Causal Paper Pt.1

On my first paper in this class I choose to write about boxing. Historically boxing has produced many skilled and decorated athletes. Boxing was known to be a kid’s way out of a bad neighborhood or a recreational sport to relieve stress. Now boxing has lost its depth. My research question is what is the cause for the loss in depth and talent in professional boxing.
This topic interests me because I am a former fighter myself. When I was young I practiced judo and achieved an orange belt. At the dojo that I trained at there was a boxing ring and I was aspired to box. Ultimately my mother would not allow me to box because she was afraid of me messing up my face. But since then I have been interested in boxing. I created numerous fighters on virtual online boxing websites, and I have fallen in love with the boxing franchise Fight Night, formerly known as Knockout Kings. I have dreams of one day getting involved in boxing but it remains a dream for now.
My plans for this paper is to argue that all these new opportunities for kids to play other sports takes athletes away from boxing.

Glee-Pilot episode (Response)

The pilot episode of the FOX TV show Glee is about a teacher trying to revive the Glee club at his school. The Glee club is a musical theatre club. The teacher goes about trying to get more students involved in the Glee club. This show simply revives old stereotypes casted in several previous TV sitcoms and movies. Starting with the staff, they show the stereotype that only few teachers really care about the students which are also shown in movies like Coach Carter. Another stereotype is the butch female gym teacher. In movies like Scream 2 the female gym teacher is usually on some type of testosterone trip. In movies like Mean Girls, Bring It On, Not Another Teen Movie, and others, the cheerleaders are known to click up together and act as a mean force, belittling all others around them. There is also always that one girl who rivals the cheerleaders because she has the potential to be as good as them but she just doesn't want to be mean like them. In too many shows for me to count there is always the star quarterback who is in the middle of this love triangle with the head cheerleader and the girl with potential. One of the biggest stereotypes for me is the fact that there is always one black character in these types of shows and he or she is always ghetto. Back in the days of Saved By The Bell there was the one black girl, in Not Another Teen Movie there was only one black guy in the movie an he joked about being the only black guy in the movie. My main point is that there is nothing new in this sitcom. The show even takes the same stlye of Arrested Development and The Office as far as the camera goes. The musical portion is different but it will get old. As we know the more High School Musicals they made, the less popular the series got so I believe this show will do the same.

Labor Day and the American Dream College isn't for everyone. (response)

Believer
I think this article is very accurate on defining good jobs in America today. The writer is correct in saying the working middle-class jobs are over looked. Statistics and personal experience lead me to believe that he is correct. The numbers do not lie in saying that you can go to college for four year and get a job over the national average of $42,000 a year. But the numbers also don’t lie in saying that out of high school you can make $44,000 being a truck driver as payscale.com says. Using simple calculations a worker a McDonalds making minimum wage at 7.25 an hour working 40 hours a week would make over $15,000 a year. Not saying that one can live a lavish life working at McDonalds but it is just a small look at how the numbers work. In Fayetteville, NC, the city I grew up in, there was a Goodyear tire plant down street school that would start its workers pay rate at $18.50 an hour. And if you ask me $38,000 isn’t too bad for a high school graduate.


Doubter
The writer of this article has a valid argument for the pay of jobs out of high school but that main factor that causes this loss of middle-class working jobs is the job satisfaction. Three main differences between you GED jobs and professional degree jobs are working hours, work conditions, and pride. Payscale.com states that truck drivers with a GED can make up to $44,000 a year, $2,000 over the national average. But what the numbers do not state is that most of those truck drivers drive through the night, early in the morning, or even all day. You may not have had to stay up all night studying Bio-chem test or history 1334 final, but you will have to cram those hours for the rest of your working life. Next the work conditions are really different. Would you rather work in an office or in a truck all day sleeping at random truck stops around the nation? Would you rather have adjustable temperature or work in a hot steel mill in the humid Texas summer? Enough said. Lastly many men and women have too much pride to work these blue collar jobs. I joke around sometimes saying, “Well if college doesn’t work out for you, we always need bus drivers” but no one want to be that bus driver.

Orientation

An argument is simply a conversation in which reasoning is used to persuade ones view to be the same as another’s or to come to a consensuses about an issue. I believe the short story Orientation is one big “argument” about what the new guy should or should not do in order to be successful in the office. In this short story the man giving the orientation says, “you may be let go” several times, warning the new guy of repercussions for certain actions. An issue in the story is everyone knows everyone else’s business. You learn everyone’s story in the office through one office workers eyes and by saying statements like “we let it pass” and “we’re not supposed to know any of this” gives the reader clues that the other office workers know too.