Inside…

A Harrowing Journey

A Look into American

Society

An Opinion on Sponsorship

2 Steps – May, 2011

3 A Challenge

Some skills are not as useless

as they appear.

4 Sponsorship Babies

Are we breeding a generation of

consumers?

5 False Expectations

A look at the effects of

television on today’s society.

6 The Modern Crusade

Is our role as the protector of

morals affecting our society?

3 Steps – May, 2011

Certain skills, it seems, like words become archaic. Few people know the

ways of a fax-machine, or how to apply just the right pressure to a typewriter. This

is the way I always though of driving a manual transmission car. My parents spoke

of the perfect timing required in the “art” as an almost mythical skill that required

years to hone. I intended to learn but other things always trumped my intentions.

Besides, standard transmission cars are so vestigial. Why should teenagers learn?

I discovered why on faithful Sunday afternoon. My grandpa, a friend to all

frequently borrowed expensive sports cars from the local car dealership. He took

me and the silver Porsche for a cruise along the rural roads of Northeast Arkansas.

Within 20 minutes of leaving the city – known to others as a small town – my

grandpa suffered a minor heart attack. In his last conscious moments, he managed

to pull off to the side of the desolate highway.

Cell phone? Dead. Bystanders? None. After this quick mental check, my mind was set: I would have to tame the Porsche

and drive my grandpa to safety.

Even entering first gear was harder than I ever expected. Gas, clutch, stick?

No. Brake, stick, clutch? Wrong again. After an eternity of frustrating

combinations, the wild beast came to life. As the engine roared, so did my

confidence. The mystic “art” of the timing was over, or so it seemed. The end of

first gear rapidly approaching, the resting roaring engine turned into a screeching

eagle. Having never ridden in a standard car, the noise meant nothing until a jolt of

mental energy struck me. Time to shift into second gear. My mind raced for an

answer and finally my foot released the gas, jammed the clutch, and shifted into

second. Too scared to try again, I remained in second gear for the duration of the

ten-mile stretch. After moving at a slow pace for what seemed like hours, the

unthinkable happened. My cell phone rang. My mother was calling. All my

frustration and joy immediately was directed towards her. After a long

conversation as she was coming to get us, I saw her. As she approached, I thought

of the previous hour and was impressed with my tenacity and courage I put

forward when faced with an overwhelming challenge.

4 Steps – May, 2011

In a world

where money is

everything, so is

corporate sponsorship. Athletes are paid millions to wear Nike shoes, and

companies are paid tremendous sums for product placement deals. Naturally,

corporate sponsors can only be withheld from the bastion of schools for so long. I

believe the corporate world should be allowed to mix with the world of education.

Sponsorships create money; and money creates a better learning

environment. Why should students be denied the benefits of corporate money?

Recently, our school signed a deal with Scholastic. With the money, a media

center with extremely modern technology was built in place of our dilapidated

library. Without the Scholastic name on all the equipment, students could not

benefit from the technology. Withholding the money found in sponsorship deals

from schools is not the way to push education forward as President Obama is so

willing to do. More money means more opportunities, which can create higher test

scores, higher college attendance rates, and even higher

voter turnout at elections.

Schools operate much like businesses. Groups of

intelligent, older people run the schools, while middlemen

relay the decisions to the lowly employees. Sponsors can

mean the difference of billions of dollars over a company’s

lifetime. Why should schools be denied this money?

Schools in cash-strapped communities go through great

trouble to raise money, while a signature on a dotted line is

all that is required. If the question is not why, then it

should be is it our right. Is it our right to deny children

opportunities created by sponsorship money? Denying schools easily earned

money could mean denying children a future.

Some individuals argue that children’s minds are easily influenced and the

constant advertisements might create over consuming children. This indeed might

happen. However, if a child wants to purchase every product line advertised, the

parents should be in charge of sifting through the needs

and wants. The parents, not the schools, would be to

blame. Parents see their children for far longer that the

school does. If a child becomes a young consumer, it is

the parent’s own doing.

Corporate sponsorship makes up a large majority of

our world. If we as a nation have let the sponsors in this far with little

repercussions, then the last bastions should be broken and allows sponsors into

their walls.

5 Steps – May, 2011

Television, in the recent

decades, has become a window into the exciting lives of

the average American. However, the average American does not live the typical

American life. As Ehrenreich correctly reveals, watching television is never shown

as the main activity of any television character. Yet, this is the high point of many

days for many Americans.

The simple fact is: Most television

shows do not portray an accurate timeline

of American life. On Modern Family, a

successful nighttime television show, a

special activity is taking place every

week. It is either Halloween, or the

family is taking a vacation to Hawaii, or

the father is giving the keynote speech at

an important banquet. People tune into

shows like this for that exact reason. Boredom appears to be our greatest fear as a

society. A significant change in schedule is not taking place every week.

