Thursday, January 26, 2012

Should Smoking be Banned?


Have you ever thought about what our nation has to say about smoking? Some people may think that smoking should be banned in public places; others would think that is pointless and would be violating their rights. Everyone may have a different opinion, here are a few articles with just that…


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            In Aastha Dogra’s article, “Should Smoking be Banned in Public Places,” she informs people such as smokers, non-smokers, and young adults about the pros and cons that can come about from smoking. Writing about the pros and cons about smoking Aastha used a ‘compare and contrast’ text structure because she wants to inform people what they are doing to their bodies whenever they smoke. She may have also used this text structure to support her viewpoint about how harmful smoking is and how it would be better if smoking was banned in public places immediately to take effect. She stated this herself and seemed to have had more facts against smoking in public places. Although, she does have conflicting evidence about her viewpoint; explaining how banning smoking in public places would be somewhat dreadful for the community’s/government’s funds. Aastha uses connotation words such as ‘encroaching’ instead of ‘taking away their rights’ and ‘irritability’ instead of ‘easily annoyed.’ She states that those may be symptoms from smokers or people around them. This source is fairly reliable, the author has information about herself and the article was written about a year ago. On the other hand, the website that the article is posted on may not be well known.


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            In the article, “Why smoking should be banned in all public places,” the author, Ted Sherman persuades people in our country that smoking should be banned in public places. Ted uses a text structure called ‘description’ because he describes his past experiences (background knowledge) and how bad smoking was to him. He also describes how smoking could harm other people just by second-hand smoking. Ted thinks of smoking as an addiction that could harm the smokers and or/people around them and should be banned in public places. He describes why smoking should be banned and what it could do to people such as diseases like emphysema and other lung problems caused by smoking. There is no conflicting evidence; he is for banning smoking in public places 100%. There is certainly a slant/bias, but instead of using words like disgusting or ‘too bad,’ he using words such as unpleasant or unfortunate, presenting his opinion in a mature polite way. I’d say that he used ethos to persuade readers because instead of a good outcome from smoking, he persuades his audience that only bad outcomes will occur. This is an acceptable source for the reason that the author has enough information about himself regarding his background information. This source was also recently updated; however, many people may not know that this website exists.



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            In his article, “A Smoking Ban Too Far,” Michael B. Siegel persuades people such as opponents of smoking and probably the government, that outdoor smoking in New York should not be banned and that “antismoking organizations should focus more on extending workplace protections.” Michael thinks that banning outdoor smoking is pointless because people could get away from the smoker easily when they’re outside. He must have used a ‘cause and effect’ text structure to show what would happen when smokers smoke; people are more likely to stay away from them. By using cause and effect he describes what would happen if smoking was and wasn’t banned. Michael does use conflicting evidence in his article. He states, “Researchers at Stanford found that levels of tobacco smoke within three feet of a smoker outside are comparable to inside levels.” He talks about how opponents of smoking keep citing new research fighting with science on their side to ban smoking outdoors. In the article Michael has a neutral connotation with words like ‘pointless,’ ‘disease,’ and ‘significant.’ Instead he could have used words like stupid, infection, and small to show a stronger bias/slant. However, he does show a bias against banning smoking outdoors because he believes that banning smoking indoors is a much stronger/more important case than banning smoking outdoors (which is pointless to him). Out of the two other persuasive teqniques, Michael generally used logos because he uses other people’s statements for conflicting evidence and he would usually have something to say against their statements, sustaining his opinion on why smoking shouldn’t be banned outdoors. Overall this may be a moderately reliable source because the article was written recently (2011) and was reprinted by New York Times. The article is also on a reliable website that people may use to find research.



Friday, November 18, 2011

The Simple Instructions on How to Take Care of Your New Dog

BY: Paco
It might be nice to get a new dog, but you have to be responsible to be able to take care of one.
The Basics
            Let’s start with something easy. Feed your dog food and water on a daily basis inside of your home. That way the food will digest and be ready whenever your dog goes outside. Usually, you will know when to feed your dog whenever he/she begs or seems upset. One final tip….. NEVER FEED HIM/HER CHOCOLATE, THEY WILL DIE! Keep chocolate out of your dog’s reach so he can never eat it.
Help your Dog Have a Good Hygiene
            Give your dog a nice bath using dog shampoo. Fleas are attracted to dirt, so wash your dog thoroughly once every month. Some dogs have sensitive skin, but with every dog you want to give him a bath with warm water. If your dog’s fur is exceedingly long or dirty, you may want to take him to the groomers. I recommend taking your dog there at least once every 2 months. By the way, most dogs shed, so if you are concerned about your dog shedding, you should try to brush your dog’s fur every day. One of the only dogs that don’t shed are poodles.
Cleaning Your Dog’s “Surprises”
Every dog has to “go” from time to time.  You will most likely be the one to clean up his mess. Using training pads would be a good start to training your dog where to “go”. He will most likely pee on the pad.  If not, use paper towels to clean and soak up the pee. Then, use some kind of clean-up spray like Clorox to remove the remaining mess. Finally, use more paper towels to finish cleaning the mess. If they go poop, just pick it up with a glove or paper towel and throw it away into a small plastic bag. Then, just like the pee, use a clean-up spray to finish cleaning the area where the poop was. Most importantly, remember to wash your hands after cleaning one of your dog’s messes. Although, you may want to take them outside at certain times of the day so your dog can get use to “going” outside. You could walk your dog at least 2-3 times a day to start training him/her.
Taking Your Dog to The VET
Sometimes your dog might not feel good; you always want to be able to help your dog. Take your dog to a VET nearby at least every 1-2 months to make sure that your dog is healthy. At times, your dog might make a weird noise; a snorting sound. It’s normal whenever your dog makes this sound, although if the sound continues for more than a day, something is wrong. The VET is always a good place to help your dog.


Leaving Your Dog Alone
At one point or another, you might go out of town, but what about your dog? A dog can be alone for a long time, depending on the condition of the area where your dog is kept. Although you’re able to leave you dog alone, it’s not the best thing to do. Overall though, I would say you could leave your dog alone for just 1 day. Especially if you leave your dog inside, in one day your home would be full of “surprises”.  It’s healthier to leave your dog with a friend of yours or a dog sitter. That way someone will be taking care of your dog and give him some company.
Enjoy the Time You have with Your Dog
Dogs can live up to 10-15 years. In those 15 years, enjoy the moments you have with your dog, take good care of them, and give your dog as much attention as possible.

Thursday, November 17, 2011

When You Lose Something You Cannot Replace...

Its really painful and we have to move on with our lives. If its a friend... you have to try to do something to get them back. Life is short, enjoy it, embrace it, live every day as if it was your last day, just don't kill yourself. Do what you have always dreamed of. Always hope for the best... never the worst.