College Life

How the Federal Flight Deck Officer Program impacts society's view of gun rights.

     Overall, I have really enjoyed this English 1413 course. I really liked the multimodal theme of the course. It is easier for me to understand writing when I have pictures to look at, or when I am explaining something I can use pictures to help describe it. I learned that I am good at writing despite my constant thought that I am terrible at it. It has boosted my writing confidence because I better understand how writing is communication. This course tackled the idea that writing is not just about books and plain text; it is about communication. Communication is done though visuals as well as plain text, and always both in everyday life. I learned that writing a research paper is really not all that difficult. All you have to do is find a topic that you are interested in, organize your sources and take the time to analyze those sources properly. Once you have your ideas set, the composing of your paper goes very smoothly.      The research journal was a huge help to my understanding of the course teachings because I could reflect on what we discussed in class. It also helped me with my research paper, specifically with the annotated bibliography and organizing sources into categories. This is where my paper began to take form because my ideas were organized, so writing the draft was really not that bad.      The writerly identity collage was also a blast! Being able to be crafty and express myself was very fun. I usually do not have time for things like that while I am in school because I spend my time studying and hanging out with friends. To be able to be crafty for a grade was a very rewarding deal. 

    Most of the papers that I have written I wrote in high school. The longest paper I wrote was a research paper in my English 2 class. It was about society’s dependence on technology. Like many high school research papers, we had a schedule on when certain things were due, such as the topic choice, thesis, 1st draft, etc. When we got to the reviewing stage, we had our classmates review our paper, and our teacher also read our first draft and met with us to discuss her findings. Honestly, I have not had much trouble with reviewing my papers, as I can organize them pretty well from the start. I like to get all my information together first and come up with arguments for my points before I begin writing, so that the writing process goes fairly quickly. That would be the positive aspects. As for the negative aspects of the revision process, it is mostly the organization part that I have difficulty with. Once I have heard what others think of my paper and have an idea of what could be rearranged, expanded upon, taken out, or added in, it is sometimes difficult for me to find ways to rearrange, expand, take out, or add because I do not want to mess up how I originally organized it, since it makes since to me. Most of the time I end up having a good draft for research papers, and there are minor changes I need to make after I have received feedback.     I think the hardest part about writing for me is trying to figure out what I am going to write about. I really like to get an idea of what I want to write about, then making an outline and writing sub-points, and even sub-points for those sub-points, and then going to town composing it. It is easier for me to figure it out before hand than to completely change directions once I have already started. This does cause me to take a long time for research or formulating my ideas, but it pays off when I begin to write. I think that it is the inner engineer in me that causes me to plan everything before I act.

Sometimes how I feel when I start to write a paper:

“What I learned in boating school is... What I learned in boating school is...?!”

    My strategy for revisions is setting my paper down for a day or two and then come back to it and read everything I have written so far. This allows me to have a better perspective of what another person would think while reading my paper because it is not super fresh in my mind. This is exactly what Understanding Rhetoric Issue 6 explains on the first few pages, “[Revision is] about seeing a composition anew, with fresh eyes – seeing your own work as if you were another reader”. This is very important because you are writing so others can read your work and see what you have to say about things. You want others to be able to understand your paper. Another good point about revision that is explained in Issue 6 is that it’s not just about correcting grammar and spelling (although that is very important); it’s about reviewing your work to see if you have correctly made your points, if your paper is organized in a way that helps get your point across, and is easy for the reader to follow.

And then the pure relief and joy when you finally get it done and feel good about it:

*Note I have used in text citations for some of the information here so that I can use this in composing my research paper.

1) http://www.featherlessbiped.com/6696/NORIGHTS/0911a.htm

This image is for the argument that regular citizens with carry permits should be able to carry their concealed loaded weapons on flights. While it does make a good point that if there were terrorists who made it obvious that they were going to attack in some way, that there would be an armed passenger that could stop the attack by killing the terrorist. This is a logical, emotional, and ethical appeal to this issue. However, this image is assuming that there would be enough capable armed passengers in the right place at the right time to see the event that is taking place. That said passenger could react accordingly in order to take down the terrorist without endangering any other passengers on the flight (meaning the path of the bullet would not shoot another passenger). This is also assuming that the armed passengers and even unarmed passengers would not be paranoid, freak out, and shoot an innocent passenger because they fear that said innocent passenger is a terrorist for some reason. Also, the cabin of an airplane is a very small area. Regular passengers with carry permits are not trained like Federal air marshals and Federal flight deck officers. The Federal officers have special training to identify terrorists (Sweet, 61-61), and air marshals are highly trained, and “are some of the best marksman in the world” (Sweet, 65). Regular citizens with carry permits do not have this type of training. Thus, allowing passengers with carry permits is a safety and training implementation issue, and it would not be safe to allow them to carry guns. Overall, the idea of the air marshal program is that the bad guys will not know what flight has a marshal on it, since there are not enough marshals to be on every flight.

