summer and school day assignment

         I have a very strong opinion on school days and times in our high school. I believe the school day should be around 5 hours long, and go from 9-2 (ish). This would substantially increase student ability and drive to actually do the work itself. It would be more comforting for high school students, considering our bodies need at least eight hours of sleep per night. I also have a strong opinion on summer. I believe the length of the summer is too short. Working very hard all year should be rewarded with a four month summer, (around 4 months). I believe three months is a bit too short considering the core summer months are the ones in which people take the most vacations. Therefore, the decrease of time in a school day would benefit the students, and summer should be longer.

Holiday spending

                After reading the article pertaining to holiday spending, I have a very strong opinion based on past experiences. I believe people spend way too much money on every holiday. Christmas is a holiday that I believe is changing year to year. People are just into receiving presents, and they think if they give presents then they are very caring people. I believe it is not the quantity of the present, but it’s the quality. America is so consumed with the dollar bill. Quite frankly, I believe money “makes the world go around” for many people. Christmas is great for stimulation for the economy, but that is one of the only good outcomes of it. It is supposed to be a religious time, to celebrate the birth of Christ. I find myself going to a nightly session at church almost annually, and even very religious people forget to do it on Christmas. I think more money should be spent on more important things than clothes, electronics, etc. If the whole country/world focused all of their efforts on more important things, our money would be better spent. World hunger would be a good focus, along with our countries revenue. So many people complain and stress about getting good Christmas for others, but in reality, it is a small issue in a very large, broad area of complaints. People are stressing over their next meal, a roof over their head, and first world issues are apparently more important. Looking at Africa, and the abundance of disease and unsanitary conditions are in need of some sort of compensation to help their growing continent. There is no alternative for them in their evolution into a modern continent unless there is some sort of economic help. I believe the solution to the problem would be to take away from holidays, and focus the money elsewhere. That would benefit not just ourselves, but everyone around us.  Therefore, I believe if everyone took their efforts away from using their money for gifts and holidays, we would become more successful as a species. 

Sublime Album Review

In the summer of 1992, Sublime released their debut album 40 Oz. to Freedom. This album was revolutionary for many ska punk, and reggae listeners. This album was solely recorded in Long Beach California. In total, the album is 74 minutes long featuring former lead singer Brad Nowell. Nowell passed away years later from an accidental heroin overdose, which ultimately made the album more impactful.

            Mixing themes of bad decision making, accidental love, and bad situations of the band’s lives creates sympathy for the band. The audience compares their lives to the life of Brad Nowell, for instance, and notices the overall trend in each song. He sings about indulging in poor decisions relating to drug consumption, and alcohol abuse. This shows the audience how tough his life was, and how the misfortunes he experienced made songs like “Badfish” to have a central meaning. Blending Jamaican sounds like those of Bob Marley, and meaningful lyrics, created a reggae feel in each song.

            Many songs were upbeat and showed Bradley’s drug problem on a large scale. The song that best describes this is “Badfish”. The song specifically relates to his consumption of alcohol and how he has nowhere else to turn, other than drugs. Lyrics that show this effectively include; “Two pints of booze tell me are you a badfish too? Are you a badfish too? Ain't got no money to spend, I know the night will never end. Lord knows I'm weak, won't somebody get me off of this reef.” Brad sings about how bad of a person he is, and how he has no more money. All of his financial efforts went towards booze and drugs. He then goes on to say how he is weak, and he needs someone to get him off of the “reef”. Analyzing this lyric, I noticed the reef was a metaphor for the messed up world he lived in. This was a good literary device that makes the audience think.

Another lyric of “Badfish” includes; “I swim but wish I never learned, the water's too polluted with germs.” His ability to “swim” showed his experimental behavior with drugs. He uses another effective metaphor in saying he wish he never learned, and the water is too polluted with germs. He alludes to how the world is polluted with drug users, and he has put himself in that position. I believe these lyrics would be relatable to both lower income people, and drug users worldwide. This is a taste of how meaningful his music was, and a good reason why the album was unanimously popular.

The album cover shows a lot of intricate colors and shapes. It portrays a sun showing many colors, and mushrooms. The sun also contains eyes, which are squinted. This shows the overall drug use of the band. It shows their love of bright colors, in a way, and shows how optimistic they are towards life. Sublime was just a band that wanted everyone to feel good about their life, and that if they for any reason gave in to temptation, it was justified in one way or another.

