Tow #23: Article: "Legalizing Medical Marijuana May Actually Reduce Crime" by Matt Ferner

Goals: When reading I would like to take better notes and spend more time with the text to fully understand it. When writing the TOW, I would like to avoid repetition in my analysis.

The debate over whether marijuana, medical or recreational, should be legalized has been an issue in the United States for decades. Matt Ferner, an author of many political opinion articles for the Huffington Post, added to this age-old debate by arguing that the legalization of medical marijuana does not create more crime but actually could reduce crime. In order to support this claim, Ferner uses facts from colleges who conducted an extensive amount of research on the topic, as well as statistics provided by the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. In order to show that marijuana does not increase crime, Ferner uses data from Robert Morris, a professor of criminology at the University of Texas and conductor of the study of the effect of medical marijuana on crime rates from 1990 to 2006. Morris told the Huffington Post the he "found no evidence of increases in [...] crimes for states after legalizing marijuana for medical use" and in fact found that for crimes such as homicide and assault, there was "partial support for declines" in crime rates. Ferner uses Morris to appeal to ethos because he demonstrates that the source he used is credible. In addition to an appeal to ethos, Ferner's inclusion of Morris's facts show the audience that medical marijuana could be a benefit to society because there is no evidence to support that it increases crime rates. Along with data from the University of Texas, Ferner uses statistics from the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism to prove that medical marijuana does not increase crime. This source is used mainly to show that marijuana is not the main cause of violent acts of crimes, but alcohol is. According to a study conducted by the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, "25 percent to 30 percent of violent crimes are linked to alcohol use." This is where Ferner's argument becomes ineffective. Rather than proving that medical marijuana reduces crime rates, he shows that alcohol increases crime rates. This a tangent that weakens his argument because while alcohol increases crime, medical marijuana may also increase crime. Although he does appeal to ethos, Ferner does not fully achieve his purpose due to the tangent of talking about alcohol rather than sticking to his original idea to proving that medical marijuana decreases crime.

Tow #22: Article: "America's Creepy, Surveillance-Endorsing Love of NCIS" by Gregg Easterbrook

It has been about 12 and a half years since 9/11 and the tragic event still influences some of our most popular television programs. Gregg Easterbrook, contributing editor of The Atlantic, examines the effect of 9/11 on crime shows like NCIS in his latest article "America's Creepy, Surveillance-Endorsing Love of NCIS." In this article, Easterbrook uses comparisons of NCIS to the real world through the use of statistics and specific examples from the show to prove that NCIS is NSA propaganda that is America's most watched drama due to a post 9/11 audience watching it. The National Security Agency, or NSA, is an intelligence agency of the United States government that protects the security of American citizens. This security includes protection from terrorist threats, which is a prominent subject in most of the episodes of NCIS. Easterbrook uses statistics to prove that unlike NCIS, these crimes do not occur as often in real life and the bad guys do not get caught every time. For example, Easterbrook stated that in 2012 only 1 in 800 officers actually fired at a suspect. In NCIS and other shows like it, firearms are used on a regular basis. This shows Americans an unrealistic depiction of government heroes that must defend our country daily. A post 9/11 audience enjoys this type of show because the government agents or so-called "good guys" are constantly shooting at and defeating the bad guys, which in NCIS are usually terrorists. Easterbrook shows that this is also NSA propaganda because it makes the NSA look almost perfect because they always defeat the bad guys. Easterbrook also uses specific examples from NCIS to prove that 9/11 influences the show. Easterbrook stated that in one episode of NCIS: Los Angeles, terrorists with generic foreign accents had taken three atomic bombs left over from the Cold War and threatened to "kill everyone west of the Mississippi River in 48 hours." It was ultimately up to the government to save America, so it was depicting the NSA as America's ultimate superhero. Easterbrook argues that the reason why this show is so popular is because post 9/11 audiences enjoy seeing our government beat the terrorists even if it is fictitious. With the use of statistics and examples, Easterbrook proved that the connection between popular drama shows and 9/11 audiences is very possible.

