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Commitment, A Major Key

Stores that produce the most revenue are typically the ones that are the most convenient for customers. These stores provide a space where customers want to spend their money because of good quality of their service. Walmart and Target, two big box steady retail stores, make efforts to lure their customers with advertisements that guarantee the costumer’s satisfaction. Although they both guarantee satisfaction, there is clear evidence that proves Walmart is a better source for shoppers than Target because of their commitment to their customers above all else.  

One way that Walmart shows their customers that they value them is through policies such as their loyalty programing. According to the news on Walmart's website, Walmart’s 3-2-1, is a new way save money for Walmart prepaid and Walmart money cards. Their 3-2-1 rewards program includes, 3% back on purchases made on Walmart.com. It also offers 2% back on fuel purchases at Walmart gas stations and 1 % back on purchases made at Walmart stores. In comparison, Target’s has a savings system called Cartwheel Perks. Cartwheel Perks is a program which allows Target shoppers to earn points every time a purchase is made and redeem the points for apparel, food, and other items. As reported by couponsinthenews.com, Target’s program is currently in the process of ending because of they are making adjustments regarding to issues that was found by the perk users. The negative feedback that states as such, “experiencing pricing errors when buying items.” Target shutting down their program, leaves both the old user and the new user with nothing to depend on when purchasing items. Loyalty programs brings more customers to the store because of the discounts the program provides.

Besides customer service, another key component to Wal Mart's business is advertising. Advertisement  creates an immediate impact that will keep customers engaged to what is called the “better buy.” Social media accounts make contributions to relevant benefits and opportunities for the customer. Walmart is socially involved but also uses the media nationally and locally. For example, Walmart reaches out to other store locations around the world by establishing Facebook pages for each located store. Interfering with social media accounts, promotes a company or brand, genuine intentions  to create a motivation for customers so they can be interested. Most importantly, these social accounts provides a platform for their customer’s voices to be heard and taken seriously. For instance, Walmart has a website where mothers can talk about their shopping experiences. Target’s Twitter and Facebook social media accounts has community involvement that is equal to social involvement. Being socially involved with the community is a positive because it shows sincerity and shows support to the customers in the community. However, Target receives more negative feedback based on a customer's shopping experience found on consumeraffairs.com.

Walmart’s mission is phrases that they commit to build opportunities to customers and communities worldwide:, Save Money, Live better .On the contrary, Target consistently fulfills the Expect More. Pay Less brand. These two persuasive slogans that have different meanings. However the proof that is shown is that Walmart follows through on their slogan and constantly dominates Target.  Based on the research given by investopedia.com, WMT, Walmart Store Inc, is the world’s largest retail company with 10,700 stores, with 4,500 of those store in the U.S. Target has 1,806 stores that are only to be found in the U.S. Wal-Mart’s total assets were $203.7 billion, about five times larger than Target’s comparatively $41.4 billion. Consequently, Walmart is the “elephant in the room” when it comes to market capitalization, which is $240 billion, three times larger than Target’s $79 billion.  

Commitment is a key point in a relationship because it shows reliance and loyalty from one to another. Although, commitment may only seem important  to customers, it should in fact concern anyone who cares about saving a buck or two. This becomes especially evident for those who attempt to make a profit off of their relationships. Advertisment, revenue, and saving programs are all essential principles to a customer - store relationship. This shows that Walmart is faithful to their customers because they have not abandon the one thing that customers value.

Works CIted

Memphis, TN Damean of, et al. “Walmart MoneyCard.” ConsumerAffairs, www.consumeraffairs.com/finance/wal-mart-moneycard.html.

"Retail Advertising." Adage.Com, 2017, http://adage.com/article/adage-encyclopedia/retail-advertising/98854/.

"Retail Advertising." Adage.Com, 2017, http://adage.com/article/adage-encyclopedia/retail-advertising/98854/.

Target Officially Kills Off Cartwheel Perks.” Coupons in the News, 20 July 2017, couponsinthenews.com/2017/07/19/thanks-scammers-target-officially-kills-off-cartwheel-perks/.

FRM, Elvin Mirzayev CFA. “Target Vs. Walmart: Who's Winning The Big Box War?” Investopedia, 7 July 2015, www.investopedia.com/articles/active-trading/070715/target-vs-walmart-whos-winning-big-box-war.asp.

Call Them What They Are (The analysis of the word terrorist)

Who counts as a terrorist? After the attack on the World Trade Center in 2001, the use of the word terrorism and terrorist has skyrocketed to the forefront of the news outlets vocabulary whenever an attack happens. However even though terrorism has been tragically performed by people of all races, only  people who are black and brown get called terrorist. The news media is more hesitant to call white people who commit crimes terrorist because it helps separate white people from the terrible incidents that happened in this country and keeps a white supremacist regime alive.

The word terrorism is defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary as “the systematic use of terror, especially as means of coercion.” Then the dictionary goes on to define the word terrorist as “ an advocate for practitioner of terrorism” This means that any time a person intentionally harms people with intent to make them do something or make a statement, they are a terrorist and committing terrorism blatantly. However, there have been debates in the media between news outlets on deciding what incidents to call terrorism. It’s been common for people who commit terrorism in their own country, domestic terrorism, to not be labeled “terrorist’ by the media, because new reporters allow these people to get “name passes” so the United States doesn’t look as bad in hindsight.

