Open Letter Final Drafts

Post the full final draft of your Open Letter essay here by pasting it into the comment box. You may start posting AFTER class on Wednesday, November 7. The deadline for posting is BEFORE 12pm on Friday, November 9.

12 thoughts on “Open Letter Final Drafts”

  1. Anderson Salcedo
    Prof. Choi
    English 1101 (D302)
    Open Letter
    They’re Bringing Their Best
    Dear President Trump, Administration, and Supporters:
    Imagine locking up kids or putting them in a cage for something someone else did. Completely isolating them from any love ones and giving them a traumatizing experience, childhood, and life. Just because you thought it was the key to stopping dangerous criminals from coming in the country and then realizing you were wrong. Now not only were you wrong but now you have also ruined the life of many innocent children. That the only crime this “criminals” have done was to cross the border without papers to come in the country and give it all they have till there last breath to be successful. However, sadly this kids just show a small percentage of what illegal immigrants are currently going through in the United States. After you came to power, president Trump and started the administration immigrants overall have been stigmatized specially Spanish immigrants. Immigrants are now called rapist, drug dealers, and made seen as if they are poison to the United States. However, these rumors aren’t true and there is much more to bring to the table than what is speculated. Immigrants overall were and still are an asset to the United States because this country was built off of immigrants, immigrants contribute to the economy, and enriched the country with culture.
    The first reason why immigrants are an asset to the United States is because from the very beginning immigrants were the ones who build the United States of America. During the colonial time period the Pilgrims left Great Britain to escape its regime. Settlers fled from their home country to look for their freedom and for the search of a more economical future. The first successful colony was known as Jamestown. The success of this colony quickly opened the door for 12 more and eventually lead to the creation of the nation we live in. However, somewhere along the line the country that literally commence with immigrants lost its essence and started to target later generations of immigrants. For example, you rumored that illegal immigrants use kids as an excuse to come into the country which ultimately lead to this kids being separated and isolated from having any contact from their families. ‘“If they feel there will be separation, then they won’t come.”’ (Olorunnipa par.2). In other words, you yourself said that the key to stopping illegal immigrant from coming in the country is to make them experience separation from kids and eventually scaring them off to not come in the country. However, your plan failed because it has awoken multiple caravans of immigrants gathering and trying to pass the borders. “Mexico’s Interior Ministry estimated over the weekend that there are more than 5,000 migrants in total currently moving through Mexico.” (Perez D. par.26). In other words, migrants are gathering in Central America and in Mexico alone more than 5,000 are on their march to cross the American borders. This shows that locking up kids was not the solution to stopping immigrant from coming in the country. Instead of savagely separating this kids we should provide migrants with a temporary visa in which they can come in the country for 3-4 years to show their worthiness, give them the chance to show they can be productive members of society.
    The second reason why immigrants are an asset to the U.S is because they contribute to the economy. Immigrants leave their country with the intention to come here to prove themselves, to show that they have what it takes to be successful. That’s why many get here with the intention to work, to reach their dream, and climb the social ladder. A source that allowed illegal immigrants to do this was DACA. DACA stands for “Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals” which provided illegal immigrants that were brought to the United States at a young age many benefits. “Participation in the program comes with a range of benefits. Along with permission to remain in the country, recipients can also get work permits.” (Robbins par.6). In other words DACA provides illegal immigrants many benefit, one being a work permit that allows immigrants to legally work in this country. However, the Trump administration has dedicated themselves to abolish this act, not knowing that it will just hurt our economy. “over the next decade, the national GDP could take a $460.3 billion hit by rescinding DACA. California and Texas may feel the largest blows to their GDPs, with $11.6 billion and $6.2 billion in potential annual losses respectively” (Skye Gould and Leanna Garfield). In other words the termination of DACA will heavily damage the U.S because it will lose a considerable amount of money because illegal immigrant worker will no longer have a permit that allows them to work. DACA has shown to be a major factor in the economy which is why we should keep it because it allows immigrants to legally work in the country, pay taxes and even go to college which can be a detrimental factor to the future of the United States and its economy.
    Finally, immigrants have enriched the United States with an abundance of different aspects of cultures. If you look around you such as your favorite food, clothing, language or even holidays have been greatly influence by immigrants. One food that is very popular in the United States and that most love is pizza. Which is an Italian traditional food. How about tacos, which are Mexican and are also a very popular type of food in the United States. In addition, other languages have greatly impacted the United States as well. For example, according to Sarah Schmalbruch a writer for Business Insider and who earned a degree in magazine journalism, stated that in states like Alabama, Wisconsin, West Virginia, Washington, and many more have Spanish as the most popular spoken language besides English. This show that immigrants are spreading their culture in the American society and that by defaming them we are just hurting the country which can learn and prosper from different cultures. Instead we should highlight this beautiful aspects to ease the tension some have against illegal immigrants.
    As you can see illegal immigrants are not poisoning the United State because they’re an important asset to this country. This country was built off of immigrants, they contribute to the economy, and enriche this country with a variety of cultures. We are blaming immigrants for the flaws that our country has and that’s what Adolf Hitler did. He accused the Jew of poisoning Germany, made it seem as if they were the all responsible for the horrific situation Germany was going through after WW1. However, we aren’t Adolf Hitler, we are better than that. Let’s stop pointing fingers and looking for someone to blame for the flaws that we have and instead let’s start looking for solutions. This country is known by helping others, to be the strong to defend the weak, so let’s show it. Let’s work together to fix this imperfect flaws to be perfect flaws that strengthen and unite us all. Lets show the world that we really are the United States.

    Bibliography
    Gould, Skye and Leanna Garfield. “How Much Money A DACA Repeal Could Cost Every State.” Business Insiders, Sep. 6, 2017, Google, https://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-daca-and-how-much-will-it-cost-the-us-2017-9
    Olorunnipa, Toluse, Tamara Thueringer, and Jennifer Epstein / Bloomberg. “President Trump Says Family Separations May Deter Illegal Immigration.” Time, Oct. 14, 2018, Google, http://time.com/5424225/trump-family-separation-illegal-immigration/
    Perez D, Sonia., Mark Stevenson, and Maria Verza. “Caravan Migrants Arrive In Mexico City, Bed Down In Stadium.” The Washington Post, Nov. 5, 2018, Google, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/migrant-caravan-sets-sight-on-getting-to-mexico-city/2018/11/04/d01408fe-e08f-11e8-ba30-a7ded04d8fac_story.html?utm_term=.3a8681abc431
    Robbins, Liz and Caitlin Dickerson. “What Does The Latest Court Ruling On DACA Mean? Here Are Some Answers.” The New York Times, Jan. 23, 2018, Google, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/23/us/daca-dreamers-shutdown.html
    Schmalbruch, Sarah. “The Most Common Language Spoken In Every US State Besides English.” Insider, Jan. 4, 2018, Google
    https://www.thisisinsider.com/most-popular-second-languages-us-2018-1