Tow #21: Visual Text: The Beautiful Letdown Album Cover

In 2003, The Beautiful Letdown became the fourth studio album released by Switchfoot. This album marks the transformation from a locally famous San Diego band to a nationwide mainstream rock band. After the release of the hit singles "Meant to Live" and "Dare You to Move" Switchfoot became much more famous and needed an album cover to back it up in order for more people to buy their album and become fans. The Beautiful Letdown album cover is able to summarize the album's sound while maintaining a visually attractive appeal through a contrast of color and a simple design. The Beautiful Letdown, the song, is about the fact that generally no matter how many good things happen to a person, they are still letdown by life. However, it is beautiful because those letdowns are often bittersweet as they teach us lessons and make us better people. The contrast of color portrays that song and the entire album. This is because every song on the album is either about the good or bad in life, or both. The bottom half of the album is an ugly yellow-brown color filled with dirt, but as you move your eyes upward, the color becomes a beautiful clear sky. This has religious symbolism that shows that down on earth everything lets people down, but as you get closer and closer to the end of your life you get closer to heaven in the sky, which is symbolized through the clear blue color at the top. This summarizes the album because life is a letdown sometimes. This is also visually appealing because the change of color pops out on a shelf, so a consumer would likely stop to look at it rather than walk past it. In addition to the color, the simplicity of the album cover summarizes the album and is visually appealing. The only subject on the cover is a old electric guitar at the bottom of an empty pool. It symbolizes the letdown of life, but also the simplicity of their music. Switchfoot did not try to become mainstream, they just wrote whatever songs came to them. The simplicity of the album cover reflects their idea of simple yet great music. The simplicity is also visually attractive because it is a contrast to album covers that are crazy and complex, so the uniqueness of this album being simple would make someone stop to pick up the CD. The Beautiful Letdown's album cover was an effective one that marked the transition from local to national where the simple color and design truly summarized the sound of the album. 

Tow #20: Essay: "Big Score: When Mom Takes the SATs" by Elizabeth Kolbert

Goals:
 -read a much lengthier text than I have in the past
-take more notes as I read the text to find more rhetorical devices and then find the common ones
-focus more on purpose of the text rather than getting hung up on the devices
-connect to thesis throughout TOW
-spend more time writing the TOW and make it more like a mini essay
-use good examples to explain how author achieves purpose
-have a better introduction/conclusion

The SATs are supposed to be a test that measures a student's ability to answer math, writing and critical reading questions to determine if they are fit to attend college. However, Elizabeth Kolbert, a Yale university graduate, author of six books, and mother of three, claims that the SAT does not properly assess whether a student is right for college or not. In her most recent essay, "Big Score" which was published in The New Yorker, Kolbert asks thought provoking rhetorical questions and uses multiple experiences of people who have taken the test to show that the SAT is not an accurate way to measure a student's intellect. The rhetorical questions that Kolbert uses in her essay are designed to make the reader think about something that should have an obvious answer but instead makes the reader think about many possible answers. For example, in the beginning of Kolbert's essay, "Big Score", there is a caption under a picture that says "the SATs may determine a student's future, but what do they really measure?" Initially, the reader may think the test simply measures math, critical reading, and writing. Then, the reader should realize that the answer to the question is not that simple if the author is asking it. It allows the audience to be more accepting of Kolbert's answer to her question. Later when Kolbert proves that the SATs are not an accurate way to measure a student's intellect, the audience is more open to agree with the author because the question she asked allowed the reader to question their own thoughts. Along with asking rhetorical questions, Kolbert proves that the SAT is does not measure intellect by using her own experience of taking the SAT as a fifty year-old mother and other people's experiences. According to Kolbert, the SAT only measures the skills needed to pass the test and not much more. In order to prove that, she often references Debbie Stier's experience as a forty-six year-old woman studying for and taking the SAT seven times in order to achieve a perfect score. She did not get close to a perfect score in anything except for the writing section. Kolbert uses her story to show that if an accomplished author that feverishly studies for a test seven times cannot get a perfect score, there is a flaw in the test due to its inaccuracy of evaluating people. Kolbert's setup with her use of rhetorical questions and then her evidence with the use of experiences from people who took the actual test ultimately help her achieve her purpose of showing people that the SAT does not work, which will hopefully change the way future American students begin college.