Since what seems like the beginning of time, it seem like this label has been reserved for back, brown, and muslim people. Based on the data from the Google Ngram Viewer, which measures the mention of a word in text and media in different years, the word terrorism which had a slight downfall in the mid nineties had a boost in mentions in the year 2001. This has also lead to people associating terrorism and terrorist with people who are Muslim. This label has pinned the word to a specific race of people. From a survey done  in 2015 by Pewresearch.org it was estimated that there are about 1.8 billion Muslim people in the world. Of that 1.8 billion, 3.3 million of them live in the United States. That is way too many people to try to accurately to label all people of as a stereotype.

As an alternative to the name terrorist, labels of mentally ill have been given to white people who have committed the same acts as their non-white “terrorist” counterparts . Individuals that have been privileged to get the label of “sick” have been able to escape punishment, while people of color don’t have the chance to define themselves before a label is slapped on them. According to the Washington Post, when white male Dylan Roof fatally shot 9 members of Emanuel AME Church, the media outlets immediately started to label him as mentally ill. It seemed that white people that were called mentally ill were only given that title when they committed crimes against people of color but that is not the case. In December of 2012 a man named Adam Lanza went into Sandy Hook Elementary School and killed 28 people, most of the victims were children and white children at that. Yet again the media did not call him a terrorist, he was labeled as mentally ill. Also 2017 when 64 year old Stephen Paddock killed 59 people at a Las Vegas concert he was called a “lone wolf” This allowed white people to be separated from terrible acts by saying that no “normal” white person could have done this they had to have something wrong with them.

The media’s avoidance of the “terrorist” term is problematic because when someone distances themselves from the truth it only makes them weaker and less aware. It is important that people are either given appropriate labels or no labels at all. If a situation arises that involves “the systematic use of terror especially as means of coercion” the person that commited the crime should be called a terrorist regardless of their race, religion, or country of origin. Although the average American might not think that who gets that label of terrorist matters much,its influence goes beyond just a news story to how groups of people are viewed in society. It can have a detrimental effect on how future generation of those people view themselves as a whole.

Works CIted

Shane, Scott. “Terrorizing if Not Clearly Terrorist: What to Call the Las Vegas Attack?” The New York Times, The New York Times, 2 Oct. 2017, www.nytimes.com/2017/10/02/us/politics/terrorism-las-vegas-attack.html.

Tylt, The. “Is there a double standard for who gets called a terrorist?” The Tylt, The Tylt, 27 Sept. 2016, thetylt.com/culture/is-there-a-double-standard-for-who-gets-called-a-terrorist.

“Terrorism.” Merriam-Webster, Merriam-Webster, www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/terrorism.

Butler, Anthea. “Shooters of color are called 'terrorists' and 'thugs.' Why are white shooters called 'mentally ill'?” The Washington Post, WP Company, 18 June 2015, www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/06/18/call-the-charleston-church-shooting-what-it-is-terrorism/?utm_term=.502243741417.

Sometimes a “Forever Home” is Not Supposed to be Forever

Many assume adoption is always the best option, that adoption is in every child's best interest. Some believe that the life of an adoptive human being, no matter the circumstances, is superior to being an orphan. While this can be true on many occasions, this is not true for everyone. A child that is adopted into a home does not have to be happy. While it is the goal of child services to find a permanent home for children who need one, it is also the goal to find homes that fit an adoptive child’s personality, but many times this does not happen. Some who are adopted are only adopted for government checks. Those who are adopted as children, and are able to make it out of their substandard adoptions tend to struggle to live a whole life, having their adoptive parents hang over their heads like the sword of Damocles. Adolescent and adults who want to annul their adoption, have the right to annul their adoptions because they are given way without their consent.

Many adults are theoretically independent from their families, but those trying to nullify their adoption are not independent. They must get their parent consent to annul their adoptions. Adolescents have less of a right. They must continue until their adoptive parents until their eighteenth birthday, and it is nearly impossible to annul an adoption before then. Many run away, on average adopted children run away almost four times the national average. The runaway average from adoptive children is 30.1%. Many of these children end up homeless, never to return home. The parents of these children will often times keep receive government funding for the child in hopes the child would return. The funding is supposed to be saved for the child, but instead, the adoptive parents may use it as a meal ticket on a spree for themselves.

Homelessness is no laughing matter. About 1.56 million people in the United States are homeless. In the United States alone, the average for teen homeless rates 2 million kids experiencing a period of homelessness every year. Many of those children are a child of adoption who were kicked out or forced to run away. “Young people who have been in foster care are 3 to 10 times more likely than their peers to experience homelessness.” (American Journal of Public Health, 2013).  Many of these young people have run away because their personalities didn’t pair up with the ones that they were placed with. This created a tense and hostile environment that was impossible to hide from. 57% of the children who ran away from their adoptive parents go at least a day without a meal every single month (Covenant House). This causes the loss of many young lives that no one will never know the name of.

Never having a choose who loves them, while those who are supposed to love the hardest give them away can never be easy.  Kaye Pearse, a writer for new source The Guardian, was adopted twice and her experience wasn't one that Lifetime decided to make a happy-go-lucky-movie about. Her parents gave her up at a young age, an agreement between the state and her biological parents, she had no parts of this contract, but would have to abide by it her entire life unless she could get it annulled (Guardian). Annulment isn't an easy process, as an adult, the only option is to get an attorney to aid the convincing of a judge to nullify an adoption. As a teenager, it can be even harder. They must also file a petition to annul an adoption. This petition must be signed by the biological parents or by the adoptive parents, as well make a case against the adoptive parents (Legalbeagle). The parents rule in this case as well the once child in this adoption still doesn't have the right to void his contract. And many will say that a child raised by their genetic components can’t end their contracts either, but they can apply for early emancipation.  Early emancipation allows for a child to be able to be free of their parents, and change their legal paperwork, such as their birth certificate say their legal name in replacement of their mother and, or, fathers names.

