Article Summary 7: Charter Schools

Dillon, Sam. "As U.S. Aid Grows, Oversight Is Urged For Charter Schools." New York Times 24 Feb. 2010. Web. 28 Feb. 2010.

Charter schools have a great premise. They have less regulations, and are completely held up to their standards. The life of a Charter School completely depends on their scores and the overall performance of the schools students. The new budget released by Obama has allowed for more money to by put into starting up Charter Schools across the country. From the few dozen that were around in the 1990’s to about 5,000 today, Charter Schools have proved to be successful. The new money would help to give the schools more resources, but some administrators of successful Charter Schools are protesting the lack of regulation in some areas of the budget.

Some are calling for there to be more strict rules on who can open a Charter school and what they do with it. There have been some people who are undereducated and have just created a chaotic environment because they don’t know what they are doing, and fail to meet the standards that are set for Charter schools to survive. The money is still wasted however, and it could have been put to better use. The rise in budget is a tremendous help, but some feel it could use a little more direction.

Article Summary 6: Careers

The Associated Press. "Pentagon Suspends Careers Aid for Spouses." New York Times 25 Feb. 2010. Web. 28 Feb. 2010.

Military families have a lot of issues that they deal with, and now there is one more to add to the list. The government recently set aside a budget to allow a grant for up to $6,000 for the spouses of military personnel to attend classes to further their career. The response was overwhelming, and now the government has put a hold on the grants, and is not allowing any more to be approved. The problem was that they had almost reached the threshold of their budget, and did not want to go over. Family members were upset when they found that the money they had been promised had been put on hold and would not be able to be accessed, some right before classes were about to start.

Military families have problems keeping jobs because of their spouses need to move every 3 years or so. That will make employers less likely to hire someone who doesn’t have amazing qualifications. The grants were a good idea, but to just yank them because the government wasn’t sure that it would be able to pay is not right, and has angered a lot of the people who had planned to take advantage of this opportunity.

Article Summary 5: Turnaround

Yednak, Crystal. "Protest and Promises of Improvments at Schools." New York Times 26 Feb. 2010. Web. 28 Feb 2010.

What do you do with low scoring schools? That’s been a question for a long time, and this article discusses the possible solution that has been introduced to Chicago. When a school has scored lower then 2 or 3 the school is either closed, or it goes through a “turnaround”. A turnaround is when all school administration and teachers are switched out and a complete new group of people are brought in to better the school. Chicago has been doing this for a few years, and is now feeling the backlash of too many schools being closed or turned around. One parent had her children affected 3 times in the last few years, and is now struggling to understand why they are constantly on the move.

The School Board has taken action yet again, and closed more schools and elected more to be turned around. The communities of a few schools were able to convince the Board that there was no need to close their schools, and were saved. There are no studies released yet on how effective this new system is, but should be put out later this year. It will be interesting to see if there is actual improvement.

Article Summary 4: A Show About Something

Itzkoff, Dave. "A Show About Something: Marriage." New York Times 26 Feb. 2010. Web. 28 Feb. 2010

How long have people been waiting for Jerry Seinfeld to write a new show? A very long time, and the wait is almost over. People were crazy about the show Seinfeld that was big back in the 90’s. Now Jerry Seinfeld has come up with a new and creative idea, and is going to share it with the world. The new show, “The Marriage Ref” will be shown on NBC, and is going to deal with real life couples who just can’t seem to agree on one particular point. The premise for the show is that every couple just needs someone else to look at their situation and make a decision, so that they can move on from that fight.

A host of celebrity guests will be coming on the show, and will be making the argument for the two sides. The show will start off with a couple explaining a long standing fight, and trying to convince the panel that they are right. Seinfeld is hoping that the show will be easy to relate to for couples, and will be popular based on its content not that his name is attached to it. He has decided this will be the last project he will work on, which is understandable considering he is now 55 with three kids. Hopefully his last show will be at least half the success of Seinfeld.

Article Summary 3: Jeff Bridges

Dargis, Manohla. "The Dude Plumbs His Weary Soul." New York Times 25 Feb. 2010. Web. 28 Feb 2010.

This article is about the new movie “Crazy Heart” and the lead actor Jeff Bridges. The article goes through his career as an actor, and runs down all the good and bad choices he’s made when taking on a lead role. The roles he has chosen are never in big blockbusters, but are deep and have a lot of feeling to them. Jeff Bridges has never had the fame of some other actors of his time, but he is a face that has been seen in the movie industry for years. The directors that he has worked with later went on to have successful careers.

Jeff Bridges has most recently been seen as the villain in “Iron Man”. That role brought him back into the publics eye, and might have given him the opportunity to be considered for the movie “Crazy Heart”. Playing opposite Maggie Gyllenhaal, Jeff Bridges plays a cowboy with problems, but a big heart. Jeff Bridges is able to truly get into the character he is playing, and can even make the small things seem completely genuine. That is yet again apparent in the movie “Crazy Heart” and is worth seeing for his award-nominee (and hopefully winning) performance.

Article Summary 2: The Amy Bishop Case

Tanenhaus, Sam. "The Amy Bishop Case." New York Times 24 Feb. 2010. Web. 28 Feb. 2010.

Art is often a reflection of the mood of the civilization that it’s created in. This article discusses the way that art has been lagging behind in the reality of life for women today. Women have been rising in the business world for years, and now the stresses of being on top are bringing out a whole new side to what makes a woman. Violence and women have always been viewed as an abnormality. If a woman becomes violent it was because she was driven to it, not because it is a part of her nature. That ideal opinion of women has been forced into reality lately with more and more women acting in ways that are unexplainable.

Tanenhaus sites the case of Amy Bishop, a woman who shot into a room of her coworkers. Her attempts to get tenure were shot down, and she became violent. She also was later implicated in the death of her brother when they were children. Tanenhaus sites the rise in women’s awareness has brought out the more ruthless side to women, a side that has been present in men for hundreds of years. That connection is brought out more in the written side of art then in painting or demonstrations.

Article Summary 1: Chile

Lacey, Marc, Alexei Barrionuevo. "Chile Toll at 700; 2 Million are Displaced." New York Times 28 Feb. 2010. Web. 28 Feb. 2010.

Sunday an earthquake hit Chile and created massive destruction. The earthquake was recorded as being an 8.8 and was centered in the second largest city in Chile. Several heartbreaking stories are told in this article, and it allows the reader to get a good idea about what the people of Chile are experiencing. The government has been working hard to help as many people as possible, but it hasn’t been completely successful. Power outages have been a large problem in trying to rescue the injured.

Chile has remained strong and self reliant, but has been offered help from several other countries, including the United States. With the death toll growing and the world still trying to help the people of Haiti, Chile has been able to keep everything in house. The country suffered less loss of life because of their strict zoning codes. These codes were put into place after a similar earthquake devastated Chile in 1985. The most recent earthquake also set off a tsunami that engulfed some of the smaller islands surrounding Chile. Half of Hawaii was evacuated, but thankfully the tsunami was no longer a threat by the time it reached the island, and everyone was allowed to return.