  2. Mohamed Hawater
    Prof. Choi
    Eng. 1101 (D302)
    Open Letter Essay First Draft

    Let’s Make Marijuana Legal in Our Country
    Dear: Legislative branch in the government.
    Can you ever imagine how phenomenal it would be for people smoke marijuana anywhere they want without being scared of the law and the police? People already have the right to smoke marijuana in one or two countries and states, such as: Uruguay, California State and Colorado State. One can get surprised when a government legalize marijuana in the country. A lot of questions in people’s mind were asked “why would a government do such a thing and make the cannabis legal in the country?”. The government of Canada wants to legalize marijuana in the country. There is a heated debate that the western world goes through that surrounds the issue of whether marijuana should be legal by the Canadian government. Many people don’t know the actual benefit from marijuana and how it’s helpful and has a great impact on people’s health, the economy of the country, and its medical purposes. The legalization of marijuana in Canada which have big population will affect many countries that want to take that step to make the cannabis legal. I agree with the legalization idea of marijuana in Canada because the cannabis is used for many medical purposes, does not damage people’s health as many people’s thinks and it benefits the economy of a country.
    One of the reasons why the government of Canada should legalize marijuana in the country is that marijuana is not addictive, it makes people feel happy and provides many benefits to the people. This shown to be true because marijuana played a big role in many important functions such as learning to control anxiety, decreasing the symptoms of depression circle, and it may be other responsiveness to other things like alcohol. Cynthia Kuhn, Scott Swartzwelder and Wilkie Wilson stated that “No one has ever died from an overdose of marijuana.” (157) This evidence demonstrates that lethal overdose of marijuana is virtually impossible. Marijuana is less harmful and has more beneficial effects than alcoholic beverages which are legal in Canada. Thus, how come marijuana is illegal? Many people think that marijuana is the reason why drivers get into accidents. However, automobile usage by drunk drivers is more dangerous than drivers who smoke marijuana. Furthermore, as pointed out in the article Canadians Already smoke a lot of Pot. “Prohibition causes serious, serious harm around the world. Number of people who convicted of cannabis possession have historically been disproportionally indigenous or black.” (Hilary Black qtd. In Catherine Porter 2). This evidence shows that the banning of marijuana may have an effect on the society. The government should only regulate how much a person can buy, carry and share the amount of marijuana and where should they can buy it. A misunderstanding that many people have is that when the government legalize marijuana, more people will want to use it. In contrast, if one is able to just buy marijuana without caring that the police will catch him, the thrilling part of taking marijuana becomes missing, which then may lead to not wanting it anymore. However, people tend to want what they can’t have, it’s a psychological fact that everyone knows. Thus, allowing it much like cigarettes, the demand for it may stabilize which can have a good or/ bad effect to people. For that, one may say that legalizing marijuana may make people not so attracted to it anymore. Therefore, it’s clear that the government of Canada should legalize marijuana because of its good effects on people that is more than its bad effects.
    Moreover, another reason to legalize marijuana in Canada is that marijuana rises the economy and highly improves it. This shows to be true because the government will take all control of buying and selling marijuana which is better than controlling the drug dealers in the black market. Many countries may follow the legalization of the marijuana because of economics. According to the article Canadians Already smoke a lot of Pot. Now It’s about to Become Legal, “Market analysts expect the industry to reach $5 billion (6.5 billion Canadian dollars) by 2020.” (Porter 2). This evidence shows that by legalizing the cannabis in Canada; the economy can be raised. This may improve any country that will follow and make marijuana legal in that country. Furthermore, Porter talked about when marijuana becomes legal; cannabis will infuse to many products laid out for sale, such as: marijuana cinnamon buns, marijuana cereal bars, marijuana mixed nuts and marijuana chewy candies. This will improve the economy even more because it will open new markets for marijuana products. According to the article Should Governments Legalize and Tax Marijuana? “We can consider much of this $6.90 per unit of marijuana profit a risk premium for participating in the underground economy. Unfortunately, this risk premium is making a lot of criminals, many of whom have ties to organized crime, very wealthy.” (Moffatt 1). This quote shows that the government should legalize the marijuana and take control of its market to benefit from the money which people pay for the marijuana products instead of making the drug dealers very rich by buying and selling the marijuana in the black market because either way people buy marijuana even if it is illegal.
    Others may argue that the government should not legalize marijuana because it has effects on people’s mind. Kuhn et al. said, “Dependence can be measured in a variety of ways, but in general it seems that even heavy marijuana users do not become independent in all of the ways that users of other drugs.” (155). This quote shows that marijuana makes people do things they really want to do and scared. For example, when my friend was smoking marijuana, he told me some stuff about his personal life he was not supposed to tell me. However, this argument is less convincing because the cannabis has more good benefits than its side effects. Also, most of the people who hit the cannabis do not exceed that level of unconscious. Cannabis only makes one braver than they usually are. It has no dependence levels and no withdrawal symptoms that can harm anyone like other drugs or even Alcohol, which is legal (Kuhn et al.152). Therefore, Cannabis like marijuana should be legalized because it does not have bad effects on the body.
    In conclusion, one can say that marijuana should be legalize in Canada because it has many medical purposes as it helps people getting over depression, as well as decrease the anxiety levels. Cannabis also increase the economy of any country that legalize it in it.; that because of the supply and demand in the country which will rise the economy even more. Also, it helps to get more prisoners out, that will save a lot of costs for the government. Lastly, marijuana has no dependence levels or withdrawal symptoms like any other drug or even Alcohol. Concluding all this, marijuana should be legalized in Canada because of all its good benefits.

    Works Cited

    Ingraham, Christopher. “More and More Doctors Want to Make marijuana legal”, The Washington Post, April 15, 2016. Retrial hon, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/04/15/more-and-more-doctors-want-to-make-marijuana-legal/?utm_term=.46be327512fa
    Kuhn, Cynthia., Swartzwelder, Scott., Wilson, Wilkie., Buzzed the Straight Facts about the Most Used and Abused Drugs from Alcohol to Ecstasy, New York. W.W.Norton Compnay 4th, 2008.
    Moffatt, Mike. “Should Governments Legalize and Tax Marijuana?” ThoughtCo, Nov. 1, 2018, thoughtco.com/should-governments-legalize-and-tax-marijuana-1147576.
    Porter, Catherine. “Canadians Already Smoke a Lot of Pot. Now It’s about to Become Legal”, New York Times, October 14, 2018. Retrial hon, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/14/world/canada/marijuana-legal.html

  3. Xincheng zeng
    Prof. Choi
    English 1101 (D302)
    Open Letter
    A trade war equals world war
    Dear President Trump
    The world war third is about to begin. We know that in the past 17 years, China’s GDP has increased nine times, and it has become the world’s second-largest economy. In America, almost everything is made in China, such as clothes, furniture, electronics, food, and cars. But you start a new trade war with China on March 22, 2018, because you want to punish China for stealing American intellectual property and trade secrets. When you raise tariffs on all goods don’t forget that China holds nearly a trillion dollars in U.S. Treasury bonds, and it would be a huge shock to the U.S. if China sold them all. “If this trade fight does escalate, then more tariffs could be slapped on more goods. But China could fire back in a far more significant way: selling a large chunk of the $1.17 trillion of U.S. treasury bonds it holds.”(By Bryan Borzykowski, 5 April 2018,CNBC) It also caused a large number of American businesses in China to flee back to the United States. Then there is the possibility of a real war.
    Trade wars are economic conflicts caused by extreme protectionism, in which countries raise or create tariffs or other barriers to each other in response to trade barriers created by the other. The trade war could escalate into a full-scale conflict between nations. In fact, during the first opium war, China blocked national ports and restricted British merchants, causing the British navy to send troops to China.On the morning of July 6 (Beijing time), an American cargo ship full of soybeans headed for dalian port in the yellow sea, named feima feng, attracted worldwide attention. It was a day when the United States began imposing a 25 percent tariff on $34 billion of Chinese goods, setting off the biggest
    trade war in economic history so far. China imposed tariffs on some U.S. imports at 12:01 a.m. Beijing time on July 6. The ship was forced to spend nearly a month waiting to be disposed of overseas because of additional tariffs. Also according to John Heisdorffer, a Soybean grower from keota, Iowa, who is President of the American Soybean Association, he and others in the industry have tried for years to develop markets in China that will now be closed as trade wars begin. “Farmers have borne the brunt of Mr. Trump’s decision to impose tariffs, which is already costing American producers billions of dollars and threatens to inflict political pain on Republicans in farm states in the midterm elections in November.”(By Julie Hirschfeld Davis and Ana Swanson, July 24, 2018, The New York Times) Trade wars can also be devastating for local industries.That’s bad news for all consumers in the United States from a price point of view, because the price of goods goes up with the tariff. People are increasingly unable to afford the prices of goods, wages and goods that are out of balance, leading to severe strikes and job losses. Trade wars are followed by a lot of trouble. At the same time, as apple unveils its own list of top 200 suppliers for 2018, Chinese companies have not only increased in number but also become more dominant. These Chinese companies have the parts they need for us companies in China, and it would be very damaging if they were suddenly cut off from supply. American companies have a hard time finding the suppliers they need in the short term.
    But if you can create more jobs in the United States, which is to develop manufacturing, you can get rid of Chinese imports. Slowly reduce the reliance on Chinese goods and build more factories in the United States to create more jobs. In general, the United States needs to focus on manufacturing and keep jobs at home. Or choose to work with China to lower all tariffs. And then put the knowledge base or what China needs to trade for maximum benefit.
    There is also a way to work with other manufacturing countries. Besides China, several other developing countries can import goods from Cambodia, Vietnam and India. Because of their large labor force and the development of major manufacturing industries, these countries can import goods more easily than China and get prices higher than China.
    It has also had a huge impact on China, where the past few months have been a financial nightmare, with hundreds of stocks falling by their daily limit almost every day. The Shanghai and shenzhen stock markets lost 706.42 billion yuan in value in three months from
    March 22 to June 22. “China is not winning the trade war, and yes, in the short term at least, that victory can be measured by what the market thinks about all this. Mainland China shares are down over 20% year-to-date. The S&P 500 is up 5.7%.” ( By Kenneth Rapoza,Aug 19, 2018,Forbes) Not just share prices are falling, but the renminbi is also falling. In recent months, the yuan has hit record lows. Since the start of a trade war between China and the us in March, the renminbi has been falling, both onshore and offshore. In the case of the onshore yuan, it has now depreciated to more than 6.5 from less than 6.3 at the end of march.China’s economy is in decline, its retail and business investment is collapsing, and industrial production is falling, at low levels
    I’m very grateful to President trump for your efforts to protect America ‘make America strong again,’ but the imposition of tariffs is totally wrong. The White House needs to work with our Allies to create lasting change with China. Too many jobs and livelihoods are at risk if things go wrong. What you are doing is being punished by the American family. Consumers, businesses and trade-dependent American jobs. Since then, China’s state council
    tariff commission announced on us 5207 tax items, about $60 billion of goods, imposing a 10% or 5% tariff, if the United States continues to raise tariffs rates, at the same time, China’s ministry of commerce announced that China has in the world trade organization (wto) additional charged 301 us $200 billion with China under investigation imports tax measures.China has already retaliated by imposing tariffs on a range of us products, including pork, soybeans and cars.If nothing is done, the trade war will be forever stalemated, which is bad for America and China.As a Chinese living in the United States, it’s so sad to see this happen. If the United States and China can develop well and end the trade war as soon as possible, I believe a win-win situation can be achieved soon.