I would recommend this album to many listeners. Although, this album would not be beneficial to younger listeners, that are younger than 15. It would be inappropriate in a some ways, considering the harmful, explicit lyrics. Listening to the album, I felt pretty good about myself. I am not a drug user, and I’m glad to have a life without drugs. I would rate this album a 3.7/5 because of the quality of the music itself, the story behind each song, and the emotions I felt listening to it. It was a great recipe for one of the best albums of all time. 

Album Review Samples

1) Daughtry, Baptized

 3.5/5 stars - a moderately popular album

By Chuck Eddy

November 19, 2013

Seven years after he placed on American Idol, Chris Daughtry and his band are opening up their would-be grunge to more nuance: folk instruments and synths, smoother high notes tempering Daughtry's bellow, "boom-b'boom" vocal-bass hook lightening the gender war in "Battleships." The sound on Baptized somehow links U2 to Rascal Flatts, adding Springsteen stances in "Wild Heart." More unexpectedly, there's also a banjo shuffle where Daughtry chooses Van Halen over Van Hagar, catalogs some of his other heroes and wonders who wrote Hole's songs. "Long Live Rock & Roll," it's called – a defense, perhaps, against anybody claiming guys like him helped kill it.

2) Matangi, Interscope

By Maya Arulpragasam

2/5 stars a moderately unpopular album

November 5, 2013

If Maya Arulpragasam has a persecution complex, she's earned it. "Let you into Super Bowl/You tried to steal Madonna's crown/What the fuck you on about?" she spits on "Boom Skit," conjuring her haters: generic racists, critical magazine profilers, and the NFL litigators reportedly suing her for $1.5 mil for her bird-flip during her 2012 halftime performance with Madonna. It's a telling moment on her fourth LP, a mixtape-style mash-up of political provocations, ripostes, tough-gal love songs, neon DJ memes and ass-whooping South Asian-spiced beats. Like Kanye West, M.I.A. seemingly needs haters for fuel. On Matangi, her tank's full.
The standouts are rewinds: "Bad Girls," the Arabic-flavored club anthem from the 2010 Vicki Leekx mixtape, and "Come Walk With Me," a lover's proposal teased last year in a video post, here reworked with echoes of her signature "Paper Planes." It furthered the rumor Matangi would be a "positive" LP, but even her bedroom-R&B attempts – "Exodus" and "Sexodus" – are skeptical interrogations. She shows little need to resolve contradictions or make her dazzling scraps cohere. But the magic is in the frisson. "Preach like a priest/I sing like a whore," goes the quilt-like, Switch-produced title track. And the contradictions keep coming.

3) Luscious Jackson, magic hour

By Will Hermes

1/5 an unpopular album

November 5, 2013

Luscious Jackson were to New York freestyle dance pop what their cohorts the Beastie Boys were to hip-hop: a sly subculture riff that delivered the goods with a wink. On this tight, 10-song reunion (minus singer-keyboardist Vivian Trimble), vocals still waver charmingly off-key, grooves still conjure a Nineties Lower East Side rent party. "You are my male J.Lo/Your jeans fit nice/ What's your price? . . . I have no pride," chants Jill Cunniff on "#1 Bum," a shout-out to a fine rump that rides a punky reggae groove. Homeboy Adam Horowitz lends a production hand for "So Rock On," a sexy midtempo jam whose title sums up the ethos here. Welcome back, ladies.

4) Le Grand Kallé

His Life, His Music Stern's Africa

                4.5/5

In the Sixties and Seventies, Le Grand Kallé remapped an entire continent's music. He adopted Cuban rumba and became the first Congolese musician to record with an electric guitar. His "Independance Cha Cha" (1960) was the soundtrack of a revolution, and his bands spawned world-historic bandleaders Manu Dibango and Tabu Ley Rochereau.

5)
The Wanted

Word of Mouth Island

2/5

The Wanted are a boy band with a man's disposition: They drink, they get into arguments, and they tend to see women as passive creatures waiting around in heels to be redeemed or get their hearts broken. They cloak their casual misogyny in trying to look sensitive, alternating rakish club pop like "Walks Like Rihanna" with post-Coldplay ballads in which everyone gets a chance to brood.
6)

The Who 

5/5

Tommy: Super Deluxe Box Set Geffen/UMe

10

As the first popular "rock opera," Tommy has plenty to answer for. But measured against pale 21st-century Broadway offspring, the Who's magnum opus still rules. Besides an impressive book, the news on this box is a virtually complete set of Pete Townshend demos, with the composer's warm tenor taking lead on every song. It makes for remarkable alternate versions.


Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews?page=2#ixzz2lI81Ya3M
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True or false, group

Kylie- A longtime Kansas City Chiefs fan says he swapped six game tickets for a wedding ring set advertised on Craigslist.49-year-old Kansas City resident Rusty Jones, said he first learned of the ring offer last week through a story in The Kansas City Star. He contacted the seller, who wanted to swap the rings and surprise a loved one with tickets to the Dec. 1 game at Arrowhead Stadium. The rings, which the newspaper said were from the seller's previous marriage, were appraised at $2,800.

Keenan- A water tower in the capital Raleigh, Virginia fell on a surrounding house, killing one person, and injuring two. The house was demolished instantly, and water flooded the streets. Surrounding neighbors had massive floods in basements, and was an issue for a month straight.

Alexa- Thylane Lena-Rose Blondeau was on the cover of French Vogue in 2011. Wearing gold, stilettoes, and heavy make-up, Blondeau is sprawled out on leopard printed bed covers, which is a typical photo shoot for vogue; however this young lady happens to just be ten years old. Parent groups and other concerned French citizens express their dismay of these photos of the young girl being taken because some of them have her topless chest covered with her long hair and large beaded jewelry.

Lauren- News anchor Kyra Philips caught on the john. Kyra accidentally forgot to turn her microphone off and was talking “potty talk” while in the bathroom. After the potty talk ended she proceeded to call her sister-in-law a control freak. Due to the microphone being on, this was all on air for everyone to hear.

 Lizzie- A family living in Dunedin, Florida notices a screened in room fell into a hole. A sinkhole has formed on an early morning. About 70 feet wide and 50 feet deep and growing. If it rains the hole may get worse.  Seven homes in all were evacuated.  Hole will be filled in soon but not all families may return to their home.

Nicole- Man takes 8 mile fall after traveling in air plane.  The pilot believes the the passenger may have jumped but the causes are still unknown.  Taking the leap of unfortunate fate the man has not yet been found.  Taking the risk without a parachute, once the plane had landed safely, safety crew began an immediate search of the area. Although searches were postponed Thursday due to weather conditions, the hunt still continues.

Gabby- Memphis woman, Harris, sits on landlord, Kellen Carroll’s, face during an argument. When approached about her late rent, the woman became violent with the man. She proceeded to choke the man. She then wrestled the man to the ground. When he tried to call for help Harris, an extremely large woman, sat upon Kellen Carroll’s face.

Bullying Response

   I believe bullying and harassment is no different depending on location. I think there is the same verbal bullying in the locker room as there is in the workplace. The National Football League has many predominately African American players, and Caucasian players, that use foul language on a regular basis. I believe the locker room is a place where the players say whatever they want, without many conversations getting leaked to the media or general public.

Ken Ross style question

Do you believe that wellness class should be primarily fitness or a health class?

Ethos, Pathos, Logos

Logos- The average temperature increased by about 1 degree Celsius over the 20th century.




Pathos- If we don't change our ways, the ozone layer will keep on getting weaker.


Ethos- Climate change is linked to stronger hurricanes, more drought and increased coral deaths.

"The Nature Conservancy. Protecting Nature. Preserving Life.™." Facts about Climate Change. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Oct. 2013.

Teenage Technology Use

Banning multiple luxuries pertaining to technology such as a cellular device, laptops, etc. would be beneficial on various accounts for teenagers.. Taking away these means of entertainment would spiral into better academic achievement, and an increased attention span. Students that are up all hours of the night on phones and other technology tend to get a lot less sleep apposed to students that don't. Personally, I used to have trouble going to sleep because I would use my phone for an hour or so before bed. While using my phone, I saw myself staying up several hours after this. I asked my doctor why I couldn't sleep, and he responded by saying stimulating my brain with my phone before bed caused my brain to stay active. In a survey made by "Brian Statistics", numbers showed 68% of people have their phone next to their bed at night. Taking this into consideration, the survey showed a large majority of these people don't get enough sleep, and said they find themselves lose concentration easier. Therefore, I believe taking away these luxuries from teens would be very beneficial to their health, and educational prowess.

magazine analysis

Based on my magazine, the Fry Graph shows the magazine is designed for a 5th grade reading level, or an 11 year old. The ratio of content to advertisements is 75:25. This shows the content is more important apposed to the advertisements. The writing itself is more abundant and is targeted for very avid readers. Based on people in my group, my ratio is the highest, although, my age group is the youngest. This comparison says my magazine, on average, is designed for younger people apposed to any other magazine. If I were to create a profile for a reader of this magazine, I would categorize the readers to be an intelligent 5th grader with very good values. The fact that the student would sit down and read, instead of involving themselves in other means of technology, primarily a cell phone, tablet, etc. shows their status as very smart and morally suited for the future in education.

