As I explained at the beginning of the semester, both at the middle of the semester and at the semester’s end, you will be asked to reflect on your own effort and participation in our course. Please set aside some time to respond thoughtfully to your Mid-Semester Reflection. Your reflection can be completed anytime between Wednesday, October 18th and Sunday, October 22nd.
Category: Uncategorized
The most important warning:
This TikTok specifically kept coming up on my for you page. Every time I would watch this tiktok, it would get harder to watch. In the video, A young man and woman are in a car together. They are on their first date together. The young man was reported to be driving extremely fast which is why he was pulled over. Obviously, the woman had no control over it, but she could’ve made the decision to cut the date short and head home. There is a lot of decisions that could’ve been made to prevent this horrible accident. that took the lives of 2 people. The officer stopped them and told the driver about the speed he was driving and how he needed to slow down. Even a bystander could be heard in the video complaining about the speed the driver was going. The officer doesn’t give the driver a ticket, instead he gives a warning. The driver drives away and later the same police officer reports to a car wreck, which in the video is later to be seen as fatal. Both passengers died because the driver didn’t listen to the cops warning. The officer is in complete shock because he had just pulled them over. This video is proof to take the warnings. If you have a bad feeling about something, then you should avoid it. Even if it’s warnings from other people, take the advice, listen because half of the time they’re right. Life is short but don’t try to make it shorter. This reminded me of boyfriend, he drives a known car that is fast. He used to race, and it made me think of anything happening to him. If any of your loved ones love to drive fast, please tell them something. Show them this video before so before they think about racing or driving incredibly fast, they might think before they do.
Christian Champagne Blog presentation #1
There have been a wave of immigrants splurging across New York City. Many people come from Venezuela, Haiti, Mexico and many others in efforts of looking for a better life, safety, education, and healthcare. However, new immigrants are making it complicated.
They were many immigrants lined up in enrollment centers, hotels, and terminals with an estimate of 300 people, doubling the homeless population. We have seen many homeless sleeping on sidewalks and NYC transit and over 100,000 people now live in shelters. Eric Adams has asked and advocated for funds and work authorization for migrants to get on their feet, but no action has been done at the moment. Because of the lack of resources, Mayor Eric Adams has called a humanitarian crisis. There has been a call for pushback to give shelter to homeless people because the only thing that’s happening is an endless increase in population.
The city is doing as much as they can to support the homeless and new migrants. Lots of people were provided food and water so they can be some sort of sufficient. Also, many are being removed from places of shelter. In queens, many have been kicked out of the flushing meadows hotel without short notice. This has caused a lot of people to feel anxious and insecure about finding a place to live. It creates a lot of tension and brings violence, concerns of mental health and anger as a result, making it very unsafe for others. Joe Biden wants to give medical services and housing to new migrants. The federal government is working on defeating inflation and creating affordable and permanent housing programs. As this problem is still occurring in the US, The city is still in search for solutions to fight home insecurity and create an environment that’s stable, safe and reasonable for everyone.
Blog Entry Post- The Rise Of Corteiz
Corteiz has been then the fastest growing brand in the UK since 2017, through their heavy community based marketing. Clint 419, the founder and owner of Corteiz is a literal marketing genius, he stands by the importance of building community over typical influencer marketing. Since 2017 he’s built the biggest brand in the UK, has been co signed by some of the biggest names in fashion and the world, and has a signature shoe with Nike. https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1vbKKCYYEnj7i5_kdIAqriBCBdZFKiNmsmhSx5WJiA9s/edit#slide=id.p
Blog Entry Post: How to Catch a Cheater IRL Edition
I wanted to take this opportunity to share an issue that might have otherwise gone unnoticed which has been on my mind and the idea of it happening is beyond crazy. All of our lives we have heard of cheating scandals and infidelity as an extremely common concept amongst celebrities, family, friends, media, peers etc. But how about an authoritative figure who is supposed to be serving in the department of law enforcement and protecting civilians throwing this duty aside and engaging in this very abysmal act that can be and is in some cases rightfully argued to be a crime. A Police Officer located in Maryland that is actively on duty chooses to do exactly just that. The married cop named Franceso Marlett who is 34 years old was making out with his mistress Virginia Pinto in broad daylight outside a children’s park in the parking lot during peak playtime with children roaming around the area. To make matters worse they were also in the vicinity of a highschool. As if this wasn’t bad enough already that a married cop who is currently on the job is seen behaving so unprofessionally near a setting with children around, the officer then chooses to get in the back of the squad patrol vehicle and engage in sexual intercourse. This can and does lead to an average person facing sexual offense charges and being registered as sex offenders in order to keep the community safe; but even though there is body cam footage and plenty of secondary evidence from the footage supplied by bystanders and witnesses at the scene of the crime the officer was just given a slap on the wrist by by being suspended but still getting paid. The officer’s mistress Virginia Pinto is also a member of service as a former veteran which speaks volumes of how some people completely disrespect the enormous obligations that a serious post in these career fields require. The cop’s wife Paula and mistress Pinto have been beefing on social media sharing the most insane blows to each other. The former veteran now mistress Pinto takes pride in proudly claiming that she and Marlett have been doing this for years and they are truly in love with each other going as far as to say that they have not been hooking up but rather they are in a relationship. In the past, Marlett has been awarded with a bronze medal of honor for his heroic actions but more significant than this is the fact that he has been suspended several times with serious cases against him which he was not correctly punished for. The Police Department themselves have come out with their own outrageous statements. All in all, this case begs the question of how privileged some races can be avoiding any accountability and awakens everybody to the degree of character within the people who are supposed to behave to the extent of the best role models and utmost citizens of the community.
