise my younger brother and me on her own; in one way or another we always got by without our father” (Burnett 1). It would be very interesting to witness a reunion of a father and son after 27 years of separation. There would be so many questions to be asked between them. It is a wonderful thing that Jason found his father but it would have been better if his father was in his life more often. He should have kept in touch and helped raise Jason instead of leaving it all up to Jason’s mother to handle it. On the other hand, since he had the inclination to run away, he might have been a terrible father and Jason may have actually turned out worse.

Jason uses a descriptive language to show his feelings. His feelings end up being completely different from what he expected. I found it interesting how he thought all the questions he had for his father from his childhood were no longer important because they had been answered for him. Jason realized that he was not searching for a father and did not have many expectations which were also interesting and unexpected. Rather, he wanted to know who this man really was rather than some mythical figure he had made up. He also realized that the closure he thought his father would provide already existed from his mother and brother. This was totally unexpected on my part.

He describes his feelings and thoughts clearly and descriptively for the reader. His writing provides an understanding of the emotions involved in his long quest to find his father and how this meeting relieves him from this burden allowing him to move on in his life. Over all, Jason wrote a very informative column about his dramatic and emotional experience meeting his father after growing up without him in his life.


http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/21/opinion/21jburnett.html

The Dirty War Against Clean Coal

The fight to end the usage of coal has been a long one. Tedious research and inventions have been made in search of clean burning fuel. Recently, the quest to find such resources has become necessary to our environment and health. Obama has been working to make his cap - and - trade proposal work, which would lower greenhouse gas emissions. The Bush administration had started a plan called FutureGen. FutureGen would eliminate greenhouse gases completely. However, this plan has been under construction since 2003 and citizens hopes are growing weary. Financial aid has been cancelled for the plan because it would have cost billions of dollars to carry out.

In the opinion of the author, FutureGen was better being cancelled. His article states his opinion that the government is good at brainstorming for ideas on a small scale but when it comes to big projects, such as FutureGen, they often have trouble. The FutureGen idea, according to the author and many others, is not a well thought out one. The nickname for the project has become "NeverGen" because it has taken so long and the creators are losing inspiration as well as finanicial aid. Also, the author feels because coal is used as half the fuel source of the world, an invention such as FutureGen is impossible because you can't simply rely on wind, solar, and water power when they only make up two percent of our fuel source.

The Dirty War Against Clean Coal

-Nick Jeon

3rd post

The White House is recycling one of their previous ideas: clean coal energy, a technology that has already been developed. The Bush Administration had canceled financing, but this month, the Energy Secretary Steven Chu brought this project back to life – though the cost might go into the billions. According to Mr. Easterbrook, FutureGen was better off canceled – he cites multiple examples of government failure at commercial-scale alternative energy, including The Synthetic Fuels Corporation and the MOD-5B. This technology would turn coal into a gas like natural gas, which would lead to almost zero emissions, require about a third of the coal, and produce the same amount of energy. General Electric for Duke Energy is being created in Indiana, but a lot of states are refusing to allow these plants to be built. Mr. Easterbrook speculates that the reason Virginia rejected the plant was due to the monetary reasons, but he claims that it will pay for itself as Obama’s cap-and-trade would tax carbon. According to the author, renewable energy cannot possibly grow enough for us to replace coal as it is too much of our power supply. So we should start building new and improved coal plants instead of doing nothing and waiting for FutureGen to figure it out.

Mr. Easterbrook makes a good analysis on the direction that we should take in alternative energy. Yet, he makes a mistake when declaring our addiction to coal unbreakable. He explains that solar and other sources of energy cannot replace out need of coal. Yet, there are other forms of alternative energy out there that are also sitting on the shelf. For example, NASA has developed a technology called space-based solar power. By shooting up satellites with huge arrays of solar panels into space, and beaming the energy back down to earth using microwave technology, we could solve the world’s global energy crisis. Some scientists believe that this technology can fuel the entirety of the US. Working to make coal a little cleaner is nice, but we should shoot for the stars.