Data driven journalistic piece

Keenan Coffey

10/15/13

Journalism F

Data Driven Essay

Fast Food Competitors

I found it interesting to ask a group of people what their favorite fast food eateries would be. I was not sure what restaurant would combine both exceptional taste, and good prices. Living in the United States, I have had my share of happy meals, burgers, buckets of chicken, etc. My personal favorite eatery would be Wendys because of its quality of food. I asked an essential question, that targeted teenage students at Norton High School answered. I asked "If location was not a factor, where would your first choice in fast food be? What would you order? Why?"

I asked a very broad group of people in multiple classrooms at Norton High. I decided to ask my Spanish class, and their responses were as I hypothesized. I first asked Greg Phillips, and he responded with: "Probably Wendys", I knew he'd say this, "and I would order a greasy baconator because of how good it is." This raised a question in my mind. I thought, wow, maybe the amount of grease on a sandwhich persuades the consumer to keep coming back. I also asked Paul Caramanica, and he was on board the Wendys bandwagon. "I would go to Wendys, and get a pretzel bacon cheeseburger." I knew going into asking these questions a burger would be one of the most common choices. Based on a survey on ehowfoods.com, "a burger is the second most common choice behind fries". I interviewed one last male to ask the same questions. "I would go to Wendys because of how good their baconator is. I like how greasy it is which is concerning" Tony Chen stated. Based on this data retrieval, I noticed my hypothesis was accurate in saying Wendys is people's favorite fast food eatery.

I finished off the survey with three other individuals from my Spanish class. These three were members of the opposite sex, just to see how the data varied between genders. First, I asked Chloe Gill where she would go. Chloe said: "I'd go to Panera and get a bread bowl." Panera is apparently a fast food restaurant, which I did not know of, and cnbc.com confirmed to me that it is indeed one. I also asked Mia Coffman, who replied saying: "I would go to panera and get an italian panini." I asked Ashley Pellitier for my last person. She said: "I'd go to Panera and get a buffalo bleu panini." Gathering all of this data, I realized a very obvious trend amongst high school students at Norton High. I noticed that males would chose to go to Wendys, a females would chose to go to Panera. I know from past experiences that Wendys is not a very expensive place, and provides a customer with good food and decent service. I am not a regular customer at Panera, but the couple times I've been it was very mediocre. Therefore, by gathering data like this I have come to a conclusion that generally males prefer Wendys, whereas females prefer Panera Bread for fast food.

Work Cited

http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/prc/files/2012/11/ytf_03_04_presentation_fast_food.pdf, Harvard. "Fast Food." Harvard Study. Harvard Professors, n.d. Web.

Academia. "Join Academia.edu & Share Your Research with the World." Cost and Calorie Analysis of Fast Food Consumption in College Students. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Oct. 2013.

"InformeDesign: RS_Detail:College Students Perceptions of Fast Food Brands." InformeDesign: RS_Detail:College Students Perceptions of Fast Food Brands. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Oct. 2013.

Interview Questions

1)Where would high-school students prefer to go for fast food if location was not a problem?
Interview questions- Where would you go? What would you order at this establishment?

Keenan Coffey

 

9/23/13

 

Journalism F

 

Student Interview

          I interviewed Kylie Werner, and there were many things I found interesting about her. Her birthdate is 12/22/98. When I asked her what she liked to do she answered with: "I like to dance. I also like to write." I found a similarity between us in our enjoyment in writing. I also asked who she lived with, and Kylie said: "my mom". She is not a huge fan of school, and has no real opinion of the government. When I asked if she supported peace or war, she liked the idea of peace, saying: "definitely peace". I found that to be interesting because I agree, but many people think its the only resolution.
         The next set of questions I asked were a bit different. She was born in Attleboro, Massachusetts and her ethnicity includes Irish, Indian American, and German. Kylie supports homosexuality, which shows her tendency to be hospitable. When I asked her what she wanted to do for work after college, she stated: "I want to do something in cosmetology." I asked a very specific question next. I asked what would be her food or beverage on her deathbed, and I received an interesting answer. "Tacos" she said for her food, and "Orange Juice" for her drink.

