Gossip Girl and Boy get lesson in empathy

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/05/education/05empathy.html?em

This is such a great idea to get kids to stop bullying and being nice to each other. Middle school is probably the most common grade to be bullied or experience mean behavior from another student. The principal and school is really trying hard to make the school more friendly and make their students more aware of bullying at their school. Even little things like showing off who went to someone's party can be offensive to someone if they weren't invited. The school is just taking it one step farther during the grades right before high school to not bring bullying to the rest of the students school life. I think this is just such a great idea. 

The title "Gossip Girl and Boy Get lesson in Empathy" pulled me in because I automatically thought of a TV show. Then when I started reading the article, the journalist started with one semi-short sentence that really caught my attention even more and kept me wanting to read more. Sometimes less words affect someone better than a lot of words. It leaves people wondering and pulls them into the article to continue reading what the journalist is actually saying. I also think there was a good balance of examples of what the school is doing to prevent bullying, and other examples of schools that are trying to do the same thing. It was an easy read.

A Push is on for Same-Sex Marriages

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/05/us/05marriage.html?_r=1&ref=us

I think that the start of allowing same-sex marriages is a start to changing America. With allowing more freedom to the world, now everyone can feel comfortable in their own skin. Someone should be allowed to do whatever it pleases even if that means they have fallen for the same sex. This is a free nation, and no law should forbid that. Times have changed, this isn't the 1800's when everyone was afraid to express their true feelings because they might be hurt. 

This is also such an improvement because Iowa is located in the South West, which is considered not to be as open to gay rights. It just shows the world is changing and soon enough maybe discrimination will be on its way to an end.

In the Dordogne, Canoeing in prehistory

http://travel.nytimes.com/2009/04/05/travel/05dordogne.html?8dpc

"FAR below the clifftop terrace where we were savoring a wild boar stew, the Vézère River curved silky and dark under a steep cliff, carrying three canoes and a kayak. The paddlers passed smoothly over the water, around a bend and out of sight. Reports had been right — the canoeing would be good here in the Dordogne, an area in Aquitaine where the rivers have invited exploration and settlement since the days of the Neanderthals."

I loved how this article opened in this beginning paragraph. It made me feel like I was actually there with such detailed words like "silky" and the river "carrying three canoes and a kayak". Throughout the article I had a mental picture of the location where the journalist was. The journalist also continued using descriptive words to let the reader know exactly the place he was at. I think that some articles require the journalist to set a mental picture, and that a good journalist knows how to do so.

First Lady, Queen Reach Out and Touch

http://news.aol.com/article/michelle-obama-touches-queen/410276

London is in uprage after First Lady Michelle Obama breach protocal by putting her arm around the Queen. The Obamas met the monarch and her husband, Prince Philip, at Buckingham Palace on Wednesday. The Queen put her arm around Michelle's waist, and after a few moments Michelle in return put her arm around her shoulder. Even though she breached protocal, it was a gesture of acceptance. The Queen did it first, so I believe Michelle was in a tough situation: does she touch the Queen in response out of politeness, or does she follow protocal and don't touch the Queen that might appear rude to the Queen? It appears that the Obamas were very accepted by the royal family, and that it was only a gesture of respect for the Queen. The protocal of touching the Queen as minor as putting an arm around her shoulder is rather ridiculous, but in other cases like touching the Queen just to touch is much more offensive. Since the Queen was okay with Michelle putting her arm around her shoulder, the protocal should be put aside. The journalist did a good job of telling exactly what the news was, and did not hint his opinion of the situation. He could have thought the protocal is absoultely ridiculous, but it could never be proven in his article. With a news piece like this, the journalist did exactly what his job was.

Is Facebook Growing up too fast?

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/29/technology/internet/29face.html?pagewanted=1&em&adxnnlx=1238414606-45IjSo7dksUby6NFqcZnaQ This article had an interesting topic since I can relate to it. The article summarizes the great success of the co-founders of Facebook, including appearing on Oprah, and the vast amount of people who have joined the popular website. It also includes personal stories of people who have used Facebook to reconnect with old friends and lost family members. The article then goes into talking about the changes to Facebook that has site users in outrage. “The changes just feel very juvenile,” Ms. Rabban says. “It’s just not addressing the needs of my generation and my peers. In my circle, everyone is pretty devastated about it.” Even though site users are confused by the changes of Facebook, the creators are not listening to their users complaints. “It’s not a democracy,” Mr. Cox says of his company’s relationship with users. “We are here to build an Internet medium for communicating and we think we have enough perspective to do that and be caretakers of that vision."

The beginning of the article kept my attention, and continuing into the complaints of users of the new Facebook since I, too, believe that the new Facebook is very hard to use. But as the article grew into its third page, there were so many personal stories of Facebook users and their story of how it relates to the story. As it does show that Facebook has a very large amount of people on the site, it gets confusing to the reader because the many stories are similar, and it is like reading personal story after personal story. If the amount of personal stories were cut down, perhaps the article would have been easier to read and more intersting