Many would say that annulling or reversing the adoption as an adoptive parent must be difficult as well. Adoptive parents actually have a much easier time when an adoption fails. An adoptive parent has the right to call for a disturbance in a child. This means that they can claim that the child is a disturbance in the home. In an article in Today, by Diane Mapes author of How to Date in a Post-Dating World, writes a rather serious article in a parent who have to reverse their adoption. Many of the parents are dealing with older children that they have adopted and couldn't handle. They were not use to children who scream inappropriate things in a public setting or children who ran across the street without looking (Today). They struggle to see the child's point of view of constantly craving the attention that biological children have received their entire lives. To reverse an adoption as a parent they must go into a courtroom and claim a disturbance in the child. They often times will refer them to a therapist before they allow them to annul the adoption. If the parents are not happy during the therapy sessions and it is shown to the child as well as the therapist, they then can reverse a child’s adoption and remove their name from the child.

Millions of people in the United States are adopted and many aren't happy with their adoptive parents and struggle to be happy, feeling locked into a forever binding contract. When asked, adults trying to get annulled might say that it is impossible to get annulled as an adult, But on closer inspection, they have a fixed mindset when it comes down to it, getting annulled at any age is very difficult but it is possible with a lot of determination. The reason a person may want to be annulled is never loving the people who adopted them, feeling like they never were given the choice of who would or wouldn’t love them. Adults who never felt this love fight many battles and lose battles due to needing signatures for their biological or adoptive parents, but many also win this battle, forcing a parent or a biological parent to give them this signature. This may not help the entire world directly. But with a teenager who can now get annulled, and put up for readoption can now be moved into foster or group homes that can help them move forward from all they lived through to become better adults. And for an adult, this may create a happier adult. And a deeper understanding for those who weren't adopted, to get to know the struggle of being adopted and not happy.

Works CIted

Pearse, Kaye. “Adoptees should be able to annul their relationship with their adoptive parents | Kaye Pearse.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 4 Aug. 2015, www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/aug/04/adoptees-annul-relationship-adoptive-parents.  

“How to Nullify an Adoption for an Adult.” Legal Beagle, legalbeagle.com/7929259-nullify-adoption-adult.html.

“When a Forever Home Isn't Forever: The Reality of Adoption Dissolution.” Foster Care Newsletter, 1 Sept. 2014, foster-care-newsletter.com/forever-home-isnt-forever-reality-adoption-dissolution/.

“Child Welfare Information Gateway.” Child Welfare, Sept. 2011, www.childwelfare.gov/pubPDFs/adopted0708.pdf. Accessed 24 Sept. 2017.

Mapes, Diane. “It takes more than love: What happens when adoption fails.” TODAY.com, TODAY, 1 Aug. 2012, 6:14am, www.today.com/parents/it-takes-more-love-what-happens-when-adoption-fails-918076.

“Third Party Statistics - National Runaway Safeline | National Runaway Safeline.” Https://Www.1800runaway.Org/, www.1800runaway.org/runaway-statistics/third-party-statistics/.

“Homelessness in America.” Statistics on Homeless Youth in America | Covenant House, www.covenanthouse.org/homeless-teen-issues/statistics.

Imani Murray

Sweatshops are some worst working environments there are. They violate labor laws and basic human rights.  The workers have to endure unfair pay, long unreasonable hours, and child labor. Despite these problems, Sweatshops are used by many clothing companies that are very popular, including  Forever 21, H&M and Urban Outfitters..Even though these practices are known to the public, these companies continue to be popular among shoppers because of their less expensive prices.

According to an article published in Businessweek “Sweatshops are work environments that possess three major characteristics—long hours, low pay, and unsafe or unhealthy working conditions. Sweatshops may also have policies that severely restrict workers' freedoms, including limiting bathroom breaks and even conversations with fellow workers. At its worst, violence is used”  Sweatshops are mainly located in places like South America, Asia, China, India. These people are desperate to work, due to living conditions and many other specific reasons. In most cases if these workers from other countries, are stripped of their passports. These leaves them trapped in the country and the sweatshops, because if seen they would be sent back from where they came from.Although these people make less than 64 cent an hour, they would much rather endure these hardships than return home  empty handed. The ages of their workers can start as young as five years old. H&M feel comfortable with doing this because no matter what they feel like people are going to buy their clothes.  People can pass out from a lot but the most common things that people in sweatshops pass out from is : prolonged working hours, very hot places, exhaustion, and hunger. According to “The Sun” website “Almost 8,000 Cambodian workers have reportedly collapsed since 2010 while making stock for H&M.” H&M has had problems with the way they have their sweatshops are set up for many years. They have made statements saying that they are going to do better with the working conditions that they have their workers in but still haven’t. They work people until they can’t work anymore. Once before H&M has been exploited for their sweatshops and yet they didn’t lose money or hear about it on the news. Only little websites talked about it. So therefore H&M feels like they are undefeated

Sweatshop workers get paid less than minimum wage. Minimum wage isn’t even enough to pay rent and feed your family if your job is following the labor laws. Coming across an article published by the website “The World Counts” they talked about the pay that sweatshop workers get paid. “Sweatshop workers wages can be as low as 1 US cent per hour, and they work up to 100 hours a week in conditions of poor air quality and extreme heat.” Out of the 168 hours there are in a week, they are working 100 of them. On top of that there are workers that can make only a penny every hour they work.  that is only a dollar a week, that isn’t nearly enough to support a family or even just themselves. Companies like H&M, NIke, and Forever 21 use these sweatshops so that they don’t have to pay that much for people to make their clothes. Not only are they make a huge profit but they are also making money off those workers that work for so little.