    Bibliography
    1 Davis, Julie Hirschfeld, and Ana Swanson. “To Ease Pain of Trump’s Trade War: $12 Billion in Aid for Farmers.”, The New York Times, 24 July 2018,
    http://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/24/us/politics/farmers-aid-trade-war.html.

    2 Borzykowski, Bryan. “China’s $1.2 Trillion Weapon That Could Be Used in a Trade War with the US.” CNBC, 6 Apr. 2018,
    http://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/05/chinas-1-point-2-trillion-weapon-that-could-be-used-in-a-us-trade-war.html.

    3 Rapoza, Kenneth. “China Trade War: Where Are We Now?” Forbes, Magazine, 20 Aug. 2018,
    http://www.forbes.com/sites/kenrapoza/2018/08/19/china-trade-war-where-are-we-now/#5e640bdc5329.

  4. Diego J Mieles Jr
    Prof. Choi
    English 1101(302)
    Open Letter

    No False Rumors on Vaping
    Information that is false is toxic and it will not benefit anyone if we let spread more people will fall victim to it. The rumor that vaping is safer than cigarettes is false. Vaping use juuls and the vaping cause the “dripping effect” which gets the user high. I will inform people the truth, I will not tell people what to do but the truth of vaping should not be hidden to the people thinking about trying or using. Vaping is not safer than cigarettes, it is cause health issues, it is more addictive, and when people think it is safer they use it when they should not. We should counter this rumor by spreading the truth much faster and the more people know the better because they will also spread the truth. vaping is like if you are hiring a great security team to protected your home but they get distracted by a cat (the false rumor), and the robber is literally walking to the front door without even trying to hide and then the door decides to open it self because it also wanted to look at the cat, letting the robber to get in without any and mean anything to stand in their way.What vaping actually does and why it is not safer than cigarettes should not be put in the darkness because it will affect more people for the worse than the good.
    Health issues are a big thing to people because we all want to live longer and not in pain, so when the rumor says that people can still get high without having health problems, it will convince people to start vaping. The rumor is that vaping is safer than cigarettes, so from vague statement people assume it means that it is safer because it will not give you health problems. That rumor is false because it is causing health problems. Vaping still cause health issues to the user and it still cause second hand smoking to people around the user like cigarettes. Victor Scott explains that it still cause damage to the lung tissues and it provokes inflammation. Damage to the lungs can cause the lung to be acceptable to foreign substance and that means that when you breath to get oxygen, it will be easier for airborne bacteria to get into your system and cause to get sick. The lung tissue are like a barrier, so vaping stills damages that barrier. Cigarettes does cause health issues to the lung as well, so they are both damaging your lungs and causing harder breathing to the user then why is it safer? Vaping does not even stop there with the your lung, it will go further and damage your immune system (Clapp p.20). Maybe it is safer in the sense that it is less addictive than cigarettes?
    No, vaping is more addictive than cigarettes, so if cigarettes are the gateway to doing more horrible drugs than vaping is the car driving at top speed to the gate and helping the person to get through the gate to get to that horrible drug. The rumor are spreading to people who are starting to think about using and they will think that since it is safer than cigarettes than it will be less addictive to the user. They will think it will be easier to stop than cigarettes. The rumor will also affect people that want to quit and think that since vaping is safer than they can use vaping to slowly stop smoking cigarettes. If you start vaping than you are 4x more likely to start smoking cigarette (Clapp p.40). If that cause the user to start using cigarettes or using cigarettes again, why is it safer than cigarettes? The user is more likely to stop using cigarettes by just stop using cigarettes all at once than using vaping to stop using cigarettes. Vaping will help people to use cigarettes either again or for the first time. Maybe no one is taking the rumor that it is safer than cigarettes serious and it will not affect people lives?
    That kind of thinking is dangerous and that will get a lot of people to go down the wrong path with no resist or knowledge of where did they start going wrong like pregnant women thinking it is ok to vape. The news article “From 0 to 10 Million: Vaping Takes Off in the U.S.” by Nicholas Bakalar found a survey that has found women pregnant are vaping, the rumor has made pregnant women vape and that will get their child or children born with health problems. We live in the age of technology, so that means information that is either wrong or correct can get to almost everyone on the planet and there are more people who believe the information on the internet more than anything. We have no law that makes schools teach kids about anything on drugs. So to combat the rumor that vaping is safer than cigarettes, we should have law that makes schools have a health class that teaches kids that vaping is not safer than cigarettes and the danger of using drugs. If we destroy the idea that vaping is safer than cigarettes at a young age then it will be easier to get the rumor to die out. People are like dogs, it is easier to teach a younger person than a sturben old person.
    I am not writing this letter to make people, who are vaping or any other drug(Not meth or concine) for that matter, to stop and I am not judging them. I am just writing this letter, so that people who are unwilling and not knowledgeable about the subject to stop spread that rumor and causing people to choose a path they do not want. They are getting into a drug that is not safer than cigarettes, in the sense of that they will still have health problems, they will be addict to the drug and the want for a higher high will still be there. A person is entitled to knowing the truth about what they put in their body, never spread this rumor because a person might have an addictive personality, and will be stuck on using the drug for the rest of their lives, good or bad.

    Bibliography
    Bakaler, Nicholas “From 0 to 10 Million: Vaping Takes Off in the U.S.” New York Times,
    31 Aug 2018,

    Clapp, P W, et al. “Flavored e-Cigarette Liquids and Cinnamaldehyde Impair Respiratory
    Innate Immune Cell Function.” American Journal of Physiology. Lung Cellular
    and Molecular Physiology., U.S. National Library of Medicine, 1 Aug. 2017, http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28495856.