2) http://www.ncc-1776.org/tle2002/libe175-20020527.html

This image depicts the view that pilots should be armed. However, this shows the pilot in the cabin of the plane with his weapon, which is not the point of the FFDO Program. Under the FFDO Program, the loaded gun stays in the cockpit of the plane. The purpose of arming the pilots while they are in the cockpit is to prevent someone hijacking the plane. This ties into the safety and training implementations in that pilots do not have the type of training that air marshals have, thus it is not safe to allow pilots to carry their loaded weapon into the cabin.

Both images 1 and 2 show that Americans are aware of the idea of having armed persons on board an aircraft to deter and prevent terrorist attacks, and have positive feelings about allowing pilots to be armed. However these images do not tell the whole story. I have tried to tell the whole story in my analysis.

3) http://sitekreator.com/precision/757-200pcf-flight-deck-layout.html

This image is the cockpit schematic of the flight deck or otherwise known as the cockpit of the Boeing 757-200PCF. This is where the pilots control the airplane. This is not the cabin of the airplane. This applies to all airplanes. 

4) http://www.airlines-inform.com/commercial-aircraft/Boeing-747-400.html

This is the Boeing 747-400 right behind the newest Boeing 747-8, but there was not a picture for the 747-8 (the 747-8 typical 3-class has 467 passenger seats (Plane Specs). The Boeing 747-400 typical 3-class seating holds 416 passenger seats (Plane Specs). The cabin width for a 747-400 is 6.13 meters (Plane Specs). This visual shows how many people can be on one flight and how tight the space is. There are hundreds of people on a plane at any given time, and that’s how many lives the pilot is responsible for. If the pilot loses control of the plane, say if someone hijacks a plane, then that is how many people’s lives are in danger in one environment. This also shows how it is no wonder why Federal Air Marshals have to be trained so extensively and have very good aim in order to control situations that arise in airplanes. Based on this, the FFDO Program should not allow pilots to carry their loaded weapons in the cabin of the plane, because they are not trained sufficiently. The pilot became a pilot for a reason, because they want to fly the airplanes. This should be their job. Not to be trained in addition to be the equivalent of a Federal Air Marshal. This would just give terrorists an opportunity to target pilots while they are in the cabin because they know that the pilot would have a loaded weapon on his person.

5) http://www.aero-news.net/index.cfm?do=main.textpost&id=996cfeaf-658c-46ed-8919-a862091e9e77

   My research question is “How does the Federal Flight Deck Officer Program of 2002 that armed trained pilots impact society’s view of gun rights”? The theme of my paper is society’s view of gun rights based off of the implementation of this program. The categories of my paper are breaches in aviation security, how politics play a role, and safety and training implementations of the FFDO program.    Theme: Society’s view of gun rights.    Categories: Breaches in aviation security, politics, and safety and training implementations.    I will address my sources in alphabetical order. I will discuss which category they fall under and how that ties back into the overall theme of the paper.

