Book Report/ Novel Summary (Ellis Orozco)

Goldberg, Bernard. BIAS. Washington D.C. Perennial. 2003

I chose to read this book because I felt as though it could provide me an insight to the news (that I view on a daily basis). I felt as though it could tell me what was really going through their heads before they published a story. This book is a non-fiction. One could say that this novel takes place in the news offices of CBS and NBC. This book is very recent in terms of when it takes place it is within the last four years.

My novel is basically exposing how the news has a liberal bias. For example Goldberg is talking about a case when a presidential candidate came up with a flat tax idea. He stated that the reported ONLY interviewed people who were opposed to the idea, and none that were for it. So he basically was ridiculing this guy’s idea on public news. So rather than trying to understand the candidates idea, or expose the nation to it in a matter where he wasn’t taking sides. He decided to take the time he had the man on air to just shoot down his idea.

Since my book is more of a non-fiction book, just trying to give the world important information I will stick with describing and talking about the man who is writing the novel, Bernard Goldberg. Goldberg is a very audacious man who in the novel speaks his mind quite a bit even though it may hurt his news “family.” Goldberg plays a huge role in the plot because he is the one who writes an op-ed piece in the wall street journal that states how biased the media is, from there on out he is describing situations where they were bias and he also talks about what happens to people who go against the media who were part of the media team. I was more than interested in this character, I was fascinated by how bold and risky he was in exposing the medias bias. Throughout the whole book including the end the plot remains the same, Goldberg exposing the media.

I loved reading this novel it was very interesting and insightful. I feel as though by reading this book it just assured me that the media isn’t what it seems and that when Goldberg says it is like an old mafia, he is completely true. If anyone on the inside working for the media tries to expose them or reveal something they get taken care off. They may not necessarily get shot but they may end up loosing their job or something along the lines of that. I feel as though this novel is important for scholars to read because if students aren’t already aware of the media bias then this book will give them this perspective. If I was put into Goldberg’s shoes I most likely would not have the guts to stand up to my boss and in a way my own job. Because that is a huge risk as stated in the book. I definitely agree with him a hundred percent in the cases he presented but I just would stand up and say it (For that matter even write it).

Bernard Goldberg has written quite a few books such as: Arrogance, crazies to the left of me, wimps to the right, along with others. This was the first actual book I have read about the medias bias and askew ness. I most definitely will be reading more of his writings because this last one kept me very intrigued. I will most likely read Crazies to the left of me, wimps to the right, next.

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Evan Reeve. (creative write from the MOPA)

It was a lonely friday and Rebecca was bored out of her mind. First a background check, Rebecca is not your above average student as a matter of fact she was barely average. It's not because she dumb or anything she is actually really smart but she is highly unmotivated. She went from being a goody good and teachers pet, to a junkie and rebellious person. It is very sad. This specific day she decided she wanted to skip school and go home and have a house party and invite some friends over for fun. It was about midday and her friends started showing up at her house. The started off just watching movies and talking but, then some of her junkie friends showed up and they had acid. They were trying to get Rebecca to try it because it has awesome side effects. She was very hesitant at first but, eventually she decided to do it because she thought it would be "fun." She took some and about ten minutes later she started feeling a little weird, the room started spinning and Rebecca was having scary hallucinations. She was getting really afraid she started screaming and running around. She went outside and started walking then she saw white lights coming towards her. What she didn't know then was that they were car lights so she just stopped and looked, then finally it hit her that they were car lights and she tried to get away but it was too late. Everything happened so fast the driver slammed on the breaks and tried to stop but just before the driver hit her she woke up. She realized this whole thing was just a dream and she felt much better. She got up and went to school to learn abou ther favorite subject, history.

Barder and the Turban.

Barder started off as just some street dog that just roamed the streets looking for food when, all of the sudden, his lucj completely changed. He received a turban that allowed him the power to fly. He decided to use his powers for good. So, whenever someone needed help he'd be there to assist. Eventually everyone heard about Barder's powers and he was constantly being called to help someone. All this jumping around all the place finally caught up to him. He wasn't able to keep running around and helping people so he just collapsted on the street and fell unconscious. Luckily, there was a kid there to take care of him.