Homework for Monday, October 16th
- Building on our work together on Wednesday, please choose one moment from “Fiesta, 1980” that illustrates something important about one of the characters or about a relationship between two characters and describe that moment in a comment on this post. Your comment should include a description of what happens in the example you’ve selected and an explanation of what you think it reveals about the character or characters involved. Please post your comment by 12pm on Monday.
- On Wednesday, we will begin discussing “Drinking Coffee Elsewhere” by Z.Z. Packer. You can find the story under the “Texts” tab above.
MTA Fare Evasions | Blog Post
I take 3 trains to get to Baruch, and without a fail I have to at least see one person avoid paying the fare. Whether it’d be hopping the turnstile, ducking underneath, going through the emergency exit door, you name it. Some people, like I forget that the MTA has implemented AI recognition in some of the train stations. During July 2023, the MTA has implemented AI softwares into 7 subway stations and plans to add more at the end of the year. The increased price of the fare has only led to more people want to avoid paying it. From $2.75 increased to $2.90, it leads fellow New Yorkers like me to believe the fare is basically $3 if you round it up (which eventually adds up)
This AI facial recognition has yet to be confirmed if the MTA will start using it to flag people, which in my opinion seems like they will start implementing it once technology starts advancing. For now, the AI software is being used to count how many people avoid paying the fare and their methods on how they’re doing it. This raises a question to concerns, will the people of New York ever be able to navigate privately, there has been in increase of surveillance almost everywhere. Will this new technology strip us from living a so called “private” life.
The MTA has lost $690million to fare evasions in 2022, and they plan on implementing more technology and police onto train stations. People are still facing unsafe train stations, delays, dirty stations, and more. So what are we really paying that $2.90 for?
https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/nyc-subway-using-ai-track-fare-evasion-rcna93045: MTA Fare Evasions | Blog Posthttps://www.tiktok.com/@luxuryloso/video/7262454655370726698
A Tik Tok about the rise of the MTA fare
Homework for Wed., Oct. 11th
- Please read the short story “Fiesta, 1980” by Junot Diaz. You can find it under the “Texts” tab at the top of the blog. Please make sure that you have the story with you in class on Wednesday.
If you were NOT in class on Tuesday, October 10th, you also need to do the following:
- Write a “Dear Reader” letter, reflecting on your experience with the Literacy Narrative. You can find the instructions HERE. Please place your finished letter in the folder that contains your Literacy Narrative. I will read your letter before reading your essay (and will wait to receive your letter before grading the essay.)
- Read “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid (available under “Texts” tab above) and respond in writing to these QUESTIONS about the text. Please submit your responses via email no later than Friday, October 13th.
Blog Post: Maui Fires
On August 8th 2023, A wildfire broke out in many places in Maui. Lahaina being the one with the biggest destruction. Authorities announced there were a total of 97 confirmed deaths in the Maui fires. Which is one of the 5th most deaths by wildfire in America. The cause of the fire is not officially known but there are a couple of theories as to how it could have started. Some sources say some power lines fell in high winds while others say it was caused because of droughts on the island. Regardless of where it started, it quickly spread because of high winds caused by Hurricane Dora which was going on in the pacific ocean several hundred miles south during that time. Several fires hit Maui hard, leaving over 2,200 buildings damaged in Lahaina alone.
Many locals were frustrated at the lack of preparedness of the government. Siren systems were not used during this time, this left many residents unprepared and left many not knowing the gravity of the situation. Emergency texts were sent out however which advised many to evacuate in their cars. However, many locals reported that police cars blocked main roads out of Lahaina. Many sat waiting to be directed safely out , which led to more chaos. Many people had no choice but to evacuate into the water waiting to be rescued. Many waiting hours upon hours on rocks near shore for assistance. Water lines were cut off as well making the fire even worse. The entire fact that Hawaii wasn’t prepared left a lot of people speculating and many conspiracies emerged which are still around today. One being that this was a land grab for investors and they were trying to take advantage of the situation and many other conspiracies. This was a tragedy and the whole situation was definitely weird, if interested there are many resources where you can help or donate.
Links:
https://www.cnn.com/interactive/2023/08/hawaii-wildfires-timeline-maui-lahaina-dg/index.html
https://www.cnn.com/2023/08/12/us/hawaii-emergency-warning-system-maui-wildfires/index.html
Reminders:
- Your Literacy Narratives are due on Friday, October 6th by midnight. If I haven’t received your essay by Saturday morning, there should be an email in my inbox explaining the delay.
- In order to submit your essay, create a Google Docs folder with the title “Your Name English 2100” and share it with me at [email protected], then place your finished essay in the folder.
- Your essay should have a title that piques the reader’s interest and gives him/her a sense of what your essay is about.
- Your finished essay should look VERY different from your draft. In moving from the draft to the finished version of the essay, you should be engaging in real revision, not simply “cleaning up” or “refining” the draft.
- Baruch is closed on Monday, October 9th. On Tuesday, October 10th, we will be following a Monday schedule, so our class will be meeting at our regular time.
- Now that we have access to blogs@baruch again, if you missed your blog posting date, please share your post as soon as you’re able!
- Feel free to reach out via email if you have questions about any of this!
I am really looking forward to reading your essays!! Have a wonderful weekend, and I will see you on Tuesday!