   1. Ashtari, Shadee. "Rand Paul: 'I Want All Pilots To Be Armed'" The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 10 Apr. 2014. Web. 08 Mar. 2015. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/10/rand-paul-guns-pilots_n_5125967.html>.    a. This source falls under the category of politics. Concerning a bill in 2014 that would facilitate pilot’s carry permit process, Republican Senator, Rand Paul, explained that the Obama administration has cut funding for armed pilot programs. Politics play a great role in government funded and regulated program. Obama, and many of his supporter’s, views on guns rights is that there should be many restrictions on guns in general. With the Obama administration cutting funding for a program that arms trained pilots on commercial and cargo aircraft shows how the administration is pushing their ideologies into every aspect of the government, even the TSA, whose goal is to secure the safety of aviation transportation for all involved.    b. This ties back into how the FFDO program impacts society’s view of gun rights, in that many liberal Democrats view guns as a safety hazard and that causes them to be more on the side of not allowing pilots to be armed, rather than wanting them to be armed. Politics does play a role in society’s view of gun rights, but not nearly as much as the aftermath of breaches in aviation security.    2. Congressional Research Service: Bartholomew Elias, Resources, Science, And Industry Division. "Arming Pilots Against Terrorism."WIKILEAKS - Congressional Research Service - Arming Pilots Against Terrorism: Implementation Issues for the Federal Flight Deck Officer Program, January 9, 2004 (2004): 1-18. WikiLeaks Document Release. Wikipedia, 9 Jan. 2004. Web. 8 Mar. 2015. <http://wikileaks.org/wiki/CRS-RL31674>.    a. This source falls under safety and training implementations. This report for Congress discusses the implementations of the FFDO Program, specifically, pilot selection, equipment, training, operational procedures, costs, and the breadth of the program. Gives legislative background to how the bill came about, and the issues with previous versions before Bush signed the final version November 25, 2002. This source specifically targets the key issues in implementing the FFDO program (specifically the safety and training aspects), and gives details behind each of the issues that prove that the FFDO is a good idea.    b. This ties in with the overall theme in that the safety and training aspects of the bill are well thought through and are safe. This sheds positive light on views of gun rights.    3. 107th Congress. "ARMING PILOTS AGAINST TERRORISM ACT." House Report 107-555. United States Government Publishing Office, 8 July 2002. Web. 08 Mar. 2015. <http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CRPT-107hrpt555/html/CRPT-107hrpt555-pt1.htm>.    a. This source falls under both categories of breaches in aviation security and the safety and training implementations. This is the actual bill that was sent to Congress to be voted on in July of 2002. This is the actual report bill that was sent to Congress to be voted on. It lays out the basics for the program, and gives authority to TSA to create many of the rules, conduct studies, and implement the program based on their expertise. The bill was passed, then the TSA had to implement the selection and training of pilots as well as determining the types of weapons they can use. The bill has the legal technical section at the beginning, then a summary of the legislation after this. Right before the summary though, there is a section called Background and Need for the Legislation. This section allows the source to fall under the category of breaches in aviation security because it discusses the need for this program based on the real threat of terrorist attacks.    b. This ties in with the overall theme that the FFDO program is a positive influence on society’s view of gun rights because one, the threat of terrorism is real and people have realized that arming the pilots would prevent a hijacker from taking over the plane, and two, the safety and training implementations were created and certified by the TSA, the organization that is responsible for the security and safety of transportation.    4. Gun Owners. "Rebuttals To Those Who Think Pilots Should Not Be Armed." Rebuttals To Those Who Think Pilots Should Not Be Armed. Gun Owners of America, 16 Jan. 2009. Web. 07 Mar. 2015. <http://gunowners.org/fs0104.htm>.    a. This source falls under the category of safety and training implementations. This article discusses the 5 typical misconceptions that people who are against arming pilots have. Each argument is very valid. There is information in this article that deals with the safety aspects of having armed persons on flights. It also supports the argument that pilots should not be able to carry in the cabin; they should only be armed in the cockpit to prevent a take over of the plane.    b. This source ties in with the overall theme in that arming pilots is a safe action. This article shows that many conservative gun owners actually want to be able to carry their own licensed weapons on planes, however, for my argument, the training issues prevent this from being a good idea. This shows both sides of the argument about if pilots can carry weapons in the cabin, why can’t a regular citizen with a carry permit be able to carry in the cabin as well. This shows how arming pilot’s impacts society’s view of gun rights from the gun right’s activists groups side of the spectrum.      5. Kaye, Ken. "Armed Pilots Want to Take Guns outside of Cockpits." Sun Sentinel. Sun Sentinel, 22 Jan. 2012. Web. 09 Mar. 2015. <http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2012-01-22/news/fl-cockpit-guns-20120120_1_federal-flight-deck-officers-armed-pilots-federal-air-marshal-service>.    a. This source falls under the category of safety and training implementations. The article includes important facts that answer to my thesis, about whether the program was a good idea. It shows that it is a good idea in that there is much support behind arming pilots, but the controversy comes to whether the pilots should be able to carry outside the cockpit. In an interview, the President of the FFDO Program Association expresses the idea behind the program was to prevent the cockpit from being taken by a terrorist, but also he thinks that the program should be expanded to allow pilots to carry in the cockpit and even off duty, as a concealed carry permit. He testified before Congress in November of 2011 expressing the idea that the TSA’s laws have made it difficult for pilots to get and keep their permits. He said that the pilots should be able to defend the cockpit from either side of the door. However, as the TSA explains, it is for safety reasons. In my paper I will explain what these safety reasons are, such as the training that these pilots have are not the same as that of an Air Marshal.    b. This ties in with the overall theme in that this is evidence that the FFDO program is a positive impact on society’s view of gun rights.    6. Stark, Lisa. "Should Airline Pilots Be Armed?" ABC News. ABC News Network, 25 Sept. 2001. Web. 08 Mar. 2015. <http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=92434>.    a. This source falls under the category of all three categories. Interestingly enough, this is the only article that I have come across that was written right after the attacks, on September 25th, 2011. This article shows the initial reactions from the pilots union about arming pilots. The union wanted Congress to allow pilots to allow pilots to be armed in the cockpit. The union President explained that they are aware of the risks of arming pilots but they felt that the risks outweigh the benefits. This we now know led directly to the making of the FFDO Program. The article also refreshes the memory of the number of people that were dead or missing in the attacks, a whopping 7,000 people. This article is important to my thesis in that it gives insight to the reasons behind arming pilots before the bill was created. It shows a need for arming pilots. Also I would like to point out that ABC News is a very liberal news station, and I guess it takes a tragic event like 9/11 that could have been prevented by arming pilots to knock some sense into them.    b. This source ties back into the over all theme in that for all three categories, it proves that even if you are all for restrictions on gun rights for regular citizens, it is hard to deny the threat of terrorism and the pilot union wanting permission to carry guns in the cockpit after the 9/11 attacks.

   I am aware that I only have 6 sources included in this organization of my sources but I am in between canceling out some sources and pulling in new ones. Bear with me, as I will be doing more research this weekend.

