Category: Coffeehouse #5 (Page 2 of 2)

1- Citation: Dershowitz, Hanna Liebman. “What’s (Really) Driving Crime in New York.” Nyuj.Org, New York United For Justice (NYUJ), 2021, nyuj.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/NYUJ-Crime-Report-2021.pdf. 

2- Summary: The rise in gun violence after the COVID-19 pandemic left many New Yorkers alarmed and worried. In their short eBook “What’s (Really) Driving Crime in New York” Dershowitz goes into depth about the different factors that may have contributed to the rising rates of gun violence in New York during 2020. Homicides during the year 2020 were up by 45.8% across the entire state of New York. Dershowitz explains that police budgets being increased or decreased did not play much of a role in declining or surging gun violence rates. Instead, some factors that did play a role were limitations in social and economic institutions because of the Coronavirus, influx of gun purchases from different states, and faltering police relationships with the communities. In her eBook, Dershowitz quotes an article from the New York Times stating, “Experts say the economic and physical strain of the virus, which disproportionately took lives and jobs from neighborhoods that were already struggling with high levels of gun violence, most likely drove the rise in shootings.” In addition to the economic and social hardships brought by the Coronavirus, the author also explains that there has been a rise of guns entering New York from states with more relaxed gun laws. As more guns were passing into the state and social and economic support was down, the struggles between the police and communities only fueled the flames. As there were rising rates of police brutality distrust and discontent started to build which only led to more crime and gun violence. Dershowitz concludes her work by explaining that there are many factors contributing to gun violence, and it cannot be pinpointed to a single area. 

3- Reflection: I think that Dershowitz’s writing was straightforward and did well in proposing claims with sufficient evidence. I found it insightful and interesting to read. The author’s work provided me with the knowledge that I did not have before, made me contemplate the different causes and solutions of gun violence and how they can be implemented in our city’s society.

4-Rhetorical Analysis: This aligns with the author’s purpose for writing as she strives to bring light to the causes of gun violence and how it can be solved to make the city a better place. The author of this eBook, Hanna Liebman Dershowitz, is a policy attorney specializing in criminal legal reform and she serves as the Director of Policy and Advocacy for New Yorkers United for Justice. I believe that the author proves to be credible as she specializes in the field of criminology. Along with her specialization, she uses quotes and statistics to make her claims more credible.

5-Purpose Analysis:  The genre of this text can be described as a non-fiction research book. I believe that this genre is useful and does a good job of discussing the topic of gun violence and gives the audience many different lenses and perspectives to look through. 

6- Key Quote: “Experts say the economic and physical strain of the virus, which disproportionately took lives and jobs from neighborhoods that were already struggling with high levels of gun violence, most likely drove the rise in shootings.”

I chose this quote because it shows the author’s claim of the factors that led to an increase of gun violence.

Annotation 3.

1- Citation: Cramer, Maria, and Lola Fadulu. “Times Square Killing Tests New York’s Push to Curb Gun Violence.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 11 Feb. 2023, www.nytimes.com/2023/02/11/nyregion/times-square-shooting-gun-violence-ny.html?searchResultPosition=16.

Annotation 2

1. Citation: Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, “Phthalates in Food Packaging and Food Contact Applications.” U.S. Food and Drug Administration, FDA, www.fda.gov/food/food-ingredients-packaging/phthalates-food-packaging-and-food-contact-applications 10/27/2021. 
2. Summary: The article details the work of researchers at the GWU to find harmful chemicals in the test samples of the 11 popular fast food outlets they chose. The research team at the GWU found harmful chemicals including phthalates in 10 of them. The researchers also found numerous other plasticizers in many of the fast food chains they have looked into. As stated with the previous article, these researchers also believe it is healthier to eat home cooked food. Two of the researchers at GWU, Edwards and Zota, believe there needs to be more scrutiny and regulations of harmful chemicals when making food due to the health effects. 
3. Reflection: This source was useful since it showed the data from the research and gave us expert opinions on the topic.
4. Rhetorical analysis: I believe the article has a degree of credibility since it was published by a university, they provide contact information and the information was provided in a timely manner.The information can be found elsewhere by other publications which helps make the information a little more credible. A pitfall of this article is it does not have an author but the fact a university published the story could help it’s ETHOS. 
5. Short analysis:  I believe the choosing of the article genre for this story could be good for its audience since maybe researchers who want to write about the story prefer using the web to obtain their information. 
6. Quote: “Disadvantaged neighborhoods often have plenty of fast food outlets, but limited access to healthier foods like fruits and vegetables,’ Zota said. ‘Additional research needs to be done to find out whether people living in such food deserts are at higher risk of exposure to these harmful chemicals.” This can tell us that people in disadvantaged communities can be more likely to be exposed to health risks of processed food and developing disease in the long run. Which in turn can help us determine another reason for why phthalates need to be controlled since people who may not have access to as many healthy resources due to financial reasons get a more unfair outcome.

Annotation 3

1. Citation: Serrano, Samantha E, et al. “Phthalates and Diet: A Review of the Food Monitoring and Epidemiology Data – Environmental Health.” BioMed Central, BioMed Central, 2 June 2014, ehjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1476-069X-13-43. 
2. Summary: The article showed us the different types of foods or products such as dairy, grains and oils and showed the findings of phthalate levels in these foods and products. It also showed us how some of the toxic chemicals found in these foods can negatively impact the reproductive system. They have also shown intervention studies that aim to help reduce phthalate exposure and some of the interventions have helped reduce the levels by as much as 56%.
3. Reflection: I believe this article was helpful since it actually gave us the in-depth tests and research that the team went through to find the phthalates in the foods. It showed us the different types of phthalates and how prevalent they are in the foods that were tested with their research trials shown to us as evidence.
4. Rhetorical analysis: What makes this article credible was the fact that the authors were listed, however there is no contact information listed. The publisher is listed on the website and they do have an option on their website for leaving feedback. This information seemed to be provided in a timely manner and can be found through other sources as well. 
5. Short analysis: I believe choosing the genre of article was a good choice for the audience since it may have been trying to inform the general public with information in a format that is not too long.
6. Quote: The article shows us “All phthalates were detected in oils and fats including butter, margarine, cooking oils and animal fats such as lard”. Since mainly oils and fats are used in processed foods, this shows to us how unhealthy consuming these products can be. The information also can help us see why some of these products contribute to certain health disadvantages due to having an unhealthy amount of phthalates which contribute to heart disease.