Therefore, we rely of television to fill the boring spaces. Why try to make

excitement when a simple click of a button can transport anyone to a fun-filled

universe? The answer most Americans find is that easier is better, therefore

television is better.

Americans have also created a sense of entitlement about themselves.

People expect many things to be given to them with minimal effort. It has been

this way in the United States for hundreds of years. During the age of trusts and

monopolies, Duke, Stanford, and Carnegie were amassing fortunes. Many people

expected, not wanted, money from the millionaires. The

false expectation was intercepted with a harsh

“Why, you should work hard for your money as we did.”

Carnegie and the other millionaires had a point.

What entitlement to money do Americans have? This

question actually applies to everything. Why should

Americans receive excitement for zero work? People

want exciting lives, but don’t want to work for them.

Television creates the fantasy of an exciting life style,

which is more than enough for the average couch potato.

A false sense of expectation, catalyzed by the exciting world of television

can spell disaster for the American people. A sense of entitlement is just a

communist system in which an equal wage creates no motivation. A communist

government would mean the end of the fabled American innovation. If we allow

ourselves to fall into the communist-like trap of entitlement, the American way of

life will cease to exist. Television is certainly not the start of this dangerous pitfall,

but it is certainly a deceptive sign pointing towards it.

6 Steps – May, 2011

Today’s society constantly alleges that moral battles must be waged. If it is

not Fox News carrying on endlessly about the infamous “War on Christmas,” it is

Christian extremists protesting gay weddings. My question for the moral

crusaders: Who cares?

Exchanging charity for grades, it seems, is the next up on the crusaders

line-up. The charities receiving the donations are the ultimate receivers, and a

moral crusade would only hurt the charity. In our high school Beta Club, points

are needed to continue into the next year of club membership. Donating to

charities is a good way to earn points. If a student remains active in

the club through twelfth grade, a special graduation cord and

more scholarship opportunities are bestowed. Not one person

is raising hell about this practice, yet it is essentially the same

as exchanging donations for grades. By earning better grades,

a student receives a special graduation cord and more

scholarship opportunities.

The way Americans tend to consider themselves as the

protector of morals has existed for decades. Before the United

States entered World War One, Wilson described the need for war as a need for

protection of democracy. From that point onward, millions of lives have been lost

to moral crusades. However, are morals not opinions? If they are, who are we to

classify morals as good or bad?

In Donna Leon’s Death at La Fenice, an Italian detective

scoffs at the way millions of Americans hold themselves above

the ethical heads of the rest of the world. While drinking bee, he

the detective remarks about how a “dry” area does not exist in

Italy. Therefore, my viewpoint of the moral conscience of

Americans is obviously not confined to this work. Millions of

Chinese citizens undoubtedly believe their Communism to be far

superior to our Capitalism. So why, they wonder, can the pesky

Americans never leave us be? The answer lies in the history of

our country. Americans believed themselves to be better than

Catholics, blacks, Muslims, and even most Europeans from the

beginning of our country’s history.

Americans have and probably always will believe themselves to be superior

to everyone. Therefore we cannot allow our moral crusades to reach matters so

insignificant that we outcast everyone. This would likely lead to the end of the

American people all together.

7 Steps – May, 2011

A challenge...

All standardized literacy tests seem to be the same. They all seem to

involve cheesy essay prompts. While preparing for the literacy end-of-course

exam given at the end of the junior year, I wrote this essay as practice. As a

thinker, I was required to devise a clever way to answer the prompt. While little

analysis was required, a great deal of sophisticated writing was necessary. This

essay did little too enhance my skills but it did give me an opportunity to flex my

brain muscles.

Sponsorship Babies…

The tremendous power of deep, analytical thinking is best expressed by the

argument essay. Along with writing in a mature style, a deeper issue must be

explored. This argument essay was one of my first attempts at taking a prompt and

linking it to a deeper issue. As a writer and reader I grew little. However, the deep

thinking required stretched my mind into new realms of thinking.

False Expectations…

Arguments do not always involve just a prompt. This essay was my first

experience writing an essay from a quote. Not only was mature writing and deep

thinking required, analytical reading was also a must. The quote required

dissecting to find the issue. As a reader I grew with this experience, as all three

mind sets were required for success.

The Modern Crusade…

Every person in the world, at one time in his or her life, has learned a

valuable lesson. This argumentative prompt did just that. Sometimes deep thinking

sends people off on a tangent that results in by passing the subject-matter. I fell

into this devious trap and found myself straying like a sheep. I was able to pull

myself back into line. This experience allowed me a valuable lesson as a writer.

8 Steps – May, 2011