    Scott, Victor, Vaping, The Hazardous Effects of Looking Cool , June 12, 2017

  5. Joseph Martinez
    Professor Choi
    Eng1101
    7 November, 2018
    Giving Up Your Right
    Dear United States citizens,
    How would you feel if you really didn’t like something so you tried to make a peaceful protest, but the government said no because someone protested a week ago and it got out of hand. They are suppressing your first amendment right because that one person is making it difficult. Well that is exactly what is happening with our second amendment, just because some people who don’t use it correctly, people who take owning a gun serious are being punished for it. People believe that there should be more laws added for gun control due to many problems that have guns in them. I believe that the U.S should not enforce stricter gun laws because it is our right to defend ourselves, there are already so many restrictions, and finally it eludes from the actual problems we have with gun violence.
    One reason why the United States should not enforce stricter gun laws is because it is our right as an American to be able to defend ourselves. Looking back to when the constitution was created, the reason for us citizens to bear arms is so they could stand up against oppression. While in modern times people don’t necessarily shoot their way out of situations, there are many cases where having a gun is used as a deterrent. Physician Paul Hsieh discusses how guns are unfairly given a bad name in his article “Any Study Of ‘Gun Violence’ Should Include How Guns Save Lives”. In the article he brings up the point “ An armed civilian does not have to kill the criminal in order to save an innocent life”. While there are many numbers and statistics on how many people guns have killed it is hard to say how many lives guns have saved because it is hard to create a statistic showing how many lives were saved by just having a gun on you. Making guns harder to own legally, would leave people who do use it for self defense to lose their deterrent therefore potentially even increasing the number of deaths to come out of it. To understand this concept a little easier, think about a surveillance cameras. While cameras don’t always show someone stealing , having no cameras will encourage more people to steal. While self defense is often seen as man vs man (aka, human vs human), there is also a man vs wild aspect to it. People tend to forget that we share this earth with the wildlife, and naturally we have no way to defend ourselves against some of these predators. Thinking soley of self defense and not the hunting aspect, if someone lived in the suburbs and grizzly found a way through their door… the only thing to do would be to hide. While that is a solution, there is a good chance this bear will find you if they were hungry. Therefore I believe the more we implement gun laws, the more people we put at risk.
    Another reason why the U.S does not need to implement more gun laws is because there are already many restrictions to getting a gun. If you take a look on the application to obtain your gun license in the city of New York you would see that there are over 100 questions and requirements. Referring to the application, there is even an area for “letter of necessity” , and a fee that is $400+ which are both required for them to even review your application. An average handgun cost is about $600 plus the cost of a safe (which you must have in order to have your license), plus bullets, plus a gun cleaning kit, and anything else someone decides to do to personalize their weapon. With all of those fees to get a gun in the first place a person getting a gun either needs it or has more than enough money to play around with so putting more laws would not affect the people who is already buying. If the restrictions to get a gun now are not enough the article “Why states, not Congress, are passing more gun laws” by Gretchen Frazee states that “Overall, between 1991 and 2016, the number of gun laws in the U.S. increased by 57 percent, the State Firearm Law project group found”(Frazee 16). To get a more recent analysis of that percentage, there has been more than 50 laws around guns passed in the year 2018 alone (Vasilogambros 1). The amount of gun control around is already at the highest it has ever been yet we still want more? If it is already this difficult very difficult to own a firearm and even more to use it but we are still having problems, it is time to start thinking that guns are not the problem anymore.
    I do agree that there is a big problem but instead of focusing on guns we should turn our heads to mental illnesses. Seung-Hui Cho was 23 years old when he committed a mass shooting, killing 32 people and wounding 17 with semi- automatic pistols ; however what is left out is the diagnosis of Cho is his mental status. Research was done after the shootings occurred and it came to the conclusion that he was experiencing major depression “so severe that it can cross into psychotic territory”(Dombeck 14). Doctor Dombecks analysis shows the severity of Cho’s illness, and based on the intenseness there had to have been factors leading into this that maybe could have been avoided.Earlier on in the diagnosis Dombeck states “The content of Cho’s delusions is actually more plausible, having to do with being teased and persecuted by “rich people” (Dombeck 5). After talking about the possibility of Cho being schizophrenic he denied it and noted that Cho was also being bullied. Bullying and a mental illness pushed Cho past his point and caused him to go on the killing spree; if someone would have spoken to Cho there is a great chance that he would have felt better and everyone of those students would have been alive. While he is only one case another , more recent . case is the Sandy Hook shooter.
    Adam Lanza went to an elementary school, 20 kids along with 6 staff members and then ended it all with shooting himself. Lanza was known to have intense mental health issues and better yet he even was put on pills to suppress his compulsions. Alison Leigh Cowan, author of “Adam Lanza’s Mental Problems ‘Completely Untreated’ Before Newtown Shootings, Report Says”, reported “based on a comprehensive examination of the medical and school histories of Mr. Lanza, 20, found he was “completely untreated in the years before the shooting” for psychiatric and physical ailments like anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder, and was also deprived of recommended services and drugs.”. While in this case the gunman was already being treated for his mental disease, he did not continue to take his drugs; if there were more research being done on these mental diseases maybe there could have been progress on a more long term solution to some mental diseases. If there was a better solution, not taking the drugs all the time would not affect his mental state and the episode could have been avoided. As long as guns exist, someone will be able to get a gun in their hands if they really wanted to so instead of trying to find a way to suppress guns, give people who are as mentally unstable as Lanza and Cho help. I am in no way sympathetic towards or even excusing the mass shooters but there was clearly something wrong with them and focusing on the unstable can’t do anything but help.
    In conclusion, the idea of enforcing even more gun laws to get rid of the problems that this country is facing is false. If this country decides to it would be for no reason because there are already so many, it would actually make less people safe and finally it would continue to elude from the real problem. The real problem in gun violence is not the weapon but the wielder and statistics have shown a great correlation to them and a mental illness. If we focus more on getting people help in this country will be safer.

  6. Sanjidah Khan
    Prof Choi.
    English 1101 – D302
    Open Letter Essay

    Open Letter Essay
    Dear parents, students and school faculty,
    23 school shootings in 2018 alone. This has been the highest number of gun violence in American schools since 1999 and before social media became a big part of everyone’s lives. I am writing this letter to alert us to open our eyes and realize that monitoring students’ social media accounts can prevent school shootings and how important it is to act quickly on this matter. There has been a rapid rise for the amount of school shootings and most of them have happened while social media is used all over the world. With social media being introduced to the new generation, it helps decrease the risk of school shootings happening since we are able to know more about the students and what information they put out for the public. It is clear that you all are involved in the school system and at least are in a school once a week. Whether it be working or learning, our safety comes first.
    It is a scary thought knowing that the next tragedy can affect you or someone you know and love. According to CNN, “ There has been, on average, 1 school shooting every week this year” (Ahmed, par.1). I’m addressing this ongoing issue because it can lead to more tragedies in the future. Nowadays, everything is on social media. This goes from photos, live statuses, locations and much more. Cyberbullying is also a issue that relates to school shootings and how it can affect students. I believe that because social media is not being monitored enough and not knowing whether students are interested in things such as violence, guns, etc. to begin with is the cause of school shootings that could be prevented. The best approach to fixing it would be letting graphic content that is put on social media from students be monitored.
    Putting in this extra effort to make the school environment safer will all be worth it. In The New York Times article, “ Could Monitoring Students On Social Media Prevent School Shooting? “, it states “More than 100 public school districts and universities, faced with the prospect that the next attacker may be among their own students, have hired social media monitoring companies over the past five years, according to a review of school spending records.“ (Leibowitz, par.5). Since many schools are already starting this program, all schools should as well. An example that might grab your attention from recent events can be the Parkland School Shooting and how the shooter Nikolas Cruz has shown history of his gun obsession and violence on his Instagram, which is a big social media tool. This shows how if this kind of information was monitored before, it wouldn’t have led to what had happened.
    However, there has also been some worries on invasion and privacy issues. This can be elaborated on things such as students creating secret chats, emails and overall having school shooters become more careful in their schemes. This should not be a big deal since many technology companies are already advancing their programs. It was said that “ Rather than asking schools for a list of students and social media handles, the companies typically employ a method called “geofencing” to sweep up posts within a given geographic area and use keywords to narrow the pool”, according to “ Schools are mining Student’s Social Media Posts for signs of Trouble”, an article by Wired (Simonite, par 3). This is another reason on why we shouldn’t worry about that right now and take steps into having the social media monitoring programs start up first to see the effects of it. The fact that program will highlight only the words, phrases, pictures etc. that look alarming will allow us to be aware of what’s happening without compromising privacy and invasion issues. There are already school shootings happening, we should work on taking the first steps which will later help these social media monitoring softwares improve.
    Furthermore, this sort of technology can not only help prevent school shootings but also save lives. In The New York Times Article, “ Could Monitoring Students On Social Media Prevent School Shootings? “, Gary Margolis, the chief executive of one of the social media monitoring programs had said “We’re a carbon monoxide detector…. If a student is posting about not liking their teacher, that’s not what we pay attention to. If a student is posting about shooting their teacher, we would hope we’d be able to find something like that.” (Leibowitz, par. 20). The technology would look for certain target words, flag them and notify school administration so they can bring attention to the student or group of people. In an NPR news article, one of the school’s representatives mentioned that “ One of the alerts that they sent us indicated that one of our students’ mental health condition was deteriorating, maybe to the point that that student’s life could have been in danger.“ (Mullins, par. 9). Later on, it was also said that the student had a suicide plan and school counselors got the student help.
    It’s unpredictable what can happen next and it wouldn’t hurt to take extra measures to make sure that you are safe in your school environment. According to the School Shooting Database on Washington Post, it mentions that, “ Beyond the dead and wounded, children who witness the violence or cower behind locked doors to hide from it can be profoundly traumatized. “ (WP Post, par.2 ). This reveals that many students live in fear even who they aren’t the ones who have gotten injured. It shows how fear is installed into people who are only trying to go to school to learn and people who think school is a safe environment, which it should be.
    Whether you’re a student, parent or part of the school faculty, we need to protected in a place that is meant to be safe. Instead of us watching the number of school shootings increase every other few weeks, we need to take action and allow us to find ways to prevent such tragedies. Social media is growing and will continue to grow. Contact someone apart of your school’s administration and get information on incorporating social media monitoring for the students in your school. We should not be in fear everyday in a place where we come to learn, educate others and work.