Sweatshops are going to continue to be around and stay in the conditions that they are in if people don’t do anything to make them better and stop buying clothes because they are less expensive if they are treating their workers like animals. They will still have underpaid and overworked people making clothes. If people would think while they are shopping where the clothes that they are purchasing came from they could help change the conditions that people are working in.  Companies using these cheap alternatives are an ongoing trend that needs to be stopped.

Works CIted

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/1851851/hm-in-factory-horror-as-workers-endure-outrageous-sweatshop-conditions-making-clothes-which-include-beyonces-own-line/

http://www.encyclopedia.com/social-sciences-and-law/economics-business-and-labor/labor/sweatshops

In 1986, Lehigh University freshman Jeanne Clery was raped and murdered in her dorm room. Her parents, realizing the lack of standards for campus crime reporting during that time period, funded the Jeanne Clery act. This act  requires any public or private college or university to report any crime that occurs on campus. Unfortunately, this act has has the opposite of the intended effect. Since the Clery act was passed, schools have been failing to report any incidents of sexual assault on campus, because they only care about protecting their own reputations more than the safety of their students. As a result, they are suppressing students into being scared to share their experiences with the authorities.

The entire system of handling rape cases is corrupt at several  universities and colleges. A documentary by CNN, The Hunting Ground, follows many of these critical issues students are faced with when deciding to speak out about an incident that happened to them. The expose mainly follows two students, Andrea Pino and Annie Clark, who were both victims of sexual assault on campus. In the film, the two students speak about how the school officials neglected to take their pleas for help into consideration and instead advised them to not say anything at all, specifically not to report the incident to the authorities. In the film, Ms. Clark recounts the moments of her sexual assault and how she went weeks before finally deciding to speak up, after hearing another one of her classmates were assaulted as well. She says “ I told this administrator I was violently raped and were sitting down at this point and she looks at me and shoe goes ‘rape is like a football game Annie, and if you look back on the game, what would you do differently in that situation.”  Annie then goes on to speak about how she was expecting resources and support and instead the faculty gave her a metaphor referencing football. Ms Clark, like many other victims all across the Unites states, were discouraged from speaking up.  If victims of sexual assault on campus cannot rely on the school to aid them, they will not be able to trust that if they speak up and that their situation will be handled properly, hence they become discouraged. In fact, The Hunting Ground’s research also claims that the 88 percent of women raped on campus do not report it.   Students are feeling ashamed and hopeless instead of feeling empowered to speak up and share their story, and this is all rooted from the universities sweeping issues under the rug and trying to convince students to do the same.

Even when victims do report crimes against them, there have been hundred of sexual assault on campus cases that have been mishandled by school professionals. For instance, that of Kamilah Willingham case. She was a harvard law student who was sexually assaulted on campus in her dorm room, after a night out with her two friends, one of those friends being Brandon Winston, her alleged offender. After bringing her case to her school officials, a mock trial was held at the university, to see if Mr. Winston was to be held accountable. In an interview Kamilah Willingham did with democracynow.org recounting those moments in the makeshift courtroom at Harvard Law school, she states “and then 19 of my Harvard law professors publicly defended him and did much of what we see happening in this case, bringing the attention to the perpetrator as the, quote-unquote, “real victim” in this case.” When students see cases like Ms. Willingham's, they will feel nothing but discouragement. Seeing how Harvard reacted to Kamilah's case can make students believe that if they were to share their story the same thing would happen to them. They start to believe that teachers aren't going to help, but are going to look out for the best interest of the school.

In the end, Jeanne Clery’s offender was sentenced to death. She may have gotten justice, but there many girls like her who were not as fortunate as her.  School officials are discouraging taking action against sexual assault to keep their crime numbers artificially low, protecting their image and encouraging students to continue to apply to their school. Students in high school need to know this information to know how to protect themselves from situations that can put them in harm's way, and if they are ever faced with predicaments as such, they must know how to handle it properly themselves, because students cannot always rely of people in higher authorities for help.  

Work CIted “The Hunting Ground .” The Hunting Ground Film , www.thehuntinggroundfilm.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/The-Hunting-Ground-Action-Toolkit_8.31.15.pdf. “As 13M People Read Stanford Victim’s Letter, Advocates See “Watershed” Moment in Fight Against Rape.” Democracy Now!, www.democracynow.org/2016/6/9/as_13m_people_read_stanford_victims.

Hamidou Doumbia

2Fer#1 Revision

November 2,2017

English 3

Drugs Vs Moneys

There are hundreds of sports that people love to indulge in one of most popular sports in the world is baseball. But what does it take to succeed at the sport? The majority of baseball players want to become successful at the sport, but their desire to become a star in the league needs to come with strength, power, and intelligence. Baseball athletes have an addiction with P.e.d, p.e.d stand for a performance-enhancing drug which helps athletes improve performance most athletes use anabolic steroids which is a form of p.e.d. Although it is illegal, baseball players still use performance-enhancing drugs because the potential to earn more outweighs the danger of getting caught.

