FRO13 LC10

For this project, my group focused on the topic of foreign affairs. With so much happening in the world around us, it is important to keep up to date with what is occurring worldwide, not just in the United States Alone. Much of the foreign affairs that happen will effect us in a certain way, therefore, it is essential that we are kept informed about these events. All of our articles range from totally different regions of the globe; from the pollution crisis of China’s city of Harbin to tragic terrorist attacks in Kenya recently. All of these articles display problems that our society is faced with today and the consequences that result from these issues. We chose these articles because they give you a clear taste of what is occurring worldwide today, a quick perceptive into the eyes of foreign people.

My group topic was on the mayoral race. I think this was a good topic for us because it was something current and interesting. When I chose my article, I took time reading all the statistics to see exactly what the people wanted in the next mayor. I also chose my article because it was simple and to the point. The summary was just the article itself, since it was just a bunch of statistics. However, it was obviously a bit more difficult to present, since everything is right in front of you. Not to mention, I didn’t take too much time in preparing any time of presentation. In fact, I didn’t prepare at all for the presentation. I think we all said what was needed to be said though and it worked out just fine. Anyway, I think we all had a good time with this assignment, and it was good just to get up there and get in a little more practice for giving speeches.

I chose this article for my group as my group’s main topic was the primary election between De Blasio and Lhota. My article had the rush in the last 48 hours of the primaries. Statistics and facts are shown through the media how many supporters for the two candidates keep shifting within the final primaries Then, the turnout facts are proven for 700,000 supporters for the Democratic party with only 50,000-75,000 to show up for Republicans. Finally, the last and final primaries end with how many delegates and supporters can convince supporters through direct lobbying.

Will Ng

My group and I decided to make our theme for the New York Times “Front Page” project on significant foreign events. The article that I posted was regarding a terrorist attack that took place in Southern Russia. This is a significant event because officials believe that the culprits of this attack belonged to the same terrorist group that the Boston marathon terrorists belonged to. This event relates to us and the students of Baruch because we can never know when our lives can be taken away by an act of terror. Foreign affairs can be a good foreshadower of events that may arise in our own country. We must always be aware of significant foreign events because we must be conscious of ourselves and our surroundings.

Mark Komar

My group picked the topic of the Mayoral Election because it was a current issue.  As you all know, Bill De Blasio is the new mayor and it was an event that was constantly updated.  We picked it mostly because we live in New York City and it’s good to be well informed about the news, but more specifically what’s going on closest to you.  The articles we picked were interesting in the way of how they presented different facts about each candidate.  One thing I learned was that they both were actively involved in the city before, but I’ve never heard of them.  When we think of an election, most of us don’t pay attention to what the candidates are saying because we think it doesn’t affect us.  De Blasio is now our mayor for the next 4 years and every decision he makes also affects us. Now that most of us are eighteen and can vote, we could exercise our right. Voting on candidates is also voting on issues.  The mayor makes decisions that affects us as college students.  If we don’t agree all we have to do is vote him out the next time around.  I think that voting, in a way, is letting our voice be heard. It’s a way to step up and let our beliefs be known.

Our theme for our presentation was foreign affairs.  We chose this as our topic because it was a recurring topic in the news these days.  It was also a topic that affected everyone and not just us.  The articles we came upon when researching were actually really interesting.  One of them were the terrorist attacks in Kenya.  The terrorists involved in those included US citizens which caught me off guard because we are not used to hearing that.  A lot of people were killed and many were tourists visiting the country.  Another article we talked about was the growing problems in China due to pollution.  When we in the US think pollution we don’t picture drastic changes in society due to it.  But the pollution in China was so bad it caused the local schools to close, airports to shut down, and basically paralyzed traffic for hours. The heavy fog caused by the pollution make it nearly impossible to see anything past 10 meters, which is highly dangerous, especially while flying an aircraft or driving a car. The heavy fog happened when the Chinese government made the decision to turn on the coal-powered heating system of the city due to the upcoming winter season.  We also presented articles about the bombing in Southern Russia and the decision to capitalize Iran.  Looking into these articles taught me a lot about whats going on in the world around us.  Reading and presenting these articles was very eye opening.

The New York Times “Front Page” my group and I developed in seminar was based all on opinion pieces. I thought this would be a fun section of the New York Times to choose because we were all under the same umbrella of “opinion,” but we all had a great variety of individual topics to choose from. My topic was on Syria, and my group member’s topic was on nail fungus. The two topics are very unrelated and they also differ in seriousness. My topic was much more serious and it concerns us politically, but Josh’s topic was a little more “fun,” for lack of better words and there was humor to it. My favorite article was about Baruch’s elevator etiquette from our own paper, The Ticker. This article was my favorite because it was something I could relate to since I’m a Baruch student who constantly uses the elevators and I have had my fair share of experiences with people who have bad elevator etiquette. This article, along with the article about college students, both related to our first semester here at Baruch. The article speaks about a lowered quality of education and a higher expense required. It’s an article I read thoroughly because the information was useful to me. I don’t want to be a college graduate whose drowning in debt and be jobless either. The entire group did not have on common theme like the other groups, however, I thought this was interesting. It was particularly interesting to see which opinion piece each of my group members picked. It reflected all of our interests to some extent.

For our project, we didn’t really have a specific them that we expanded on. Our theme was opinion. So we basically picked any opinion articles and wrote a response on them. One of them had to do with College students which can relate to Baruch obviously. The article stated that the quality of education has decreased. A survey showed that over 50 percent of graduate students don’t even know term limits of the representatives in the House of Representatives and Senators. It also talks about how today, education is so expensive. Students have to pay for an education that’s not good in quality and then they are in a high amount of debt after they graduate and have no job. Another article that didn’t relate to college but spoke about the importance of culture and communication was an article about Afghanistan. This article conveyed the importance of learning about culture and communication no matter where you are. Being aware of your surroundings and learning to accept and understand other customs and values is not only important in Afghanistan but important in any setting. You have to be knowledgeable. Although we didn’t have a central theme, I thought it was interesting to read opinion articles and look at other people’s views on things. Overall this project was a great experience!

Post Two (due by November 7th) For this assignment, you must (1) post the New York Times “Front Page” you’ve developed in your seminar AND explain why the group selected the items that are included reflecting on how/why these selections best express the most salient issues/concerns during their first semester at Baruch

FRO Blog

The following photos describe a little bit about myself. The first photo is  a picture of my best friends and teammates after we graduated from Sachem East High School on Long Island. The next few are pictures of my teammates and I at Spring New Balance National in Greensboro, North Carolina. We trained through the summer and competed during the summer. My friend and I are holding up our best friend, the defending National Champion, after she received All-American in the race. This was the most competitive and most exciting race I’ve ever had the opportunity to compete in. The next few pictures are of my family. My sister, in particular, has been my role model my entire life because of her drive, awesome personality and success. Our entire lives, we’ve been extremely close and have a special sort of bond. The next photo is of my puppy, Oliver.  He is a little papillon, which is a French breed. The last two photos are from Spain. Over the summer, my sister and I traveled to Spain for two weeks. During the time, we visited Barcelona, Valencia, Granada and Seville. The architecture and art in these towns were so breathtakingly beautiful. Also, the food was so authentic and delicious. The last picture is a Spanish dish called Paella, consisting of seafood, rice and other seasonings.  This was the best vacation I’ve ever been on. The old world architecture and culture was something I never experienced prior and would love to go back and explore even more. Thus, these pictures show a little bit more about who exactly I am.