    Sincerely,
    Sanjidah Khan

    Bibliography

    “Analysis | More than 210,000 Students Have Experienced Gun Violence at School since ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Columbine.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 29 October 2018, http://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2018/local/school-shootings-database/?utm_term=.fb5501e33fb1.

    Ahmed, Saeed, and Christina Walker. “There Has Been, on Average, 1 School Shooting Every ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Week This Year.” CNN, Cable News Network, 25 May 2018, http://www.cnn.com/2018/03/02/us/school-shootings-2018-list-trnd/index.html.

    Leibowitz, Aaron. “Could Monitoring Students on Social Media Stop the Next School ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Shooting?” The New York Times, The New York Times, 6 Sept. 2018, http://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/06/us/social-media-monitoring-school-shootings.html.

    Mullins, Lisa. “How Schools Across The Country Are Working To Detect Threats Made On ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Social Media.” NPR, NPR, 21 May 2018, http://www.npr.org/2018/05/21/613117571/how-schools-across-the-country-are-working-to-detect-threats-made-on-social-medi.

    Simonite, Tom. “Schools Are Mining Students’ Social Media Posts for Signs of Trouble.” Wired, ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀Conde Nast, 20 Aug. 2018, http://www.wired.com/story/algorithms-monitor-student-social-media-posts/.

  7. Sanjidah Khan
    Prof Choi.
    English 1101 – D302
    Open Letter Essay

    Open Letter Essay
    Dear parents, students and school faculty,
    23 school shootings in 2018 alone. This has been the highest number of gun violence in American schools since 1999 and before social media became a big part of everyone’s lives. I am writing this letter to alert us to open our eyes and realize that monitoring students’ social media accounts can prevent school shootings and how important it is to act quickly on this matter. There has been a rapid rise for the amount of school shootings and most of them have happened while social media is used all over the world. With social media being introduced to the new generation, it helps decrease the risk of school shootings happening since we are able to know more about the students and what information they put out for the public. It is clear that you all are involved in the school system and at least are in a school once a week. Whether it be working or learning, our safety comes first.
    It is a scary thought knowing that the next tragedy can affect you or someone you know and love. According to CNN, “ There has been, on average, 1 school shooting every week this year” (Ahmed, par.1). I’m addressing this ongoing issue because it can lead to more tragedies in the future. Nowadays, everything is on social media. This goes from photos, live statuses, locations and much more. Cyberbullying is also a issue that relates to school shootings and how it can affect students. I believe that because social media is not being monitored enough and not knowing whether students are interested in things such as violence, guns, etc. to begin with is the cause of school shootings that could be prevented. The best approach to fixing it would be letting graphic content that is put on social media from students be monitored.
    Putting in this extra effort to make the school environment safer will all be worth it. In The New York Times article, “ Could Monitoring Students On Social Media Prevent School Shooting? “, it states “More than 100 public school districts and universities, faced with the prospect that the next attacker may be among their own students, have hired social media monitoring companies over the past five years, according to a review of school spending records.“ (Leibowitz, par.5). Since many schools are already starting this program, all schools should as well. An example that might grab your attention from recent events can be the Parkland School Shooting and how the shooter Nikolas Cruz has shown history of his gun obsession and violence on his Instagram, which is a big social media tool. This shows how if this kind of information was monitored before, it wouldn’t have led to what had happened.
    However, there has also been some worries on invasion and privacy issues. This can be elaborated on things such as students creating secret chats, emails and overall having school shooters become more careful in their schemes. This should not be a big deal since many technology companies are already advancing their programs. It was said that “ Rather than asking schools for a list of students and social media handles, the companies typically employ a method called “geofencing” to sweep up posts within a given geographic area and use keywords to narrow the pool”, according to “ Schools are mining Student’s Social Media Posts for signs of Trouble”, an article by Wired (Simonite, par 3). This is another reason on why we shouldn’t worry about that right now and take steps into having the social media monitoring programs start up first to see the effects of it. The fact that program will highlight only the words, phrases, pictures etc. that look alarming will allow us to be aware of what’s happening without compromising privacy and invasion issues. There are already school shootings happening, we should work on taking the first steps which will later help these social media monitoring softwares improve.
    Furthermore, this sort of technology can not only help prevent school shootings but also save lives. In The New York Times Article, “ Could Monitoring Students On Social Media Prevent School Shootings? “, Gary Margolis, the chief executive of one of the social media monitoring programs had said “We’re a carbon monoxide detector…. If a student is posting about not liking their teacher, that’s not what we pay attention to. If a student is posting about shooting their teacher, we would hope we’d be able to find something like that.” (Leibowitz, par. 20). The technology would look for certain target words, flag them and notify school administration so they can bring attention to the student or group of people. In an NPR news article, one of the school’s representatives mentioned that “ One of the alerts that they sent us indicated that one of our students’ mental health condition was deteriorating, maybe to the point that that student’s life could have been in danger.“ (Mullins, par. 9). Later on, it was also said that the student had a suicide plan and school counselors got the student help.
    It’s unpredictable what can happen next and it wouldn’t hurt to take extra measures to make sure that you are safe in your school environment. According to the School Shooting Database on Washington Post, it mentions that, “ Beyond the dead and wounded, children who witness the violence or cower behind locked doors to hide from it can be profoundly traumatized. “ (WP Post, par.2 ). This reveals that many students live in fear even who they aren’t the ones who have gotten injured. It shows how fear is installed into people who are only trying to go to school to learn and people who think school is a safe environment, which it should be.
    Whether you’re a student, parent or part of the school faculty, we need to protected in a place that is meant to be safe. Instead of us watching the number of school shootings increase every other few weeks, we need to take action and allow us to find ways to prevent such tragedies. Social media is growing and will continue to grow. Contact someone apart of your school’s administration and get information on incorporating social media monitoring for the students in your school. We should not be in fear everyday in a place where we come to learn, educate others and work.