This is a visual aid of the organization of my sources:

• Shadee Ashtari is a senior at UCLA majoring in Communications with a minor in political science. She is an editor for The Generation, an online foreign affairs magazine written by students at UCLA featuring their perspectives on current events. She debates on the UCLA Debate Team and writes for the UCLA School of Law’s Communications Department. She currently focuses on student homelessness in the U.S. and the rise and decline of religiosity in industrialized nations. She also writes for the Aleph, UCLA’s Official Undergraduate Research Journal in the Social Sciences and Humanities. From this background, I now see that the article “Rand Paul: ‘I want All Pilots To Be Armed’” was a story that she put together for the Huffington post, because they probably wanted to see her skills and change up the topics that she writes about. She has written about student homelessness in the past and inferring from the topics she likes to research and write about, she is more liberal than conservative. It was nice to see that she wrote the Huffington Post article on the topic of arming pilots without bias. • Bartholomew Elias is an author of a book called Airport and Aviation Security and a co-author of many other Congressional Reports dating from 2003 to 2013. His topics are about Aviation security, and he seems like an expert since he has written congressional reports with other authors. I cannot find any sort of biography about him, or any picture of him. I think that this may be for his own security, as he is writing congressional reports and does not want his information out on the Internet. I am going to look into a few of these books for some insight and more reliable sources.

• 107th Congress, United States Publishing Office. In the report at the top under the title and date, it states that Mr. Young of Alaska, form the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, submitted the following. Thus, he is the author whose name is on the report. Donald Young is a U.S. Representative for Alaska’s at-large congressional district. He has served since 1973. He is a Republican. He has served in the Alaska House of representative and Alaska Senate.

• Gun Owners of America. The writing staff includes Senator H.L. (Bill) Richardson who is now retired but continues to serve as Chairman of GOA, Tim Macy on the Board of Directors, Larry Pratt the Executive Director, Sam Paredes on the Board of Directors, and Gerry Ognibene, also on the Board of Directors. These men have all had significant background on the importance of the second amendment, and are qualified to write on the subject. This organization “has never wavered from its mission to defend the Second Amendment – liberty’s freedom teeth, as George Washington called it” (From GOA’s website About Us page). This organization is biased towards supporting the Second Amendment, but they have true information and facts to back up their claims. This source is very reliable, as they have qualified professionals to write their articles who have an educated background about our rights as Americans and the laws and regulations surrounding them.

H.L. Richardson

• Ken Kaye is a Columnist at the Sun Sentinel, a south Florida news outlet. He is a veteran journalist who graduated from the University of Denver. He specializes in covering weather, but also safety aspects of aviation, and has a background as a flight instructor. This background qualifies him to knowledgeably discuss aviation safety.

• Jason Paur is a writer for Wired.com. There is not a biography on the website, just a list of the articles he has written for the website. These articles are mainly topics of aviation and space technology and exploration. I probably will not be using this article because I cannot find anything to validate the article’s reliability. • Lisa Stark has been a correspondent for ABC News since 1994 who reports on a wide range of breaking news and lifestyle stories, focusing on stories related to Baby Boomers. She wrote extensively on federal regulatory organizations that are in the transportation and aviation fields, like the FAA and the TSA, and also covered the OKC terrorist bombing and the 9/11 terrorist attacks. She is a reputable writer and it was hard to find any bias in her work that shows that she is a good reporter. This specific article that I am using gives insight into the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the social ideas surrounding arming pilots at the time of the attacks. Since Stark is a respected and reliable writer, I will use this source in my paper.

• The Transportation Security Administration has a website that does not have a specific author, as the website is comprised of a multitude of topics about the TSA organization and information for travelers. The heads of the divisions within the TSA have most likely written these sections for each of those topics and smaller divisions and sent them to the website creators. However, this website does not need an author to validate its reliability, because it is a government organization. It is expected that this is a reliable source since it is a government organization and that the TSA is a part of keeping people safe and facilitating their travels. The information about the Federal Flight Deck Officer Program is coming straight from the people who implemented the program, so this is a primary source for information about this program and it is reliable.

   When analyzing these authors, I looked back to the section of Understanding Rhetoric Issue 5 titled “Deciding Which Sources to Trust”. The comic describes how you can tell if a website is credible based on the content, such as if the website is of a peer reviewed journal that you found on a database at the library is more credible than a website with a goal to get you to do something like buy a product, with many pop up windows, etc. One of my sources from Wired.com seems like a not so credible source because of the website format and that they did not give a biography about the author of the articles.      Also there is a section on page 197 where it explains that many reporters are not specialist on the topic that they report upon, so it may be in your best interest to find an article mentioning a professor, government official, or another expert to be more credible. I did take this into consideration, however I do believe that the reporter from ABC, even though she may not be a proclaimed expert in the subjects that she reported on, but she did report on topics about the TSA and terrorist attacks, so in her reporting she went over much information gaining more and more knowledge on the subjects. She has also been with ABC News since 1994.      Overall I think that I did do a good job of analyzing these authors and getting a feel for their credibility by Google searching their names and reading about their writing and reporting careers, interests, and backgrounds. I also found a few more sources that I still need to look into from researching other works that these authors wrote on the topic of aviation security. Such as Bartholomew Elias’s book Airport and Aviation Security. I believe that I can replace the Jason Paur source with this more credible and specific source.

