Karen Leonardo, Reading Response 11/17

1. Thesis: Plastic pollution is slowly killing our environment, if it is not resolved we will not be able to go back in time to fix the planet. Plastic pollution not only is harming the environment but it is also harming humans, animal life and plants.

Subargument #1: As more plastic invades the ocean more coral reefs are dying, due to the fact that the plastic debris is affecting the coral reefs tissue.

Subargument #2: Since plastic is made out of chemicals, it can take hundreds to thousands of years to break down.

Subargument #3: Marine animals are ingesting the plastic due to the fact that they see it as ‘prey’ and it is causing them to suffocate and/or die of starvation.

Subargument #4: Chemicals in plastic such as bisphenol A (BPA) can be very cancerous and  are negatively affecting human hormones.

Subargument #5: The burning of such fossil fuels is polluting the air that we breath and causing respiratory problems on humans as well as animals.

2. Gallo argues that the people’s behavior is made up of societal norms. People act upon what they see around them, and how their environment has taught them throughout the years. Gallo uses an example of stop and frisks. Stop and frisks was done by police when they suspected criminal activity, however that went against the privacy clause because it was invading innocent peoples privacy. This was creating a societal norm, people started categorizing different races, they would either be “good” or “bad.” Surveillance isn’t always a bad thing. For instance, Gallo uses another example of a swimming coach, in order for the swimmer to be completely safe in the water they should be watched by their coach in case anything arises. Gallo is trying to say that context is a major key in surveillance. If a coach is alone watching an underaged child that may be conceived as negative surveillance because it is inappropriate. if it was in a more public area then that would be fine.

3.”The Spirit of 1968: Toward Abolishing Terry Doctrine” by Frank Rudy Cooper

• After analyzing this article myself I realized that Gallo gave a legal example of how surveillance has been used in our society. Gallo used this example in order to support their argument. This article focuses on stop and frisks and the invasion of privacy that it serves. Not only that but it also categorizes people into fitting the societal norms or not.

“Surveillance and conformity in competitive youth swimming” by Melanie Lang

• After going over this article myself I noticed that it was used it in order to support their argument. The fact that surveillance can be extremely different when done in private versus done in public is concerning. When someone knows they are being watched in public they will act accordingly with no worries. However when it is done in private, as in an adult watching a child that is when it gets a bit scary and the child may be confused as to why they are being watched in such a different way by an adult. I believe that this was a great example included by Gallo to support their argument.