    Sincerely,
    Sanjidah Khan

  8. Brianna Guillen
    Prof. Choi
    English 1101 (D302)
    Open Letter Essay

    Defunding Women’s Rights

    Dear Men, Women and Trump Administration,
    Imagine women waking up one day making their way to Planned Parenthood and seeing the clinic close. They go to the next one then following the next to realizing they aren’t able to receive services at Planned Parenthood. Things like abortion, breast examination, and birth control. Turning on the tv and seeing how many women’s rights to be able to go to Planned Parenthood isn’t available anymore. They would end up struggling finding a health clinic that they can afford. Many women throughout the United States would suffer and be left out. If they don’t find one then they are left without the things they need. Well that’s the world we’re about to live in when president Donald Trump proposes a plan to cut funds to Planned Parenthood. Planned Parenthood is a non profit organization that provides reproductive health care to many women throughout the United States. President Trump doesn’t believe in what they provide for. He’s against abortion. He believes that women shouldn’t have the right to get one under any circumstances. Therefore, Mr. Trump has a plan to defund Planned Parenthood. This is unacceptable and taking away our women’s rights. I disagree with Mr. Trump’s idea because it violates our women’s rights, create problems and young adults such as teenagers won’t be able to have a clinic to go to.
    First, the Trump administration has violated our women’s rights. President Trump has signed a legislation which cuts off federal funding to Planned Parenthood and other clinics that perform abortions. This created a spark among many women throughout the United States. Trump doesn’t believe in the services they provide for women. Like abortion, he’s against it. Mercia argues, “We are facing the worst political attack on women’s health in generation as lawmakers have spent the past three months trading away women’s health and rights at every turn”(1)p. This shows that what Trump is doing is taking away our women’s health and rights all at once. By defunding this clinic, many of these womens are going to be left without a clinic they can go to and get the services they need. Especially that this clinic provides low care cost for many women who cannot afford other health costs. Trump believes many women in the United States don’t need there service. Being able to have affordable health is another aspect that makes part of our women’s right. With President Trump violating our women’s rights, many women are going to be having trouble finding a clinic that will provide them with low cost and reproductive needs.
    Secondly, by defunding Planned Parenthood is it can create major problems throughout the United States. Many women all around are going to be protesting against the Trump Administration . Hirschfeld argues, “As a middle ground, Mr. Trump has proposed presenting federal funding for Planned Parenthood if it stops providing abortion services”(1). This shows that Trump has a federal funding presented to Planned Parenthood only if they would stop providing abortion. Abortion is a choice women decide. The president doesn’t decide if women should get one or not. We decide our future for ourselves. By Trump deciding on being against abortion and defunding Planned Parenthood, it will create chaos in the health department. Many clinic will try to offer what Planned Parenthood has offered without getting trump in the way of stopping them. Trump is creating big problems among women and the health department.
    Finally, many young adults won’t be able to find a place to go to. Many young adults today visit Planned Parenthood for any reproductive health needs. For example, my best friend would visit this clinic and tell me how helpful they are. She was able to get the things she needed at a low cost. She felt really comfortable stepping inside Planned Parenthood knowing these doctors will help them with their needs. Farokhmanesh argues “Young adults are allowed to remain on their parents insurance until age 26, and it helps women obtain birth control with no copay”(2). This shows that since young adults remain on their parents insurance until the age of 26, they are able to get things like birth control at no cost at Planned Parenthood. By defunding Planned Parenthood many young adults won’t be able to receive services like these at other clinics.
    In Conclusion, President Trump has signed a legislation to defund clinics like Planned Parenthood that perform acts of abortion. He doesn’t believe in what this clinic provides for women. Planned Parenthood provides service for many women at a low cost. Many women use this service for their reproductive needs. It’s important that women should be able to get their needs at a clinic like Planned Parenthood. Being able to get our reproductive needs is important to us, without it I disagree with Mr. Trump’s idea because it violates our women’s rights, create problems and young adults won’t be able to have a place to go to. Without this clinic, women are left with nothing to lean on. Trump is a monster and is trying to scare us. We can’t let Trump beat us, we have to fight our way to reach the finish line.
    Sincerely,
    Brianna Guillen

  9. Alex Garcia
    Prof. Choi
    English 1101 (D302)
    Open Letter

    Dear, Anti-Immigration Supporters

    Did you know in 2017 “more than 15 percent of the U.S. population, which totaled more than 325 million” (Huth, par. 8) are U.S. residents who came from different countries. The United States of America has always been a nation build of immigrants and our current president, Donald Trump, is no doubt against the idea of immigrants coming into our country. He made it direct throughout his presidential campaign and his reforms sparked controversy within our country. Depicting illegal immigrants as criminals who bring “problems, drugs, and crime” and in general are a threat to our nation even though most are hard workers, law abiding and simply seeking for a better life. These misconceptions of immigrants have blind sighted the nation into having the wrong perspective of immigrants and being unaware of the real facts. It’s time to change our view to the other side and see what immigrants are really like instead of categorizing them based on false statements.

    On June 16,2015, Trump said the following remarks in his announcement to run as president “”When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best… They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists.” (Trump). This statement has often been brought to date and is clearly an example of discrediting immigrants not just from Mexico but around the globe. In an article from USA Today regarding immigrants fleeing their country by Christal Hayes, Hayes says “many of those crossing the border traveled from Central American countries rife with corruption, crime and poverty.” (Hayes, par. 4) in other words immigrants are fleeing from poor conditions in their home country. As a child of immigrant parents, they would tell me stories of life in Mexico and how they faced all three issues of poverty, crime and corruption. The moment they arrived in New York in 1996, they took the first job offered regardless of the pay because even as low as $5 an hour, they would already be making more money than they ever did in Mexico. Not to mention, sharing a small two-bedroom apartment with another family in an effort to save money. Fast forward nearly two decades later, now they are more financially stable, live in a friendlier neighborhood and most importantly live in a country that keeps granting opportunities. So, to say immigrants are bringing nothing but problems is ignorant since these immigrants are running away from their own country’s problems. Immigrants seek nothing but for a better life for their family and their future generations.

    Another misconception of immigrants is that they just take from our country. However, these rumors are false because immigrants do economically contribute to our country. According to Gretchen Frazee in her article “4 Myths About How Immigrants Affect the U.S. Economy.” a statistic adopted from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy states “Undocumented immigrants pay an estimated $11.6 billion a year in taxes.” (Frazee, par. 12). The misconception that undocumented immigrants don’t pay taxes further defames the hard work immigrants put up with. Immigrants do their fair share with paying taxes and have no difference as with a U.S. citizen paying taxes too. Also, the idea that immigrants “take” jobs away from Americans is another major debate. But the jobs being taken are most likely jobs that most Americans won’t accept. In a CNN article by Octavio Blanco, Blanco re-states a conclusion about immigrants in the work field by Jeffrey Passel, a senior demographer at Pew Research Center who found “Undocumented workers, as a group, tend to work in low-paying jobs that don’t require certifications” (Passel, par. 5). As stated before, immigrants come to seek a better life however since most have a less educational knowledge, they tend to work in low paying jobs. Jobs such as janitors, construction workers, housekeepers, and agriculture field. Jobs that are crucial for production of goods and services. Immigrants have huge factors in keeping our economy going and to discredit them is unfair.

    Immigrants in America are also thought to increase crime rate when in fact there is no connection. Statistics from the Federal Bureau of Prisons prove that 80.6% of prison inmates are U.S. citizens. That’s more than half the prison population! Calling immigrants as criminals defames their true reason for moving into the U.S. You can’t assume all immigrants are criminals just because a small portion are in prisons when in reality most are law abiding. In Cristopher Ingraham’s Washington Post article about the relation in immigration and crime, Ingraham mentions two studies. One study done by Libertarian Cato Institute found that “there were 56% fewer criminal convictions of illegal immigrants than of native-born Americans in Texas in 2015” and “for legal immigrants was about 85% below the native-born relatives” (Nowrasteh, par. 5). These statistics showed that immigrants both legal and illegal are less likely to commit a crime. And if that’s not enough evidence, the second study published by the journal Criminology focused on locations with higher percentage of undocumented immigrants and found there to be a lower crime rate. Immigrants wouldn’t risk their life’s traveling to America just to commit crimes, they came to work and hope for a more stable life.