    Also, using drugs can benefit the player to allowing them 162 games continuously because these medicines provide the adrenaline to do so. P.E.D has a huge effect on the player’s body. Baseball players have gained a lot of success in their career in a short amount of time due to these drugs.  The thought of the player taking care of their family and trying to spare enough time to go to the gym, the practice can really affect a human mindset. The effect player using P.E.D in major league is huge.

Major League Baseball has a policy about the use of P.E.D. The penalty for a first-time violation is being underpaid during 80 games, which can increase. The second violation is 162 games underpaid, meaning an entire season. The third violation is a ban from M.L.B. All of this data can be found on NbcSports under M.L.B, a news anchor website that is filled with facts and analysis. The effect of the day’s a player is suspended depends on how many people take the drug and the strength of the drug.  There are tests that can be taken to figure out about what kind of  P.E.D has been used. Their two methods that use urine cup and blood collection.  After taking these tests, it can be determined if a player used the drug, and then judge to defined the suspect. Also, a player can argue their case to make the suspense smaller or even win. A baseball player shouldn’t use these drugs because of all these rules. You have a risk of having these consequences that don't benefit you.

Ultimately baseball players usually care about gaining money more than playing fair and equal for their fans. Houston Astros paid Roger Clemens, a pitcher. Roger Clemens was very good at the base and was almost inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Due to P.E.D helped his performance, he would make 18,000,000 dollars and $25,00 in bonus money. This is referenced by nytimes.com news outlet. When so many players use P.E.D to gain more money, most players already have to use the money before sign the contract. Then not playing for few month doesn’t really affect if the player already has their life-saving.  There are a lot of players, even Rafael Palmeiro, who was an extraordinary player, who could have been in the hall of fame if he didn’t violate the policy.  This can be from the pressure that comes with financial needs. Developing a new idea to overcome the issue of M.L.B players is money because money is the overall majority of issues in America. Money makes people involved in thinking of how much they are going to spend taking care of their family if they are in a different situation.  Depending on how the player going use the money can affect what will they’re willing to do it.

If the M.L.B player stopped to think about it, they would realize that P.ED is not just about helping the player gain more money, but it affects the player body long term as well. There are a lot of risks the only to stop P.E.D to continue in M.L.B. M.L.B needs a  rehab center to clean sports player. If rehab is included with the suspense policy then it helps a lot of players to clear their mind. This one of the many activities that help player personally. Trying not play so much game or cover a certain amount of player financial issue. Thesis idea could save a lot player from using unnecessary reason to use these drugs.          

Works CIted

“MLB, MLBPA announce stronger testing, harsher penalties for PEDs.” NBc sport, Craig Calcaterra, 28 May 2014, mlb.nbcsports.com/2014/03/28/mlb-mlbpa-announce-stronger-testing-harsher-penalties-for-peds/. Accessed 19 Sept. 2017.

Chass, Murray. “Resolution, and Doubts, Regarding Palmeiro.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 13 Nov. 2005, www.nytimes.com/2005/11/13/sports/baseball/resolution-and-doubts-regarding-palmeiro.html. Accessed 19 Sept. 2017.

Your Draft Here:

In some parts of the United States of America (U.S)  the legal minimum drinking age is twenty-one years old. By contrast, China has no legal drinking age and Cuba has it as low as the age of sixteen. With other countries legal drinking age being a low age or not being existent at all shows huge trust in their citizens and shows that they believe their citizens are responsible.  The 21-and-over drinking age in the United States reflects the fact that adults do not trust young people in the united states.

The U.S needs to show trust in it’s millennials and that trust will also come with confidence and responsibility and this is what the millennials need since in their everyday life they are being looked down upon by the adults.  According to Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD). “Finally, in 1984, the federal government ordered all 50 states to raise their legal drinking age to 21 years old or suffer a 10 percent cut in their annual federal highway dollars.” This all started thirty-three years ago and now it is a whole new generation aka the millennials that are around today. U.S are punishing the new generation because of the mistakes and irresponsibility of the generation before them. The millennials deserve to have the same chances of those who came before them.

The U.S changing the legal drinking age to 18 isn’t  that much to ask for considering  that other countries have their drinking age as low as the age of 16. A study done by the World Health Organization found that “In many European countries where the drinking age is 18 or younger, 15 and 16 year-old teens have more drinking occasions per month, but fewer occasions of dangerous intoxication than their American counterparts.” The results of this study came out this way because European countries trust their citizens with alcohol at a younger age so they basically grow with the ability to drink. While the U.S on the other hand have many different penalties when It comes down to minors possessing alcohol, this leads to people tending to go out and get completely wasted on their twenty-first birthday in celebration for being legally able to drink. Since they are getting completely wasted the chance of something dangerous or fatal happening exponentially increases.

If the adults stopped to think about it, they will realize that the legal drinking age is not just about safety but it is also about building trust in society. If the legal drinking age is indeed changed to eighteen the trust that would be brought along would be very strong and it would really increase the bond between the millennials and the adults. This is why the U.S needs to change their minimum legal drinking age to eighteen throughout the U.S.

Works CIted

Caleb Daniloff. Video by Robin Berghaus. “Drinking: 18 vs. 21 | BU Today | Boston University.” BU Today, www.bu.edu/today/2010/drinking-18-vs-21/.

Responsibility, Choose. Choose Responsibility, www.chooseresponsibility.org/drinking_and_culture/.