Book by Bartholomew Elias

My writerly interests and perspectives have shaped my interest in my research topic of arming pilots. In my Writerly Identity Reflective Essay I explained my education and career interests, hobbies/interests, style, and lifestyle. The two groups that come into play regarding my research topic are my education interests of aerospace and mechanical engineering, and hobbies/interests of supporting the 2nd Amendment (our right to bear arms), shooting guns, and flying. My personal experience with the topic has to do more with the being armed than with being a pilot and being armed, although my dad is a pilot (just for fun, not a commercial pilot). My dad has a carry permit and I have been around guns my whole life. I was taught gun safety and how to shoot from an early age. My perspectives of owning guns and the safety and training behind using them is what I credit to my ease of understanding the material about arming pilots. What drew me to this topic is my lack of knowledge about arming pilots. I immediately had questions, such as, are pilots really armed? How are they trained? What type of guns can they carry? What type of ammunition do they use? Where are they allowed to carry them? And should they be able to carry in the cabin and through airport terminals? These questions helped draw me closer to my research question, and with more research of the surrounding legislature, ideas, and concerns of arming pilots; I narrowed my research question down to the following.

How does the Federal Flight Deck Officer Program of 2002 that armed trained pilots impact society’s view of gun rights?

I see links between my writerly identity and existing information on the topic of arming pilots. Most of the information about arming pilots is saying that it is a good idea, and there are facts and inferences that back this up. I tend to agree that the Federal Flight Deck Officer Program is a good idea. This is due to my lifestyle of supporting the Second Amendment (our right to bear arms), and also seeing the reasoning of being armed against the bad guys from a first hand perspective. My family is protected from home intruders and people that could harm us by having a loaded gun ready. That is one of the things that keeps this country so safe is the fact that there are concealed carry citizens and the bad guys know that if they do something to endanger the lives of innocent people, they are going to get shot.

I am affected by the topic of arming pilots in that I have flown commercially before. I get on that plane entrusting my life to the pilots of the plane. I know that I would feel 100 times safer being on a plane that has an armed pilot in the cockpit, than a plane with an unarmed pilot. Now, armed pilots are the last resort to a hijacking of an airplane. However, knowing that the plane would not be taken over by a terrorist and crashed somewhere and kill everyone makes me feel much safer when I travel commercially.

To begin the brainstorming process for my research project, I decided to do a quick Google search of popular and current issues. I knew that I wanted to write about something that is important and relevant to my life, but I knew that I needed to be open to different viewpoints in order to properly research a topic. I used the first website that was listed when I searched “research topics”. It is a list of 100 research paper topics linked from Midway College’s library webpage. As I scrolled though the list, I would think that’s uninteresting, or I have too much of a personal bias. For example, the topic “Athletes in high schools – should shoe companies be able to give away free shoes and equipment to high school athletes”? This topic I really could care less about, as I was not in sports in high school. I would be bored researching and writing about this topic. Another example, the topic Climate change – Is global warming a hoax? Is it being exaggerated”? I know that human-chaused climate change is a hoax. There is already enough research proving that it is a lie, but the mainstream media is failing to uncover this because they do not want to lose viewers, etc. I guess that from that sentence that I really could write a research paper over that topic, but I would not learn anything new from that. Plus, it frustrates me when I think of it and how the people that think it is real are just uneducated about it. There my personal bias is clearly showing. Also, it is one of those things that are so much engrained in people these days that it is very difficult to expose the truth because most people will not accept it. 

So when I saw the topic “Arming pilots – Is it a good idea”? This speaks to me because I support our 2nd Amendment, national security, and individual’s security while on flights. Ever since the beginning of the 21st century there have been more terrorist attacks on America, especially threats and attacks on flights. I want to research about if there have been studies about his, or any legal or political reasoning behind why pilots are or are not allowed to be armed. I still need to do more research about this topic before I can come up with a specific research question. 

I watched this movie (Non-Stop) right before we discussed our research topics, and this also sparked my interest in this topic.

Understanding Rhetoric Issue 4: “Arguments Beyond Pro and Con” is all about how there is not a cut and dry pro and con for one issue. This is true for pretty much any issue there has ever been, since there are situational aspects for each issue. It is very clear for the topic of arming pilots. From the generic topic question of “Arming Pilots – Is it a good idea?” there are people say that it is a good idea, and others say it is a bad idea. But, the reasons behind those viewpoints are so very different and are very situational. I have come to the conclusion that my research question cannot be just is it a good idea or a bad idea because it is way too generic. I am not aiming more towards the question of whether pilots should be able to carry their handgun on them while on commercial flights and in terminals, and if so how should they be able to carry them. I still have more research to do before I can pinpoint my question and organize my paper, but the following list of ideas I created while I researched is found below: (Warning: Rough draft material, my English may not be very good)

In my Connections Analysis alphabetical and visual essays I explored the ways in which visuals (images and interfaces) help plain text to be understood. In both essays I used logical rhetoric to argue my points. Since my topic was not something that is very emotional for most people or a question of ethics, I naturally used logic to prove my point. For instance in my first example of my alphabetic essay, I use evidence from Ways of Seeing by John Berger to logically back up my point that a visual helps with the viewers understanding with out without accompanying text. To relate this to my Writerly Identity collage, UR Issue 3, and Chapter 12 of And Beyond!, the reason I picked that topic for my Connections Analysis is because I enjoy art.