    There are those however who claim illegal immigrants are already criminals for coming into America illegally but what many seem to be unaware is how difficult it can be for undocumented immigrants to gain citizenship. Naturalization is the legal process to become a U.S. citizen but has a long list of requirements that most immigrants will fail in. On top of that, one would need to schedule to apply and be interviewed for the process to continue. Altogether, it can take over 8 months to become a legal citizen. Therefore, those that judge illegal immigrants for not becoming documented need to take into consideration it’s a long process that is not certain to succeed. And under Trump’s administration, this task will become more difficult than before.

    In conclusion, we should not believe every stereotype that is said about immigrants. We shouldn’t be ignorant but instead understand what it’s like to be in their shoes. Most immigrants are hard workers looking for a better life, contribute to our economy and are law abiding. People who are anti-immigration need to learn the real facts before judging them based off one person’s thoughts. These misconceptions have portrayed immigrants in the wrong way for too long and should stop considering the fact they have positive intentions to our nation.

  10. Giuseppe Biondi
    Prof. Choi
    English 1101 (D302)
    Open Letter

    No Need to be Racist

    Dear all people who do not accept the word being different,

    We have a problem. Racism, and all its forms is highly unattractive. Nowadays, most every person in the world, thinks that people are defined by their culture and religion. This can be wrong; for example if a person that believes Catholic religion comes in New York, one day kills someone, it does not mean that every person that is Catholic is a killer. Racism in most cases is what pushes people to believe that, and because of racism a lot of persons coming from different religions and cultures are not being treated equally. Just because they are faithful to their culture, others will treat them as aliens. Being different is a normal habit of every human in the world, and everyone should be equally treated even if different then you; to them you are different too, so is not that we are the good people and they are the bad ones. Everyone is different in the world, and the word different is what makes us special.
    One of the cases in which racism has started a cascade of events is mentioned in the article “British Man Pleads Guilty to Sending ‘Punish a Muslim Day’ Letters” by Yonette Joseph. A British man, David Parnham, was arrested because he was sending racist letters across England urging a “Punish a Muslim Day” and rewarding acts of violence against Muslims. He started his campaign in 2016. The letters and packages, were sent to mosques, Muslim members of Parliament and even Queen Elizabeth. Most of the letters urged people to commit acts of violence to Muslims to earn rewards. Parnham was caught because his DNA and fingerprints were recovered from some of the letters. Some letters included a picture of a person being
    decapitated with a sword bearing a swastika insignia, and in some others letter Parnham wrote “Allah is Great”(Yonette, paragraph 14). Some communities in Britain began campaigns to encounter the letters, with initiatives such as “Protect a Muslim Day”.
    Racism is what brings people, that do not like others, to commit acts of craziness and violence. Sometimes when person, has the courage to commit this kinds of acts have a mental-disorder. But why do they arrive at the point where they have to commit such an act, like killing someone or more then just someone. Maybe they have suffered of being treated like they were the others and know they want to commit such an act, just for revenge.
    One form of racism has being showed on Saturday October 27, where Robert Bowers, the man who shoot and kill 11 Jewish persons, in a Jewish synagogue because he wanted all Jews to die. According to a criminal complaint filed in the case, because of his belief that Jews “were committing genocide against his people. Saturday’s synagogue massacre, is considered one of the worst in the Jewish community in the United States in decades. Now, this is considered one of the worst against Jews but there have been a lot of shooting during the year 2018. In most cases the shootings are possible, because of gun laws. We all know that knowing who’s thinking of committing these kind of massacre are difficult to find, but one way to stop this cases of shootings is to stricter gun laws.
    Sometimes, a reason that brings people being racist to other because of their difference can vary in many cases. One that is very popular right now is the case of Matthew Shepard. Shepard was 21 years old when he has being kidnapped by two men. The murders that were convicted of kidnapping Shepard in the attack did it because of his sexual orientation. Shepard died 6 days later being kidnapped.
    Gender identity is another way of being different then what racist people consider the right race. Racist people think the right couple is a man with a women. Over the decades people that are sexual different are coming out more often. This can be a reason why more frequently there are cases, where gay or lesbian are being treated wrongly by racist. But society is helping solving the issue of gender identity by being treated more equally. In 2004 was celebrated the first legal same-sex marriage in the United States.
    Avoiding racism would not occur predominantly through governmental programs, but it does start with you and me. When we come together has human beings and embrace our differences we are able to learn form each other and appreciate each other. We are not born racist, so let us clear our mind of indoctrinated hate and see each other as all being part of the human society.
    In conclusion, over the decades there has being a lot of racist and inequality cases were people either felt different from others and not being accepted for what they really are. We need to stop the hate and start embracing each other. Let’s stop thinking that we are different, because we’re all born the same, we are meant to be culturally and ideally different, but that does not mean that we should not accept each other as we are. To all racist people and the one that do not accept the word different, stop thinking of being the same, because if we were all the same the world would be a lot more boring as it is today. Let’s just embrace everyone the meaning of the words love, compassion, tolerance and acceptance. Only like this everyone can be mentally flexible.

    Bibliography
    Hauser, Christine “Matthew Shepard Laid to Rest at National Cathedral Decades After His Murder” New York Times, 26 October 2018, Google https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/26/us/matthew-shepard-burial-national-cathedral.html
    Turkewitz Julie and Roose Kevin “Who Is Robert Bowers, the Suspect in the Pittsburg Synagogue Shooting?” New York Times, 27 October 2018,Google https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/27/us/robert-bowers-pittsburgh-synagogue-shooter.html.
    Yonette, Joseph “British Man Pleads Guilty to Sending ‘Punish a Muslim Day’ Letters” New York Times, 14 October 2018,Google https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/14/world/europe/uk-punish-a-muslim-day-letters.html.

  11. Damirjon Ulmasov
    Prof. Choi
    English 1101 (302)
    Open Letter Essay
    Dear humans,
    Many people like to consume vegetables and other kind of products to stay healthy. But today when we go to the grocery stores about 80 percent of products already contains at least some ingredients made from altered genes.Farmers spray GMO to plants and most of the corn plants to make the plant resistant to insects and for other reasons. Some people argue that GM foods give negative effects to the humans body. However United States researchers and scientists mentioned that GM foods are safe for human consumption. Therefore, foods should be genetically modified because of it’s safe for human consumption, global population, can boost harvest even in bad condition and economy of the country.
    People try hard in other to eat healthy, which is non genetically modified foods in order to be in shape and healthy. They argue that consuming GM foods are bad for their health. However it is not. For example science journalist and author David H. Freedman which is “long been primarily a science, technology and business writer”, in his article called “Genetically Modified Foods” he stated that “The food and Drug Administration generally recognized these foods as safe, and the world Health Organization has said no ill health effects have resulted on the international market”(3, line 2-4). According to the article based on “Drug Administration” and “World Health Organization” experiment, these GM foods are safe and consuming GM foods are not harmful for people’s health. Therefore, foods should be genetically modified and people does not have to be worried about consuming GM foods and shop from grocery stores.
    In United States some people and scientists say that GMO products are bad for humans health, but they don’t know about other places. There is some places in the world that you can not grow anything, so that’s why foods should be genetically modified because with GMO we can boost harvest even in those places that you can not grow anything. For example in the article of “Genetically Modified foods” by David H. Freedman it stated that “ Proponents of genetically modified foods say they are safe and can boost harvest even in bad conditions by protecting against pests, weeds and drought’’(3, line 18-19). According to the text GMO can “boost harvest” even in bad conditions and places that you can not grow anything and GM foods can feed the people that suffering from hunger. Therefore foods should be genetically modified because it’s safe and GMO also give chance to grow food in those places that you can not grow any plants.
    The world population is growing and there are many poor people that they need food to
    eat and fight against hunger in order to live. For example “Professor of Political Science and Director of the Office of Undergraduate Research at the University of Illinois” Paul F. Diehl in his article called “How Genetically Modified Food (GMOs) Can Feed the World” he wrote that “One of the main benefits that advocates of genetically modified (GM) food have promoted is its ability to help alleviate world hunger”(par.1). According to this quotation author makes us understand that GMO helps to grow more food for world population and food production also need to increase because of growing population every day. Some people do not have food to eat, so genetically modify helps to produce more food and we can produce enough food to feed people that suffering from hunger. It is evident that foods should be genetically modified to make enough food for everybody.
    Countries export and import their products with each other, which supplies them with the
    products that they don’t have or can’t have. As a result GMO foods also should be exported to
    different countries. For example by American journalist Amy Harmon who covers impact of science and technology for the “New York Times”, in the article of “ G.M.O. Foods will soon
    require labels, what will the labels says?” she mentioned that “Some manufacturers announced that they would voluntarily place labels on their genetically engineered foods nationwide” (par.10). Based on this statement, it means that some food companies are planning to export GMO foods around the world and it is a good thing for some countries that can’t grow food or don’t have food to eat. Also exporting products in other countries is one of the best way to do business, which helps to grow the economy. Therefore, foods should be genetically modified and exported to other countries.
    Overall, it is evident that even though some researchers and scientists argued that foods
    should not be genetically modified because GM foods gives negative effects to people’s health and consuming GM product it’s just risk. However, foods still should be genetically modified because of it’s safe, economy of the country that exports GMO foods, helps to produce enough food for global population and it also give chance to grow foods in those place that you can not grow anything, which it helps to feed people who lives in those places.