Keenan Coffey

9/19/13

Journalism F

Texting While Driving

Texting and Driving

Many people don't realize the overwhelming risk of texting and driving. Texting a friend, family member, or boyfriend/girlfriend can be very tempting to do while in a car. Some of the time they are actually important conversations. Although, texting while driving can wait. In the grand scheme of things, it just is not worth it. Taking eyes off the roadway creates a risk to not only the driver, but other drivers as well. Even the greatest drivers in the world lose concentration when looking at their phone intstead of the road. In doing this people are putting helpless civilian lives in danger. While texting and operating a vehicle, getting into an accident is 23 times more likely. Loss of concentration and awareness of ones surroundings can cause cell phone related accidents. 18% of all deaths in 2012 that contained distraction related activities were caused by cell phones. A driver's reaction time while reading and sending texts is far worse than drinking and driving. Not to mention the crime being commited while texting and driving. Penalties can amount to $2,750 in the most severe cases. Fines and tickets are so high because of the huge risk at hand. As a highschool student, I am very confident in saying my parents would make me pay for the entire ticket myself, and be extremely angry with me. A lot of highschool kids are angered when people say they are terrible drivers. This may be untrue in some instances, but more and more teens are losing their sense of good judgement. In a survey created by AAA, 46% of teenagers said they text and drive. This statistic is off because of the amount of teenagers that probably lied in the survery. Dishonesty is very frequent amongst 16-19 year olds. Taking this into consideration, More than half of the teenagers on the road jeopardize their lives and others around them. 77% of teens that text and drive said they were very confident in doing so and felt there was no danger. This being said,  11 teens each day get into fatal car crashes due to using a cellular device and driving. Statistics show texting and driving can not only put people in the car in danger, but also innocent people on the road. 

Keenan Coffey

9/17/13

Journalism F

Jahar's World essay

Terrorism within the United States borders have scared a broad amount of people for a long time. In particular the Boston Marathon bombing caused mass hysteria, and brought fear to one of America's most beloved cities. The Rolling Stone article Jahar's World by Janet Reitman illustrates Jahar's life, and the "monster" that he became. The jaw-dropping cover and article of the magazine portraying Dzhokar Tsarnaev as innocent was a tremendous controversial issue that angered a wide variety of people.

The cover of the Rolling Stone magazine showed Jahar taking a "selfie" with multiple captions directly below. These captions said "How a popular, promising student was failed by his family, fell into radical islam, and became a monster." I believe this provides a list of excuses on Dzhokar's behalf. Instead of the cover saying failed by his family, it should say he failed himself. Only the most psychologically disturbed people would go through with an act of terrorism in this proportion. It was brought all upon himself once he agreed with his older brother Tamerlan to join radical islam in the first place. The cover depicts Jahar as an innocent college student that had a rough life, and was destined to fail. I disagree with both the choice of the cover, and the captions describing Tsarnaev. In the article itself, Reitman stated, "soulful brown eyes and the kind of shy, laid-back manner that 'made him that dude you could always just vibe with' one friend says." The way Reitman described Dzhokar in a positive manner caused a lot of people to feel anger towards the magazine. They believed he should not have been given any credit because he is such a poor human being.

In the response to the article, New York Times journalist David Carr wrote an article about the reactions of very involved people in the investigation. Sgt. Sean Murphy took many pictures of Jahar when he was in a very bad state before he was ultimately captured. Carr wrote, "The images taken by Sgt. Sean Murphy, a photographer with the Massachusetts State Police who was described as 'furious' about the Rolling Stone cover and accused the magazine of 'glamorizing the face of terror.'" Murphy saw first hand the destruction caused by Tsarnaev, and doesn't support the cover and article whatsoever. Many stores and important people refused to buy or sell the magazine for many reasons. Mayor of Boston Thomas Menino apposed the magazine, along with other retailers. Carr stated, "Mayor Thomas Menino wrote a letter of protest to Rolling Stone and several retailers with Boston ties said they would not sell the controversial issue." The contents of the magazine angered Bostonian retailers and the mayor which is very understandable. Apposing the cover and article was popular amongst the people of Boston as one could tell. Carmen Rasmusen also wrote an article regarding the Rolling Stone magazine. She felt very strongly on the issue of the story getting published. She thought it was a terrible idea and was not approriate for Rolling Stone. Rasmusen said, "What's even more baffling is how this story got approved." Rasmusen, along with many others, were shocked as to how the story was published considering the word choice and description of Jahar.

Rolling Stone portrayed Dzhokar Tsarnaev as the opposite of who he really was. They said he was "just a normal American kid", which is extremely hard to believe regarding the actions taken by him and his brother on 4/15/13. Many people found the magazine offensive and innapropriate. Getting on the cover Rolling Stone is usually a milestone for a lot of celebrities, and an honor. In this instance, it shows an infamous bomber that had a lot of nerve to do what he did. Therefore, the article published by Rolling Stone angered a lot of people and was the centerpoint of a lot of controversy.