 I like creating works of art, whether it is just being crafty for some project (like our college), decorating my dorm room, or making some sort of functional piece (such as building a saddle stand). My collage was very colorful and logically put together, as I put much thought into the layout of the pictures, which also reflects on why I used logical rhetoric in my Connections Analysis. Chapter 12 discussed how research papers are actually a very personal representation of the author’s identity. Colors and images excite me, and I think that the reason that I choose the visual aspect of writing is that I knew that I could analyze how visuals aid in the understanding of something, because that is how my mind works. I took a genuine interest in the topic and wanted to analyze how visuals aided some textual piece. I really didn’t make the connection between my Connections Analysis, my collage, and Chapter 12 until I began to formulate this journal entry, but now everything fits. I honestly really enjoy this class, because of instances like this! I really enjoyed looking at everyone’s collages. I think y’all did a great job on them, and it allowed everyone to better understand our classmates. This is even another example that I could have included in my Connections Analysis paper – how visuals (the collages) helped in the understanding of our classmates’ writerly identity, more so than say just reading their blog posts.

My Writerly Identity Collage:

And this...

McIntosh’s article was written in 1988. The list of white privileges does include other factors of privilege, such as class, level of education, and even sexual orientation or identity. Class privilege is seen in numbers 2, 10, 17, 24, and also mixed in with many of the rest. For example, number 2 states, “If I should need to move, I can be pretty sure of renting or purchasing housing in an area, which I can afford, and in which I would want to live”. This is not true for a lower class citizen, who will not be able to be sure of renting or buying any sort of housing, let alone one that they could afford or want to live in, no matter what their skin color. It may be that a person of color is more limited in their options of locations to live, as they may be discriminated against for living in a certain area, but their financial situation also pays a huge role. However, this could be true with a poor white person. They may be limited in their options as they may be discriminated by other whites based on their financial situation, if they were able to afford a house say next to a more wealthy person, no matter that wealthy persons’ skin color. Item number 2 also could maybe not be true for say a person who is transgender or gay. Even if their financial situation and race are not discriminated upon, neighbors may discriminate upon their sexual orientation or identity. Level of education privilege is seen in numbers 12, 17, 21, 22, 24, and within some of the others too. For example, number in number 21 states, “I can go home from most meetings of organizations I belong to feeling somewhat tied in, rather than isolated, out-of-place, outnumbered, unheard, held at a distance, or feared”. This is true for a person that has a lesser education than other members of the group, no matter what their race, as other members of the organization that are more educated could see the less educated person as lesser than them and make the transgender or gay person feel left out, no matter what the less educated persons’ race is. Item number 21 could be true for a person who is transgender or gay. If there are other members of the organization that are straight, they may make the transgender or gay person feel left out. However, just like Crosley-Corcoran says in her article Explaining White Privilege to a Broke White Person, “…there are so many more points in the essay where the word "race" could be substituted for the word "class" which would ultimately paint a very different picture”, the factors that contribute to these privileges are not just race, as they vary based on each individual and unique circumstance.

Some of these privileges that McIntosh lists have shifted and/or changed since the article was written in 1988. The LGBT community has experienced less discrimination since 1988, and they now have more privileges than they once had such as being able to marry their partner in some states. Number 16 has changed in that nowadays if you remain oblivious to other cultures, you are seen more as being ignorant, sometimes racist or hypocritical. Number 20 has changed; in that there are sections in the card section, entitled “Ebony” that represents the African-American race. Number 26 has changed, in that blemish cover is now sold in many different shades to match all skin colors. However the band-aid is still sold in a tan/soft pink flesh color is still prominent, and there is not a big brand that sells it in different skin tone colors. This intrigued me and I found an article giving some explanation to that. Here is the link: 

The Story of the Black Band-Aid http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/06/the-story-of-the-black-band-aid/276542/

This is not to say that white privilege does not exist. It does, and you have to be in denial if you think otherwise. This speaks to the last frame of the White Privilege Comic strip where it says, “The only way not to be ignorant is to open your eyes to the privilege you have [as a white person]. And…educate yourself!” In order to help fix the issue of racism we as a society need to open our eyes to the privileges we have no matter what race we are, social class, sexual identity, etc., that all of us have, and to educate ourselves about these privileges, why we have these privileges, and how we can not take these privileges for granted. 

Another aspect in educating ourselves is to make sure that when we talk about different issues with different areas of society, we need to employ our writing identities. Understanding Rhetoric Issue 3 Writing Identities explains how writers take on different identities when speaking to different groups of people (their audience). The authors say, “A lot of people treat professional clothing as a kind of armor. It gives them authority and makes them feel less vulnerable. Likewise, T-shirts often make clear rhetorical statements”, which is an easy comparison to what one wears to their writing identity and better explaining what ones’ writing identity is, on page 118 and 119.