    Works Cited
    Harmon, Amy. “G.M.O. Foods Will Soon Require Labels. What Will the Labels Say?” The
    New York Times Journal, 13 May 2018, nyti.ms/2KW1VCr.
    Freedman, David H. “Science News, Articles, and Information.” Genetically Modified
    Food, 20 Aug. 2013, http://www.scientificamerican.com/.
    Diehl, Paul. “How Genetically Modified Food (GMOs) Can Feed the World.” The Balance
    Article, 15 July 2018,
    http://www.thebalance.com/can-genetically-modified-food-feed-the-world-375634.

  12. Amy Jeenarine
    Professor Choi
    English 1101 (D302)
    Open Letter

    Dear technology addicts,
    Technology has been advancing since the prehistoric ages. The invention of the earliest boats in 10000 B.C. and the wheel in 3500 B.C. is where it began evolving to the type of technology today that can take you to another continent in mere hours or minutes. Many of these advances have been for the improvement of human activities. Others, however, are highly detrimental advances like phones and computers. With these advances, go human interaction which has been weakening slowly as technology advances.Technology and social media has made it easy, convenient and cheap to create and disseminate information. Instead of spending time in person with friends, we just call, text or instant message them.
    On January 26, 2017, Data Scientist Christine Aylett published a post on Linkedin that begins, “Humans are made to be in relationships.”(p 1) Then, she goes on to say that while face-to-face communication is the most genuine form of communication, technology has enabled the same communication without the physical attribution. Meaning that little by little, internet and mobile technology is subtly destroying the meaningfulness of interactions we have with others, disconnecting us from the world around us, and leading to an imminent sense of isolation in today’s society. In volume 6 of The Elon Journal of Undergraduate Research in Communications, Emily Drago published a survey in which she found the rapid evolution of technology is negatively affecting the “old conversation”(pg. 3). This serves to prove that in the future technology will lead to people not interacting with their fellow humans at all. I mean. Of course they will have their cool new gadgets to call or facetime on, but there will be no actual human interaction. Technology is driving us toward the path of a world where humans no longer hold control because we have become too immersed in it. This all leads to the appearance of diseases and other problems that is slowly leading to human downfall.
    Technology is a body with many forms today’s technology can do things like a human and send a message in just a few minutes. Examples include hard drives and emails. These devices make it easier for people to avoid their fellow humans. It is so much easier to send a quick text than to meet up with someone and have a quality conversation with them. According to a New York Times article, “You’ve Got to Have (150) Friends”, by British anthropologist and psychologist Robin Dunbar “no matter what Facebook allows us to do, I have found that most of us can maintain only around 150 meaningful relationships, online and off” (p 7). In 2010, Dunbar published a book, How Many Friends Does One Person Need? Dunbar’s Number and Other Evolutionary Quirks, in which he revealed that people are actually limited to a certain number of stable, supportive connections with others in their social network. (Roughly 150)
    According to a New York Times opinion piece published September 26, 2015 by psychologist Sherry Turkle, technology has made people lose the ability to have a meaningful conversation leading them to become less empathetic. Instead of talking, people usually divide their attention between their phone and the person they’re talking to leading to a one-sided conversation. This contributes to the loss of being able to make proper eye contact, and to be aware of another person’s posture and tone. Technology also leads to the loss of social boundaries and sexual boundaries. With the ability to access most anything online it is not hard to stalk someone especially with the way people over share on social media. Also, exposure to sexual content is more likely to happen at a younger age because of the vast amount of accessible data. Before, the only chance a kid had of being exposed to porn is if they find their parents collection. Today, well, let’s just pray filters are doing their job when your kid googles “Puss” from Shrek.
    Let’s take a look at a real-life example of technology’s effect on society. According to a post by The New Yorker on February 6, 2014, in an isolated area south of the Hudson Bay live the Oji-Cree people with a population of about thirty thousand. For much of the twentieth century, the Oji-Cree lived as nomads. They lived in tents during the summer, and in cabins during the winter. Snowshoes, dog sleds, and canoes were the main modes of transportation, used to track and kill fish, rabbits, and moose for food. In the 1940s a doctor who worked with the Oji-Cree noted the absence of mental breakdowns or substance abuse within the population, observing that “the people lived a rugged, rigorous life with plenty of exercise.” In the nineteen-sixties, however, when newer technologies like electricity really began to reach the area, the Oji-Cree eagerly embraced these new tools. In our lingo, we might say that they went through a rapid evolution, advancing through hundreds of years of technology in just a few decades. Well, that’s good. At least now they can watch TV, right? Now they can store foods better and enjoy pleasures like sweets and alcohol. Actually, since the arrival of new technologies, the Oji-Cree people has suffered from obesity, heart disease, alcoholism, and drug addiction. Technology has destroyed their culture and has put their people in more danger than possible.
    At this point, I don’t believe there is much that we can do to improve face-to-face communication. It is all up to people what becomes of face-to-face communication. If technology was not part of so much of our lives, people would communicate more in person. As humans most of what we know is taught to us, so teaching ourselves to communicate more face-to-face is a challenge, but it is one I find many willing to take. The only problem is, where do we begin cleaning this festering sore? Technology has been used to communicate face-to-face for a long time, but because of the advancement in technology, people communicate in person less everyday. It is a huge culture shock for most to have a conversation with someone in the flesh instead of through a device. This is the greatest challenge that my generation will face because we have become too dependent on technology for almost everything.

    Bibliography
    “The Impact of Technology on Social Interactions.” The Impact of Technology on Human Interactions, Linkedin , 26 Jan. 2017, http://www.linkedin.com/pulse/impact-technology-social-interactions-christine-aylett.
    Dunbar, Robin. “You’ve Got to Have (150) Friends.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 25 Dec. 2010, http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/26/opinion/26dunbar.html.

    Lewis, C. R. (2017, September 11). Library. Retrieved November 15, 2017, from https://www.census.gov/library/publications/2017/acs/acs-37.html

    M Elsobeihi, Mohammed & Abu Naser, Samy. (2017). Effects of Mobile Technology on Human Relationships. 1. 110-125.

    Turkle, Sherry. Stop Googling. Let’s Talk., 26 Sept. 2015.

    Wu, Tim. “As Technology Gets Better, Will Society Get Worse?” The New Yorker, The New Yorker, 19 June 2017, http://www.newyorker.com/tech/annals-of-technology/as-technology-gets-better-will-society-get-worse.

Leave a Reply

The OpenLab at City Tech:A place to learn, work, and share

The OpenLab is an open-source, digital platform designed to support teaching and learning at City Tech (New York City College of Technology), and to promote student and faculty engagement in the intellectual and social life of the college community.

Support

Help | Contact Us | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | Credits

Accessibility

Our goal is to make the OpenLab accessible for all users.

Learn more about accessibility on the OpenLab

Copyright

Creative Commons

  • - Attribution
  • - NonCommercial
  • - ShareAlike
Creative Commons

top