Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Wednesday, June 30, 2010, EOF CLASS 1: Assignments
MODULE: finish questionaire, with your partner, prep short introduction presentation for tomorrow (you do not HAVE to do this during module if you would rather use the computer while you have it).
READ: Outcasts United Introduction
WRITE: Reading questions for Outcasts United, by Warren St. John. Answers should be in complete sentences and typed.
Prereading: what kind of praise did Outcasts United receive? What are the aspects of the book that appeal to different reviewers? Be specific.
Introduction:
1. Compare the reactions to the jets flying overhead that the Fugee players had to the reactions of the suburban kids (p 2).
2. What does the author mean when he says that Christian’s suffering was “rawer than most”? (p 2)
3. Why are there no fans on the Fugee side of the field? (p 3)
4. Compare the style of the opposition coach to Luma’s. (p 3-4)
5. What does Luna want the other coach to do by the end of the second half? (p 5)
6. What did the referee say to the Fugee team at the end of the game? (p 5-6)
7. The author says that what he witnesses with Zubaid and the other Fugees made him want to tell this story. Explain. (p 7-8)
8. What’s Clarkston, Georgia, like? (p 8-9)
9. Why is it hard for the author to know where to begin the story of the Fugees? (10-11)
READ: Outcasts United Introduction
WRITE: Reading questions for Outcasts United, by Warren St. John. Answers should be in complete sentences and typed.
Prereading: what kind of praise did Outcasts United receive? What are the aspects of the book that appeal to different reviewers? Be specific.
Introduction:
1. Compare the reactions to the jets flying overhead that the Fugee players had to the reactions of the suburban kids (p 2).
2. What does the author mean when he says that Christian’s suffering was “rawer than most”? (p 2)
3. Why are there no fans on the Fugee side of the field? (p 3)
4. Compare the style of the opposition coach to Luma’s. (p 3-4)
5. What does Luna want the other coach to do by the end of the second half? (p 5)
6. What did the referee say to the Fugee team at the end of the game? (p 5-6)
7. The author says that what he witnesses with Zubaid and the other Fugees made him want to tell this story. Explain. (p 7-8)
8. What’s Clarkston, Georgia, like? (p 8-9)
9. Why is it hard for the author to know where to begin the story of the Fugees? (10-11)
Saturday, June 5, 2010
My Response to the Column Provided Below
Dear Editor,
I am a Cape May County resident, Atlantic County educator and avid reader of your family of newspapers.
Rarely have I been as appalled by a piece of commentary as I was upon reading Seth Grossman's April 14, 2010 column entitled "There is no Good Reason not to Drill off the Coast."
Mr. Grossman said, "Will oil leaks and spills hurt tourism? No. We know from years of experience in California and the Gulf of Mexico that leaks and spills from oil wells are extremely rare and quickly contained...Even if the worst-case scenario does happen, it will pass. As a kid in the 1950s, I often stepped on tar from oil spills on the Atlantic City beach. My parents used turpentine or gasoline to wash it off my feet...The simple truth is that there are many good reasons to look for and drill for oil off the New Jersey coast, and no good reasons not to."
Mine is obviously not the first rebuttal to Mr. Grossman's egregious remarks. Fate provided a swift and pointed retort, a mere 12 days after the column appeared on your pages. This response, to the tune of 39 million gallons of crude oil, covering over 130 miles in length and 70 miles in width (and growing) leaves little to the imagination. As thousands of gallons a day careen into the Gulf, Grossman's point that spills are "extremely rare and quickly contained" has been pretty handily addressed. Yet, I am left to wondering one important thing.
Mr. Grossman, does this tragic, irreversible and seemingly unnecessary ecological disaster qualify as a "good reason why not to drill for oil" off our shores.
I think it's "good enough" for the 12,000 Louisiana residents who have already been forced out of business by the spill. It's probably "good enough" for the Audubon Society who released a report yesterday citing that over 40 different species of animals will be unalterably threatened by this spill, including the two types of pelicans that have already re-entered the endangered species list. I think it's a good enough reason for the oil drenched, dying wildlife like whales, tuna and shrimp; gray foxes and white-tailed deer; not to mention amphibians such as alligators and turtles.
Maybe BP CEO Tony Howard is like you, Mr. Grossman. Maybe he's still waiting for a "good reason" to pay up for his company's accident. You see, this weekend, as reported by CNN, over 25,000 Louisiana small business owners and employees took to the streets to rally for retribution promised them by BP. To date, they’ve only received a small portion. Tell these citizens, Mr. Grossman, to go easy on Tony. Remind them that he is one of the struggling private sector professionals you often speak of. To quote you, "right now, only people who are directly or indirectly paid with taxpayer money have jobs with good pay and benefits."
So true. According to Business Week, in 2009, Tony Howard only made a meager $1.6 million in base salary, with another $3.2 million in bonuses, not to mention the $4.7 million he received in stock options. Who could possibly support a family on nine or so million a year, let alone help a ruined community? What about the company itself, how could it possibly help? It must be in financial ruin after such a monumental misjudgment, right?
Not quite. BP posted a 134% profit increase during the financial quarter which posted after the spill. According to Green News, an environmentalism e-zine, 29 new oil drilling sites have been established since the spill began. Two of them were awarded to BP. The company made 5.5 billion dollars, as opposed to the 2.3 billion it made this quarter last year. Looks like those Louisiana fishermen and their families are plain out of luck. The money's just not there. Maybe they can consider cutting local school sports and arts programs for some quick-fix cash, just we do here in Jersey.