My most used social media profile is my Facebook profile. My audience is mainly my close friends and family. I do have many acquaintances as my friends on Facebook, but they are not usually who my posts are for. My posts are mostly just for my close friends and family. My close friends being my close friends from high school, who I see in person fairly often, and college friends, who I see in person almost everyday. My posts usually have pictures attached with a caption about something I did, with or without other people. The purpose of my posts is to share with my family and friends what I have been up to. This allows my family and friends to be caught up with my life, even when we don’t se each other in person for a while. My visual presentation of my profile appeals to my close friends and family in the following ways. By picture content, my profile appeals to them because my current profile picture is of myself and my roommate (close friend) Molly, and my current cover photo is of my immediate family, myself and my parents. I usually keep my profile picture a picture of just myself, or myself with a friend. That way if a person is trying to find me on Facebook they will know that that profile is really myself. Picture content also shows my family and friends what my interests are, even by just looking though my past cover photos. I like the things that I like, so I show those on my Facebook profile. Here are a few examples of past cover photos:

In my profile under “Contact and Basic Info” my family and friends can see that I am a female and that I am Conservative. I don’t allow my email or birthday to be shown. This appeals to my family mainly, that I am Conservative, since most of my family is Conservative. To the rest of my friends maybe not so much, as at least one of my best friends is very Liberal. In my profile under “Family and Relationships”, my extended family, aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, are listed, and also some of my good friends from high school are listed as my family, since I consider them family. This shows them that I care that people know they are my family and that I have no aversion to listening them there. Under “Details About Me”, I have a short description of myself, that is shown below. 

The writing spaces that I utilized during the week were Microsoft Word, sticky notes, my notebooks, and on my dry erase board. When I was using Microsoft Word, I was writing a paper about the book The Consolation of Philosophy by Boethius. I also used Word to write this journal. This writing space is comfortable, in the sense that my work is private and only my history teacher will read the paper, but uncomfortable in that I was stressed while writing both of these pieces and not really in the mood to write these papers. Word is a very easy to use word processor, so I was not frustrated when formatting my paper. Word creates a type of document that is formatted to be easy to read. The words are in straight lines across the paper. It looks very clean, and the words are in print, which makes it seem less personal, but more professional. This is the desired format for writing papers. It is also a matter of legibility, as professors need to be able to read what the student has written in order to grade their paper. I chose word because it is an easy way to write papers for my classes.

I used sticky notes throughout the week to jot down important information regarding my schedule, help me study for classes, and as bookmarks to write on while writing my history paper. Sticky notes are small and brightly colored. Since they are small you can use them as bookmarks, small notepads, and the sticky back allows them to be put just about anywhere. Since they are brightly colored, they catch my eye. By writing class notes, helpful hits, or reminders on the sticky notes, and placing them on my desk, in my laptop, or other places that I look frequently, it allows me to study and remember things better. Since the notes come blank, you can write or doodle on them. This is in your own handwriting and it makes it more personal. They can be used for just about anything. When I use sticky notes, I am always in a good mood, even if I am using them for a paper. I enjoy colorful things, especially things that I can write on and stick just about anywhere. I chose to use sticky notes because it makes my life easier and fun.

Writing in my notebooks for class is a private space, as my notes are usually just for myself, to help me with my schoolwork. I sometimes enjoy taking notes, because I can organize the space on the page how I choose since it is just lined blank paper. I choose notebooks with lined paper to take notes because it is the easiest, as the notebooks fit in my backpack well and the lines make my writing neat.

I also write on my dry erase board that is on my dorm room door. This is the most public space that I have utilized this week. I can use this to communicate with my roommate and people on my floor. I am happy when I write on my board, as I usually am writing a funny quote or saying. The dry erase board is a temporary writing space, as the words can be erased quickly. Thoughts are sometimes temporary. Other times something could be written and only one person or just a few people see it. This is an interesting quality about the dry erase board. It makes me think of the saying “If a tree falls in the woods, and there is no one around to hear it, does it make a sound?”.

Journal Entry #3

Part 1

Interfaces are a part of our everyday lives. Interfaces have always been a part of our lives, but have exponentially become more important over the past 50 years since the invention of the computer. We discussed the interfaces of computers and the language barrier for programs during in-class discussion, brought up by the Selfe and Selfe article. This explains the issue of how translating software when a teaching student who’s second language is English. Back in the 90’s when the article was written there was not as many opportunities to translate software or computer interfaces to different languages. In present times, there are much more opportunities to translate computer software either by external software or built in software made by the company who creates the software. The interfaces of computer systems are extremely important in the way that we communicate in the modern world. This ties in with the Berger Ways of Seeing article. In the Ways of Seeing article, Berger explains how we have to literally see things with our own eyes before we can communicate, describe our surroundings, and then formulate opinions and ideas about those things. This also fits perfectly with the well-known quote “a picture is worth a thousand words”. In everything we do in life, seeing is better than any explanation. I had my engineering CAD lab today, and our professor records his lectures of the computer program Solid Works as a video file. This is a very helpful resource when it comes to creating an item in Solid Works for our homework assignments. I could sit through lecture and listen to my professor talk about the program, but seeing how the program works as he explains it is a thousand times better.