Thomson’s Violin

One day, you wake up in hospital. In the nearby bed lies a world famous violinist who is connected to you with various tubes and machines.

To your horror, you discover that you have been kidnapped by the Music Appreciation Society. Aware of the maestro’s impending death, they hooked you up to the violinist.

If you stay in the hospital bed, connected to the violinist, he will be totally cured in nine months. You are unlikely to suffer harm. No one else can save him. Do you have an obligation to stay connected?

Make sure to explain your reasoning thoroughly. Note what assumptions your choices make about your ethical value system. Is one life ever worth more than another? Is saving one life worth a terrible inconvenience to someone else - even a random stranger? Are there certain conditions under which you might agree to remain hooked up to the violinist, but not others? What if it weren’t a violinist (how dated is that?), but instead your favorite musician or artist? What if it were me...better yet, what if it were ROSS!?!

I’m also asking that you reflect and comment on at least two of your classmates posts on this topic. Thoughtfully challenge their thinking! We’ll be doing E:prompts like this regularly now. Sometimes we will use classic ethical dilemmas - which moral philosophers make careers out of debating and thinking about - and sometimes we will use ethical dilemmas from my own personal life. Eventually I’ll be inviting you to offer different dilemmas you’ve encountered in your life, and as a class we’ll wrestle with the ramifications.

I would probably stay with the guy because of my morals. I would feel incredibly bad if I just left the man there knowing that I was the only one that could've of saved him. Yet, I would also feel bad if I did because I would only be doing it to look like a good guy. In other words either situation would leave me with a little bit of guilt. . Anyways back to the question of whether I would stay there and help him, I think I would even though I would only be doing it to be a good guy and to develop some good karma.

Forte: A strong point. Playing the guitar is one of my few forte's. Also, just making music in general.

Aggravate: To annoy, to make more severe or worse. This text "little sister" is a perfect representation of what little sisters do best. Aggravate their brothers to death!

Blatant: Obvious. In this picture they are making it blatantly obvious that you aren't allowed to ride your skateboards or bicycles on the side walk.

Averse: completely and totally against. This symbol is a pretty good example of people who have averse opinions on certain subjects. The democrat and Republican symbols symbolize the different opinions from two different people.

Article Title: Army Dismissals for mental health, misconduct rises
Source: NPR
Author of Article: Daniel Zwerdling
Date Published: December 3, 2007
Name of student summarizing article: Ellis Orozco

PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) a common disorder associated with soldiers (although not always). It is the result of a person experiencing something that traumatizes them, and or just the fact that they are constantly under stress not knowing when they are going to be attacked. My article is bringing up the fact that the number of military discharges due to personality disorder (ptsd) or misconduct has totaled to 28,000. Although many of them are suspected of being discharged by doctors just because they or the general find them incapable of working so they loosely declare that they have PTSD just to get rid of them. Also, many of them do not receive the needed help to help treat the PTSD. Finally it is said that many soldiers turn to alcoholism and the use of illegal drugs because they feel as though they have nothing else to live for or something else.

I believe the military is at a huge blame because they are discharging these kids just because of some little thing that they believe is a problem, also they just want an excuse to discharge certain soldiers. Also, I believe they should provide some sort pf treatment for these kids who end up with PTSD because they got it by fighting for their country and serving their leaders.

Current Event
Title: S.D school board to begin interviews for superintendent job
Source: Sign On San Diego (Union Tribune)
Author: Helen Gao
Date: November 26, 2007
Student Name: Ellis Orozco

Summary: With the resignation of the past superintendent Carl Cohn on December 31st the school board is scrambling to get a replacement before the end of the year. So far they say they have 50 qualified candidates. Two-Thirds of them come from Bill Attea’s firm called Hazard Young Attea and Associates (and out of state firm from Illinois). A lot of community leaders are opposed to the bringing in of “out-of-towners” as they put it, because they don’t know anything about San Diego’s history and politics. So they recommend starting off with local talents before going to “out-of-towners.”

