Despite going through different experiences, Frederick Douglass and Steve Jobs share their stories of struggle to inspire listeners to break free from the chains of unfortunate life circumstances and to achieve greatness.

Although they are harsh memories to recall, Harriet Jacobs’ time under Dr. Flint are stories that need to be told to depict the horror of living as a slave. Through Jacobs’ shared, unpleasant experiences, we see the cruelty and injustice of slavery.

The story tells the tale of Zitkala-Sa, a young girl excitedly moving away from her village to a boarding school. Her excitement quickly goes away once she finds out the unpleasant realities of her new life, which require her to assimilate into white culture. She has to change her hair, the way she dresses, everything about her. She desperately misses her mother as she suffers loneliness in her new environment. The story presents a new point of view on white culture, one that is unhappy. It reveals the harshness of life for those on the outside, looking in.

“Get Low” is a trap song by electronic dance music producers Dillon Francis & DJ Snake. The song contains Arabic lyrics, “Barbes, yalla habibi” but most of the songs’ lyrics are simply “get low” repeated over and over in different variations. This phrase is intertwined with the purpose of the song, which is to get the listeners to dance. This is effective because when I hear the song, I actually do want to get low. When the DJs play this at concerts, they ask the crowd to crouch down, therefore getting low, and to jump up at the “drop.”

The author of this article, Gore Vidal, presents his case for legalizing not just marijuana, but all drugs. He claims drugs should be legalized and easily obtainable through purchasing them at stores. However, each drug has to be labelled with its respective side effects, both negative and positive. Addiction will almost cease to exist because no one would unintentionally get hooked on drugs if they know what will happen to them once they become addicted. It will not cease to exist entirely, though, because there are just some people who are just prone to addiction. He advocates for the legalization of drugs because its unlawfulness is contradictory to the premise the United States was built on, which was “that each man has the right to do what he wants with his own life as long as he does not interfere with his neighbor’s pursuit of happiness,”. He also claims that the government does not move towards this, because it would mean less money for them, as the Mafia and Bureau of Narcotics would cease to exist.

I disagree with Vidal’s view almost entirely. First of all, I don’t think the change he proposed would end drug addiction. In fact, I believe it would do the exact opposite, as no one takes a drug without knowing what its effects are beforehand. Additionally, people do not always act in ways that are best for them, looking past their health to indulge in bad habits. Another part of his argument that I had a problem with was his statement that the government bans drugs because they want more money. This just sounds like a crazy conspiracy theory against the government. Drugs like heroin and opium are downright bad, and that is why they are banned. Overall, Vidal’s argument does not hold up.

Esteemed administrators and faculty, fellow students, and members of the Baruch community, the food sucks! It’s too expensive. It’s not good quality. It’s not what we paid for. Although there is an abundance of great food out there in our campus that is New York City, I should be able to get decent food in the comfort of the Vertical Campus. That’s what a cafeteria is for, folks! Food is a necessity of life, and acquiring sustenance should not be an arduous task. Improving the quality and variety of the food available should not be an arduous task, either. To the administration, I hope to see change these next few weeks at Baruch, and by change, I mean tacos.

http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/print/2012/05/how-headphones-changed-the-world/257830/

I went to The Electric Typewriter and looked at all the options before me. After reading the 25 titles and descriptions, I opened a few articles that piqued my interest. I began sifting through the eight new tabs, but before even reaching the end I closed all but the one I was currently on, titled “How Headphones Changed the World”. The opening line of the article immediately made my choice.

If you are reading this on a computer, there is an excellent chance that you are wearing, or within arm’s reach of, a pair of headphones or earbuds.

I was, in fact, donning my Apple EarPods, listening to the “We Rap More Mellow” Songza playlist I always listen to when doing work. The ironic opening line was followed with even more irony, stating how most people listen to music while doing work even though studies show that this practice is counterproductive scientifically. The rest of the article gives a more historical view on music and the creation of headphones, emphasizing how the invention turned music from a “social glue” into something that allowed people to be in their own worlds. Derek Thompson, the author, concludes the article by circling back to his introduction, arguing that we continue to partake in the counterproductive activity of listening to music while working because while being in our own worlds fenced in by earphones and headphones, we are more introspective and can focus on what is going on in the personal bubbles we’ve created, rather than what is going on outside of them.

When I reached the end of the article, I was satisfied with my choice. Many texts required by my classes are difficult to get through, but the way the article is written and its content made reading it not only easy, but enjoyable. I also found it extremely relevant to my life, as I look around the café I am sitting in and see all the people in their own worlds, lost in the sound of the music blaring through their earphones. Additionally, living in New York and taking public transportation every day, I am constantly in contact with so many people, yet am so disconnected from them. I have noticed a significant difference from riding the subway without and with earphones; without them, I am much more observant and aware of the people around me. With them, I am in my own world, lost in my own thoughts and oblivious of the other elements of the environment I am in.

Although it was the main topic of the introduction and conclusion, the concept of listening to music while working was less developed than the body’s topic, the history of headphones. However, I still agree with much of what the author said due to my own personal experiences. When starting up my work, it takes a while for my music to fade from the foreground of my mind to the background, and once this happens I can still get distracted by the quick words of Nas and A Tribe Called Quest. Despite this, I still continue to listen to music while doing work. I find this is because of the reason Thompson presented, that wearing headphones, therefore being closed off, makes us introspective. This is supported by the few times I have even worn my earphones and forgot to put on music, yet worked just as fine. Perhaps its not so much the music that matters, but being in your own world.

Overall, Derek Thompson’s article “How Headphones Changed the World” brought history and context to a big part of my life that had previously went unconsidered. Although certain aspects of the article were weak, what the author had to say was very interesting and relevant to every day life, and I will not look at the simple two earbuds at the end of the string connected to my laptop the same way.