Moomintrolls or commonly known as Moomin is a Finnish-Swedish cartoon creation by Tove Jansson. Her first Moomin family book was published in 1945. After many books were create it became a comic strip in the British newspaper, then an animation series (Moomin.com). Moomintrolls became a popular overseas franchise. Moomintrolls live in Moominvalley, they are white troll like creatures with long snouts and tails. The Moomin animations follow around the Moomins and other characters in Moominvalley. The success of Moomintrolls is due to the fact that it serves as a connection builder between people of all ages.

Moomin’s name expanded over the years. Not only did they have an animation series, comics and books, they also had puppet plays, an opening at an art museum, an opera, cafés and a theme-park. Moomin doesn’t only have popularity in Finland and Sweden. They gained popularity in Britain, Singapore, China, Japan, Korea and many other countries. With a colorful pallet and endearing characters, Moomin became  Finland’s most famous family. With all of the talk and expansion more people can get into the Moomins. This can create a connection from citizens all over bonding due to Moomins. It creates different reasons to how everyone fell into the appeal of Moomins. Maybe they grew up with it, liked the hidden message or liked the cute appeal and colors.

According to Katariina Benedetti whom is the director of project SF100SG, a Moomin project in Singapore, “The Moomin characters are a vivid representation of the wide range of human emotions, but they are mostly kind and good natured and keen on helping and promoting a message of peace and forgiveness. This message perfectly fits the needs of today’s world.” (Moomin.com) Here she is saying that the message that the Moomin’s are giving and expressing are good for anyone of any age. The Moomins are about kindness and peace, which is something everyone needs more of. This world has a lot of negative emotions surrounding it, so positivity could help little by little. Though the Moomin’s were set for younger audiences, adults and teens can still enjoy Moomin regardless.

Moomin’s characters are all different yet similar in a way. All of them have very expressive emotions that humans have.  The main Moomin characters are Little My, Moomin, Moominmama, Moominpapa,  Snorkmaiden, Snufkin and Sniff. Other characters here and there will pop up during the shows and books. Snufkin and Moominmamma brings more of the peaceful and collected aspect of emotions due to their nature and actions. The tone of their voice is very calming to the ears. Sniff is timid and cowardly and Moominpappa is philosophical, he tends to think more. Little My is fiery and irritable yet honest and reliable. Sorkmaiden is more of a daydreamer who is similar to Moomin in lots of ways. Both of them are typically happy and energetic. Though since Moomin is the main character, therefore he has more of an emotional range than the others. In the Moomin animation, episode 13, titled ‘The Last Dragon on Earth’ Moomin in a sad tone says to Snufkin, “I think he likes you more then me.” Moomin had caught a tiny dragon in that episode but the dragons seems more calm around Snufkin. While the dragon was around Moomin it would behave rashly, thus causing Moomin to say that line. The Moomin’s different personality can help immerse people into the story, they feel more relatable that way. These characters bring more peace and positive emotions to children, while still bring in what is to be called negative emotions.

Moomin’s merchandise skyrocketed along with Moomin’s popularity. Sophia Jansson, Tove’s niece had said to the UK’s Daily Mail, “A lot of it goes over the heads of children. Those expensive mugs flying off the shelves are not being bought by or for children! There are themes Tove expresses that are eternal – family versus loneliness, adventure, how to handle a hard time – all set against storms and mountains. People find a sense of belonging in the Moomins. They allow them to pick up on feelings they maybe didn’t know they had – such as missing someone.” Not everyone is connected to all the emotions and feelings. Some might push away certain emotions or not think about it. Creating them to not know that one might feel it. While watching Moomin, people can try to place and pick up these missing emotions that are laid down throughout the animation.

Children aren’t the only ones in love with the Moomins. Adults purchase the merchandise with flying ease. More Moomin cafés and exhibits are popping up in Asia, Sweden and Finland. Allowing adults to be more excited about this adorable and loving franchise. Not only can adults get excited with merchandise and new Moomin themed areas, the show and the Moomins themselves create a connection to emotions that children may brush over. Children will feel all of the emotions, but not really understand them as an adult would. One emotion that may be brushed over by a child may not be brushed over to an adult. Children tend to be happy all the time which can get more difficult as they grow up. Stress and pride may brush over child as they don’t tend to do much with these emotions.

Sophia Jansson did lots of interviews about the Moomins and her aunt Tove. She likes to bring the realness and emotions that she shares with the Moomin’s story. “Tove never set out to document. She was a storyteller. The book is about the relationship between someone very old and someone very young – the mutual disregard but very great respect and friendship” (The Guardian)  An underlying story like this can appeal to all ages due to the fact that they can all relate to it in some way.  Adults find it enjoyable and can get attached the the lovable hippo-like trolls. The Moomin family became a Jansson family business that brought all ages together. It’s like Finland’s Disney.

Although people who aren’t Moomin fans, might think that the characters are just superficial and cute, its influence goes beyond the children’s cartoon to emotional connector and inspiration. Tove’s work on the Moomins were based on people and actual events in her life. She brought things she loves, such as her family, friends and her childhood into a creation that could inspire younger audiences.  

After decades of profit, the typical cookie-cutter Disney princess movies are no longer money makers. What do audiences want today? Moana is the first Disney princess without a love interest and people believe that this means Disney has finally realized what these princesses mean to girls. It is not about showing young girls beauty is everything, it is about showing them that they can achieve things that they might not have thought they were capable of. Disney’s Moana might have been the perfect mixture of culture and feminism people were looking for. In today's society women are looking to be independent and not ones who want to wait for a man to do everything, and Disney's Moana is the character that most represents that. The most successful Disney princesses are now the ones that show young girls they don’t need a love interest in order to be happy or achieve their goals.