Significance: Since HTHI is under the SDUSD umbrella it is important for a new and qualified superintendent to fill Cohn’s shoes because he sets the standards and provides support for teachers in the SDUSD.

quotidian – daily, usual or customary. A quotidian cup of coffee. So to say: a casual or "daily" cup of coffee. Since much of the U.S (along with other nations) drink coffee with their breakfast or on their way to work it has become very customary or ordinary to see someone with a cup of coffee in their hand.

obsequious –obedient, dutiful. A dog is a perfect example of an obsequious living thing. Because they get trained to do anything that a human tells them to do. They "usually"(depending on how well the training is) sit when you ask them to, stay and follow many other orders.

reparation –restoration to good condition, reparation for an injustice. This image is a perfect representation of reparation because you use wrenches to fix or repair things that are broken.

Ellis Orozco
Huck Finn Reflection

Some authors write stories for the popularity and perks that come along with a successful novel. Then there are those authors who write stories to convey their opinions about certain events in the world through their characters and plot lines. In the novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, a reader may wonder about author Mark Twain’s opinions of current events of his time. In this essay the question of whether Twain is speaking his mind through his characters will be answered.
Jim, a slave, and Huck Finn share a human-to-human relationship. Huck and Jim’s relationship begins when Huck fakes his death and Jim escapes from Ms. Watson. They develop a personal relationship due to all the time they spend together on the raft. When Huck and Jim are alone on the raft, this intimate human-to-human relationship develops. On the other hand, when they interact in public situations their relationship changes to one of a human to property. Huck reestablishes an owner/slave relationship when he and Jim are in public situations to reflect society’s expectations. He struggles with the way he was brought up and the way society dictates how he should act and feel, and his close relationship and bond with Jim. For example, blacks are viewed as property and anyone who treats them otherwise is viewed disgracefully or in some cases hated by other citizens. So, when Huck goes out into towns or is faced with other people he has to put on this show and make everyone believe that he views blacks as property and nothing else.
Throughout their adventures, Jim and Huck act as slave and owner, and as friends. One perfect example of their slave-owner relationship would be when Jim gets caught while Huck went into town to gather some goods. Huck meets up with a kid and asks if he had seen Jim. When the kid says yes he also asks why he wants to know. Huck is forced to make up a story. He says Jim is a cruel and vial person who tied him up, and told Huck if he said a word he’d cut out his liver. This brings up the question of whether Huck truly feels that Jim is a bad person or if this is Twain’s way of expressing the way he truly feels about blacks. Perhaps by writing that Huck develops this elaborate story to cover up the fact that Huck and Jim are friends, Twain is illustrating how ignorant people were back then. Also, Twain describes how hard it was balancing the rules of society for how you interact with blacks and maintaining a close friendship with Jim, who was a black slave. Then there is the case of when Huck says maybe it’s better for Jim to be a slave. Huck tries to justify saying this by pointing out that Jim gets to be with his family. He says that Jim gets to have a place to live, work and eat. When Twain says, through Huck, that it may be better that Jim is Ms. Watson’s slave, he is saying that although life is bad being a slave, Jim is better there because of negative public perceptions of the worthiness and value of blacks as free people. The general public consensus is that black slaves are not entitled to be free and not able to become citizens.
When Huck is getting ready to turn Jim in, he has second thoughts and thinks about all the good times he and Jim had together. He decides not to turn him. Yet, Huck still refers to Jim as his property and something that belongs to him like a toy. This seems kind of strange referring to your friend as property; it makes me believe that Twain was trying to express his opinions about blacks through this writing. He was trying to say that even though Huck and Jim are “friends” so to speak, the type of world that Huck has been brought up in forces him to act that way to avoid being shunned or looked down upon by the outside world.
Due to Twain’s unique way of writing this story, he was able to express how bad slavery was and the negative and suppressive effect it had on black and white people. Through his description of Huck and Jim’s complicated relationship, Twain effectively stated his opinion of slavery, society’s oppressive influence supporting slavery and the possible toll it took on many personal relationships.