            This discussion of interfaces in class and the readings made me think of how much we use interfaces in our everyday lives. I use my Smartphone frequently throughout the course of just one day, checking social media and messages. I use my laptop computer at least once a day to check my school emails and work on assignments. I think that I sometimes take for granted the way that society tells us to see information. Society tells us to see information electronically most of the time, now it can be about a on technological thing, but the way that it is presented to us is electronic technology. I think I sometimes take this for granted, like this is just how it should be presented, because it is possibly the easiest way for it to be presented. But, it brings up the question, “is that the best way for it to be presented”? The amount of technological stimulation is sometimes quite overwhelming. However, the use of all this technology is super convenient and also a great teaching tool for English. Until this class, I didn’t realize how much I actually use writing skills daily, whether it is writing an email to my advisor or a family friend, or posting a response and link to news from a page I follow on Facebook. The interfaces of electronic social media are designed to facilitate creative writing and discussions.

INTERCEPTION (Interface-ception)

Part 2

            For the Connections Analysis, I have yet to put much thought into which articles that I want to use, as I have been very busy this past week. However, I know that I want to look at interfaces and the visual aspect of writing. This has been very interesting to me, and I know that I will take examples from blogs, social media, and possibly even newspapers. I would like to explore the connection between the visual and the text and information there. From reading And Beyond! Chapter 7, I realized that finding a topic would not be as difficult as I thought. I will most likely use the topic brainstorming approach that was shown on page 59, listing things like people, places, things, concepts, and problems, then narrowing my search from there.

 Selfe and Selfe Article Key Points (Writeup from Wednesday the 28th)

·      Need improved translation apps for computer and software systems

·      Tries to point out racism/white supremacy in the design of computers

·      My take is that this was completely unintentional and it just had come about this way from the fact that Microsoft and Macintosh were created by English speaking people from the United States

·      Computer technology needs to be improved so that the language barrier is no longer a barrier

·      All the points made in the article have improved since 1994

After I read the two articles about technology’s effect on our lives, I ended up agreeing with both of them, but not as much for the LA Times article. I have explained the ideas in the articles and the reasons why I agree or disagree in the following text.

What I got from the LA Times article, by Teresa Watanabe, is that technology, such as the internet and devices for use in the classroom, creates an excitement about writing and increases students motivation to learn and use writing skills. However, Watanabe shows that there is an issue about technology is hindering students writing skills because of texting. In an interview with a student, the student says “I guess that they all [technology] help involve writing in my life because idk [I don’t know] how much I’d write if I didn’t have texting and stuff”. This here in my opinion is where the problem lies. Just from my observation, this particular student doesn’t seem very motivated to communicate well in a one on one conversation because he actually said “idk” in his sentence and the writer had to specify in brackets what he meant. It is not the fault of technology because technology exists and is there for students to become lazy and lack writing skills, but because it hasn’t been instilled upon them to focus and learn writing skills without technology. True, technology can be a great help in the classroom and in student exercises. However, students need to know that technology isn’t everything. Technology aids everything in the modern world; especially communication and lacking in these skills will be a hindrance on society.

            In the article by Bogost, the idea about technology that is expressed is that technology is becoming a hindrance and a doom instead of making life easier. We know that more and more advanced technology will become reality in the future, and that is a dooming thought. Everywhere we look there will be someone scrolling through his or her iWatch or looking into his or her smart eyeglasses. Society is to a point where the advantages of technology being so involved in our lives are now turning into a disadvantage; that technology is so involved that we cannot get away form it.

            Bogost references to an idea called “future shock”, a term used by Alvin Toffler. I wrote a research paper for my English class my senior year of high school about dependence of technology in the United States. I used a quote from Toffler in my paper and I thought it fit very well along with this article. The quote was: “Our technological powers increase, but the side effects and potential hazards also escalate”.  I think that this fits in very well with this idea of the technologically gloomy future that Bogost conveys in his article.

You may ask why I chose the peanut butter M&M’s to analyze, and the answer is simply that I was hungry. I sat down to do homework and I saw the bag sitting on my desk. This bag of M&M’s came into my possession at Wal-Mart when I was grocery shopping. I love peanut butter M&M’s. This text is an advertisement, as seen by the bold text across the front of the bag. It repeats the image of the peanut butter and the phrase “made with real peanut butter” in three different spots on the bag. By putting the basic nutrition facts on the front, it is easier for the consumer to see while at the store. It is part of the advertisement.

            The text is necessary because nobody would know what is inside the bag. The store would not be able to sell this item because they have no documentation of what the item is. Also, the idea of peanut butter M&M’s being inside a bag with no identification and that people would be oblivious to the chocolate goodness of peanut butter M&M’s, is just sad. Life would be sad.

            The text describes the product. It states what is inside the package. To be technical, there is also text on the candies themselves. There is a lower case m on each candy, to express the brand of candy. It is used as a label.