skid ROW.

personally i was very touched by the video. I didn't know that such a place in L.A existed like that. I always thought of L.A as a rich place with celebrities and a whole bunch of wealth. I was shocked to see all the drug dealers and the amount of homeless people. I really did feel bad for them but then for some i knew it was there fault that they ended up there. As for the kids that have been in skid row since they were born, i knew that it wasn't there fault. As for the others, i cant really pity them, because they have chosen their own fate. The purpose of the video was definitely to provide awareness to everyone that a place like this exist. I believe the targeted audience is people who actually live in L.A and city officials. The reason why i believe its for city officials is because it states all the flaws in their system and how their temporary solution isn't going to work. The video even brings up statistics about New York and how they fixed their problem. They also used many claims throughout their video. Like claim of definition, when they stated what skid row actually is and consisted of. Another claim was that of value. The video clearly exhibits the persons view on how horrible this place actually is. Moreover, he uses claims of policy and how this problem could be fixed. All these claims help support his argument that skid row needs more help and attention. He also uses pathos to reach the audiences emotions. He displays stories of kids and shows how many of them don't have anywhere to lives, clothes, or any food. As humans we definitely feel more for the kids. He also uses sentimental music which adds to the mood of sorrow. He uses logos to state how many homeless people actually live in L.A and facts about skid row. This definitely lets the audience know that he knows what he is talking about. He also uses ethos to clearly organize his argument into separate parts to show different aspects of his argument. He seems fair and doesn't really take stabs at the police or government. He seems neutral but passionate. I believe the video is extremely effective and if i were the government, then i would definitely look into what he is stating. This video has many strengths like all the evidence he clearly states and all the great interviews he shot. The only weakness to me was the length. I did feel it was a tad too long and that the audience would inevitably say "FINE WE GET IT, WE KNOW ITS BAD, GOSH". so it was a bit repetitive. Other than that i thought it was a great and amazing video :)

GAY MARRIAGE?

In this recent election i voted no for amendment two. When my parents found out they were completely shocked and started asking me if I was a lesbian. Obviously I'm not, I just don't think that the government should tell people what they can't do with their personal lives. I mean who am I to tell someone that just because they are of the same sex they shouldnt get married? If you love someone then go for it. But either way i really dont personal care if people of the same sex could get married or not, it doesnt really affect my life one way or the other. However the premise of you not being allowed to adopt unless your married is truly unfair. There are women out that can't get pregnant and can't find that special somebody, and now they cant even adopt? Thats complete BS. Some single parent house holds actually run better than two parent households. What if a child grows up and sees his parents fighting and bickering all the time when he could have one parent and everything be peaceful? Or what if the parents get divorced, what effect does that have on a child? I am catholic and I do believe that only a man and woman should be legalized in a church. However, if gay couples want to get married in a court room, or anywhere else than that it fine with me. The bible does say that marriage in a church has to be a man and a woman so with that I agree. If you want to get married thats fine, just dont do it in a church if your gay. I believe that the government does contradict itself when it says that everyone is equal, when its apparent that everyone isnt equal. The homosexuals actually make a good point with the whole taxes thing. Although it will never happen its a good point to bring up.
I do agree that gays shouldnt be adopting children, but only because i dont want a poor child to end up being confused or ridiculed as they grow up. To sum it up, i really dont care if amendment two bans or allows same sex marriage but i do care if its not allowed for other types of relationships to be recognized. Like a man and woman who have been dating for 3 years, arent married but if one gets sick, you can't visit them in the hospital. Thats were i think the system is messed up.

NCLB

I thought at first the video did look kind of weird because she is a teacher. She looks like a young teacher so i dont know if she has enough experience to actually give a credible argument. However, i do agree with some of the claims she makes because she does it in a way without pointing fingers. I think on paper the NCLB might seem like an awesome amazing idea when in actuality it can't actually fully work. The act has way too many complications and its not really fair in certain schools. I do agree that teachers should be the one to dictate how this plan is to actually be executed. Some schools don't have all the right teaching aids to helps these students actually succeed. I know that when I went to high school so many kids didnt graduate because they hadnt passed their FCAT. Some of them even had good G.P.A's but that didnt matter. So much for "no child left behind". I also believed that taking time out of important curriculum to learn instead of the FCAT was completely stupid. I would hear my teachers say that thanks to the FCAT our normal lesson plans have been cut. I grew up with FCAT being drilled into me. In my high school there was an extreme low rate of people who did pass their FCAT. And thanks to those students my school became a "ZONE SCHOOL". A zone school is when your school is put into this 3 year system where you have to take 8 classes and extend school an hour longer, just to practice the FCAT. So basically when i was a freshman, midway through the year they changed everything and i had school at 7:30 until 3:30. I literally wanted to kill myself. I thought it wasn't fair that i had passed my FCAT and thanks to other people i had to take two extra FCAT classes that I didnt need. Since i was a zone school we also werent allowed to get an early release days and we were limited to the amout of pep rallies we can actually have. Basically my high school experience was put to crap. And in the end of the program it was still the same amount of people failing and passing. Just proof that the programs, and these systems never really work. Its up to the teachers, students, and the parents to ensure that their children/students don't get left behind. Thats why i agree with her that its not really very proficient to test kids and then base them on people in their group and how those people have improved or not improved, but you yourself could actually be improving. She really is speaking the truth because its not fair for us to get punished because some students can't take a test as well as others so why should the whole school get punished for that? It shouldn't. She actually makes a very valid and clear argument, even though she seems to be a young teacher.