Don’t be sad, Mr. Grossman. If the Department of Environmental Protection's forecasts are correct, you will relive some of your fondest childhood memories. Tar balls will make a triumphant return to the Atlantic City beaches by early August. Fear not, shore community vendors, whose livlihood ebbs and flows with the tide of tourism...fear not, the millions of fish and fowl who call our coastlines their home...fear not, taxpayers whose municipalities stand to lose millions of dollars in projected revenue during an already strapped fiscal year...Mr. Grossman's will be there for you when the beaches close...with plenty of turpentine.
Maybe, as you scrub your toes clean of the tar balls, Mr. Grossman, you should also clean your conscience. Come back to the pages of South Jersey newspapers and apologize. Apologize to the public for your short-sightedness and narrow-mindedness. Apologize to those, like me, whom you called "ignorant," "brainwashed" and "weak" simply because we believe that there can be a better way to support the demands of progress without subjecting our animals and neighbors to such cataclysmic environment hazards. Download some pictures. See the anguish in the eyes of a crude encrusted pelican who, robbed of flight and sight, wallows in the muck that destroyed his home. Look into the eyes of an aging shrimp boat captain who can no longer put food on his family's table. Look at these and the thousands of other pictures like them and admit to the South Jersey public that you found not one but thousands of "good reasons NOT to drill for oil" off our coastlines.
Joe Costal
Palermo
06-05-10
I am a Cape May County resident, Atlantic County educator and avid reader of your family of newspapers.
Rarely have I been as appalled by a piece of commentary as I was upon reading Seth Grossman's April 14, 2010 column entitled "There is no Good Reason not to Drill off the Coast."
Mr. Grossman said, "Will oil leaks and spills hurt tourism? No. We know from years of experience in California and the Gulf of Mexico that leaks and spills from oil wells are extremely rare and quickly contained...Even if the worst-case scenario does happen, it will pass. As a kid in the 1950s, I often stepped on tar from oil spills on the Atlantic City beach. My parents used turpentine or gasoline to wash it off my feet...The simple truth is that there are many good reasons to look for and drill for oil off the New Jersey coast, and no good reasons not to."
Mine is obviously not the first rebuttal to Mr. Grossman's egregious remarks. Fate provided a swift and pointed retort, a mere 12 days after the column appeared on your pages. This response, to the tune of 39 million gallons of crude oil, covering over 130 miles in length and 70 miles in width (and growing) leaves little to the imagination. As thousands of gallons a day careen into the Gulf, Grossman's point that spills are "extremely rare and quickly contained" has been pretty handily addressed. Yet, I am left to wondering one important thing.
Mr. Grossman, does this tragic, irreversible and seemingly unnecessary ecological disaster qualify as a "good reason why not to drill for oil" off our shores.
I think it's "good enough" for the 12,000 Louisiana residents who have already been forced out of business by the spill. It's probably "good enough" for the Audubon Society who released a report yesterday citing that over 40 different species of animals will be unalterably threatened by this spill, including the two types of pelicans that have already re-entered the endangered species list. I think it's a good enough reason for the oil drenched, dying wildlife like whales, tuna and shrimp; gray foxes and white-tailed deer; not to mention amphibians such as alligators and turtles.
Maybe BP CEO Tony Howard is like you, Mr. Grossman. Maybe he's still waiting for a "good reason" to pay up for his company's accident. You see, this weekend, as reported by CNN, over 25,000 Louisiana small business owners and employees took to the streets to rally for retribution promised them by BP. To date, they’ve only received a small portion. Tell these citizens, Mr. Grossman, to go easy on Tony. Remind them that he is one of the struggling private sector professionals you often speak of. To quote you, "right now, only people who are directly or indirectly paid with taxpayer money have jobs with good pay and benefits."
So true. According to Business Week, in 2009, Tony Howard only made a meager $1.6 million in base salary, with another $3.2 million in bonuses, not to mention the $4.7 million he received in stock options. Who could possibly support a family on nine or so million a year, let alone help a ruined community? What about the company itself, how could it possibly help? It must be in financial ruin after such a monumental misjudgment, right?
Not quite. BP posted a 134% profit increase during the financial quarter which posted after the spill. According to Green News, an environmentalism e-zine, 29 new oil drilling sites have been established since the spill began. Two of them were awarded to BP. The company made 5.5 billion dollars, as opposed to the 2.3 billion it made this quarter last year. Looks like those Louisiana fishermen and their families are plain out of luck. The money's just not there. Maybe they can consider cutting local school sports and arts programs for some quick-fix cash, just we do here in Jersey.
Don’t be sad, Mr. Grossman. If the Department of Environmental Protection's forecasts are correct, you will relive some of your fondest childhood memories. Tar balls will make a triumphant return to the Atlantic City beaches by early August. Fear not, shore community vendors, whose livlihood ebbs and flows with the tide of tourism...fear not, the millions of fish and fowl who call our coastlines their home...fear not, taxpayers whose municipalities stand to lose millions of dollars in projected revenue during an already strapped fiscal year...Mr. Grossman's will be there for you when the beaches close...with plenty of turpentine.
Maybe, as you scrub your toes clean of the tar balls, Mr. Grossman, you should also clean your conscience. Come back to the pages of South Jersey newspapers and apologize. Apologize to the public for your short-sightedness and narrow-mindedness. Apologize to those, like me, whom you called "ignorant," "brainwashed" and "weak" simply because we believe that there can be a better way to support the demands of progress without subjecting our animals and neighbors to such cataclysmic environment hazards. Download some pictures. See the anguish in the eyes of a crude encrusted pelican who, robbed of flight and sight, wallows in the muck that destroyed his home. Look into the eyes of an aging shrimp boat captain who can no longer put food on his family's table. Look at these and the thousands of other pictures like them and admit to the South Jersey public that you found not one but thousands of "good reasons NOT to drill for oil" off our coastlines.
Joe Costal
Palermo
06-05-10
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