Precipitous- extremely or impassably steep: “Precipitous mountain trails, or wall of rock." Since these mountains are extremely steep and nearly impossible to pass (safely) they are a good representation of precipitous.

Deduct- to take away (a quantity) from another. This image represents a deduction, because taxes are deducted from your pay check and it goes to the government.

Incognito- having one’s identity concealed, as under an assumed name, to avoid notice or formal attentions. (To travel incognito). This photo represents an animal (or person) incognito very well because the things the animal is wearing
disguises the dogs true identity ( what he was born looking like).

Vocabulary Week 9

Accord- to be in agreement or harmony.
Bias- An unfair act or policy stemming from prejudice
Incognito- having one’s identity concealed, as under an assumed name, to avoid notice or formal attentions. (To travel incognito)
Deduct- to take away (a quantity) from another.
Paradigm- systematic arrangement of all the inflected forms of a word
Plagiarize- to take and use ideas, passages from another’s work.
Precipitous- extremely or impassably steep: “Precipitous mountain trails, or wall of rock”
Recapitulate- to review by a brief summary; summarize
Reciprocate- to give, feel, to make a return
Empathy- the action of understanding, being aware of, being sensitive to

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Tumult- violent, and/or noisy commotion or disturbance of a crowd. This image is pretty self-explanatory (A mosh pit). They are usually very chaotic (Pits) with fists flying and legs swinging around left and right.

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Stereotype- to give a fixed form to. Many Americans are stereotyped as T.V loving McDonalds eating animals. Which in some cases is true but in quite a few cases that is completely untrue. I personally believe that stereotypes make people look much simpler than what they really are.

Flourish- to thrive or be in one’s prime state. This picture is a perfect representation of a human being flourishing because when this picture of Randy Rhodes was taken he was at the culminating point or the in his prime state of his career.

Vocabulary week 8
Guerrilla-a member of a band of irregular soldiers that use guerrilla warfare, harassing the enemy by surprise raids.
Flourish- to thrive or be in one’s prime state.
Renegade- a person who deserts a party or cause for another. (Traitor)
Repose-dignified calmness, state of tranquility, peace
Stereotype-to give a fixed form to
Symbiosis-the intimate living together of two dissimilar organisms in a mutually beneficial relationship
Tariff-A duty or duties so imposed, a schedule of prices or fees.
Tempo-characteristic rate, rhythm, or pattern of work or activity
Tranquility- quality or state of being tranquil
Tumult- violent and noisy commotion or disturbance of a crowd
Tundra- a vast treeless plain with frozen soil.
Unanimous- characterized by showing complete agreement

Writing #1

Ellis Orozco
Bill Clyde’s Unfaithful Wife
Bill Clyde is your average American. He’s got a nice life being retired, spending more time with his wife and younger kids, while being able to travel where he wants. He was on one off his annual trips across the U.S and this year he decided to go to New York just because he had never been there before. He was having a great time (on the flight over), and then he received the call. His wife said that she had been having an affair with this younger man. Bill asked how long this “affair” had been going on, and she told him they got together every time Bill went on one of his yearly trips. Bill was so livid he wanted to just yell but, since he was on the subway he controlled himself and tried as hard as he could to not let the anger show on his face. He tried to force a smile to some of the people sharing the subway with him but, it didn’t work. When he finally got off the subway he caught sight of a flash from a camera. He walked on and tried to get over the fact that his wife had been cheating on him for so many long years. Bill walked and as he reached the exit, he stopped, looked back, and realized that his yearly trips were changed forever. He pursed his lips appreciating the irony that under his arm he carried gifts for his kids and unfaithful wife.