When it debuted in 2016, Moana earned over $600 million worldwide in the box office. The movie tells the story of the adventurous daughter of a Polynesian tribal chief who decides to sail out and find an artifact that will be able to help her island. An article written by Vanity Fair, a magazine on pop culture, stated that “Co-directors John Musker and Ron Clements worked with a team of anthropologists, cultural practitioners, historians, linguists, and choreographers from islands including Samoa, Tahiti, Moorea, and Fiji.” They put effort into making sure that the geographic and ethnic information they were putting into the movie was true, even though some things would still be exaggerated. By contrast the 2009 movie The Princess and the Frog had a lot of disapprovals. Throughout that process, people took offense to the role that the main character Tiana was given and the ways the directors portrayed New Orleans. Not everyone is going to love the way directors portray their culture, but most responses were happy with the different details they incorporated. More research was needed in the creation of Moana in order to assure that they would not get the same angry responses.  

The plot of Moana also differs from the typical Disney princess movie. Although movies like Beauty and the Beast and Mulan are led by an independent female, they always include a love interest, with the girl settling down with the guy in the end. In an article by Kos Media LLC, an online blog, they said “Moana is not defined by a love story-in fact there isn’t one in the film, leading many to claim this is the latest in Disney’s move to embracing diversity and feminist heroines.” This movie shows actual struggles choosing between standing up for a thought or listening to others as well as doing what people expect or doing something bold. It is understandable that a young girl isn’t going to suddenly think about sailing across the ocean to save an island, but it encourages young boys or girls to dream bigger no matter the age and not worry about love. It also dives into a deeper issue as the end of the movie reveals that the main supposed villain, Te Kā, is the product of selfishness and neglect.  The topic of neglect is more likely to appear in the life of a child, whether it is through being treated poorly by others, or seeing it done to someone else. Rather than using this neglect to hurt others, reaching out to someone who is being affected by it and trying to make the situation better for them is the right thing to do. Moana realized that the “villain” was a product of neglect by the people, and helping them out brought benefits to her village.

The physical difference in this new princess also matter. As many have noticed, Moana also doesn’t have the the distinctive qualities of a Disney princess with the tall slim build. An article by The Huffington Post mentioned that it felt like companies were finally starting to realize the effect they have in shaping young minds. The article also compared it to Barbie and diversifying their dolls. Disney has been criticized for increasing body image issues among young girls which is why they were more conscious when creating Moana. In the creation of the movie, animators changed Moana’s body to look more like an athletic young girl rather than have a nearly impossible body shape that young girls can’t relate to.

When asked, Disney fans might say that they think Disney is caught up on having movies that involve many races, not having something be stereotypical to gender, or body shapes that different people can relate to. But on closer inspection, it took them 80 years to have a Disney princess movie that was solely about the main female character and not a relationship, as well as having a princess with a more realistic body shape. Moana is a step in the right direction for not just Disney but also other companies to look up to and see how they can have a better influence on younger kids.

Works Cited

Desta, Yohana. “The Year Disney Started to Take Diversity Seriously.” HWD, Vanity Fair, 23 Nov. 2016, www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2016/11/disney-films-inclusive.

Misick, Bobbi. “Controversy Over 'The Princess and the Frog.” Essence.com, www.essence.com/2009/11/30/critics-dispute-princess-and-the-frog.

“The importance of "Moana".” The Odyssey Online, 30 Aug. 2017, www.theodysseyonline.com/importance-moana.

Powell, Dylan. “Deep, rich 'Moana' transcends the Disney mold.” The Valley Vanguard, 5 Oct. 2017, www.valleyvanguardonline.com/deep-rich-moana-transcends-disney-mold/.

“'Moana' continues the evolution of the Disney princess.” Daily Kos, www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/11/28/1604706/--Moana-continues-the-evolution-of-the-Disney-princess.

Moss, Rachel. “Disney Has Finally Created A Heroine With A Realistic Body.” HuffPost UK, The Huffington Post, 26 Sept. 2016, www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/disney-moana-has-a-realistic-body-type_uk_57e8c8cfe4b0e81629aa0935.

The NBA (National Basketball Association) is a professional basketball league in the U.S. Throughout the years, the NBA has had superstar players who dominated the game for most of their career. From the likes of Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Kobe Bryant, and even Larry Bird, fans have always been drawn to the biggest names and enjoyed comparing them. It is said that Kevin Durant is the best player in the NBA today. However, LeBron James is actually the better player to admire and play with because of a combination of aspects on and off the court, such as statistics and trophy awards, and also career choices.

Kevin has more regular season scoring titles than LeBron, but failed to average more than LeBron in that season where both players have superstars on their team. LeBron, in the regular season (2016-2017), averaged more in three major statistics than Kevin. LeBron averaged 26.4 points per game, while Kevin averaged 25.1 points per game. In trophy awards, LeBron also has more MVPs and NBA championships than Kevin. Despite the fact that both players play the same position, Kevin Durant has a height of 7’1”, while LeBron James stands at 6’8”. This is a significant height advantage over LeBron and all other players at their position. An height advantage like that has to mean that Kevin should have less problems than LeBron when playing.

LeBron is also a better role model. He has been involved in much more global/national awareness messages in the last year. He has helped sent a positive example about what is going on in the U.S. with police brutality and other negative actions that has affected the country. For example, he spoke out at the opening of the 2016 ESPYs about the pointless killings of blacks by police. By contrast, Kevin has only made a positive move for his basketball career by joining one of the best teams in the NBA to win his first championship. Joining mostly made an negative impact on basketball fans in the country. Fans started to burn the jerseys and t-shirts of him that they had. They made negative comments towards him. They said he wasn’t a loyal person and that he let his former teammates and staff down. Many started calling him names such as a coward, snake, and the recent nickname of “Cupcake”. Someone who is supposed to be looked up to wouldn’t let create many problems for the people that love him.

After 7 years of his NBA career, LeBron James decided to leave his hometown team, to join another team and help make them worthy of winning a championship. This would be his first championship. As mentioned earlier, Kevin Durant also decided to leave a team to create championship winning team, but only after 9 years of his NBA career. Both decisions shocked the entire world, but Kevin’s decision was actually the worse. His decision created problems all other NBA teams. LeBron joined a team whose previous regular season record was 45-37. Kevin joined a team whose previous record was 73-9. That broke the record for having the best regular season record in NBA history. The record before that was 72-10, which was set by Michael Jordan and his Chicago Bulls in 1996.

When asked to consider their success on the court alone, NBA analysts and fans might say that LeBron James and Kevin Durant on equally the best basketball players. But on closer inspection, LeBron is actually the better basketball player on and off the court. He is certainly the “face” of the NBA and admired by many more fans.

Genero Accooe

10/15/17

English 3

Larissa Pahomov

Standing by the Knee or Standing by the Anthem

The national anthem is not only an important song that symbolizes the hardships and battles that freedom cost the United States, it is also an important part of American sports specifically the NFL. At the moment the media is hot and heavy on a trend that breaks tradition from the national anthem, some star players have started to kneel during the anthem. This has caused a lot of controversy as even President Trump has disapproved of this, with so much negative feedback there has to be an overarching cause. While many who disapprove believe that the kneelers are disrespecting the nation, Kneeling actually symbolizes the current oppression that African Americans are facing in this country, to kneel during the anthem is to accept these facts of our country.

Who was the first to kneel during the anthem? Where did it all start? The now famous NFL player, Colin Kaepernick of the San Francisco 49er’s began the movement on August 14 of 2016 -- but he wasn’t kneeling but sitting down. Kaepernick went unnoticed the first two games of the season, he wasn’t in uniform those games so there was little for anyone to say on the matter. On his third day he kneeled and it wasn’t till after the game when a picture of the anthem was tweeted and the 49er’s had confirmation that Kaepernick had kneeled. Kaepernick's protest was peaceful and was even stronger due to his popularity as a player. After a while, another player joined the founder to initialize the movement. Kaepernick’s actions can help others gain insight on his thoughts previous to the movement. Due to the nature of an National Anthem, americans are expected to stand proud for the country that our anthem represents, but to stand proud means that they are content with the country and accept it for what it is. Take kneeling on the other hand, it can show a sign of respect but also a sign of accepted inferiority, Kaepernick thinks that kneeling would show everyone that people of his color are still seen as inferior to the majority of the country.

Fellow friend and teammate Eric Reid, is one of the many players who’ve decided to act alongside Kaepernick.  In an article for the New York TImes, Reid stated that they are speaking for the voiceless, “I remember thinking our posture was like a flag flown at half-mast to mark a tragedy”. Reid’s statement can be hard to understand but once it is break down , there is a lot of merit to the statement. A flag at half mast can symbolize many things such as respect, salutation and mourning. This  is meant to honor the lives of African americans who were shot and killed by police who went to drastic measures to subdue them.  Reid and Kaepernick’s movements had become a real organized protest that would lead to an  even greater gathering of players to support the cause. The fact that so many people have joined the cause proves that they acknowledge the oppression that many black americans are facing right now.

Many people were outraged at the players for their act and the NFL for allowing it to happen, even Donald Trump had something to say about it and took to Twitter, shaming Kaepernick for his so called lack of patriotism. Reid and Kaepernick were fairly frustrated by the portrayal many people had on the protest, saying that their act was disrespectful to their military and country. Reid explains that he feels that the knee is not meant to disrespect America's troops but still honors the freedom that the country's soldiers have fought for. The statement shows the drive Reid has to make people see the reality of the subject that the nation is in a state of inequality, using passive techniques that help convey a message in a positive format.

African Americans have been a victim of systematic oppression since their freedom back in the 1800’s and yet people must still fight to rid of that same oppression today. The act of kneeling has been used by many NFL players, to publicise their opinion on the subject.  This matters not only to sports fans, but to the whole nation because everyone is affected by the passing of people,  especially when these deaths heavily imply that the lives of African Americans are not as valuable as others in the eyes of police. The blue on black crimes that happen so frequently, should be important to everyone due to the fact that people’s lives are at stake. Players have received backlash but the important thing to note is that there has been a powerful impact. Many star players have begun to replicate the work of Colin Kaepernick and Eric Reid hoping to spread their influences and ideology even further.

• Reid, Eric. “Eric Reid: Why Colin Kaepernick and I Decided to Take a Knee.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 25 Sept. 2017, www.nytimes.com/2017/09/25/opinion/colin-kaepernick-football-protests.html.

• Sandritter, Mark. “All the Athletes Who Joined Kaepernick's National Anthem Protest.”SBNation.com, SBNation.com, 11 Sept. 2016, www.sbnation.com/2016/9/11/12869726/colin-kaepernick-national-anthem-protest-seahawks-brandon-marshall-nfl.

• Garber, Megan. “They Took a Knee.” The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 24 Sept. 2017, www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2017/09/why-the-nfl-is-protesting/540927/.