Watching You (Response)

            In an article called, "Watching You" in Upfront Magazine, by Patricia Smith, it talks about how the government is going against our privacy and watching us in order to protect us from deadly threats. The U.S government has been "secretly collecting Americans' telephone records and tracking foreigners over sites like Yahoo and Facebook." I think that it is wrong for the government to be doing this.
          It's violating Americans' privacy. For example, in the text it says, "But this spring's news that the U.S. government has been secretly collecting Americans' telephone records and tracking foreigners over seas on sites like Yahoo and Facebook has raised questions  about how much privacy is worth sacrificing to keep the nation safe." I don't think that it's right that the government can see what we put on social media even though we think that it's private.

         It's also violating the Fourth Amendment. For example, in the text it says, "the idea of a right to privacy comes from the Constitution's Fourth Amendment, which protects against 'unreasonable searches and seizures'."I don't think that the government should be allowed to not follow the Fourth Amendment.

        In conclusion, I agree that the government should find ways to protect us from dangers such as terrorists, however, I don't think that our privacy should be violated through social media and phone records in order to do that,

Where Your Cell Phone Goes to Die (Response)

        In an article in Upfront Magazine, it talks about how our e-waste (electronic waste) is being  

given to other countries and is not being recycled properly. I think that it is wrong for electronic

manufacturers to pay developing countries to take the United State's waste.

        The electronic waste can affect people. For example in the text it says, "In far-flung, mostly

impoverished places in Ghana, India, and China....of children inhaling the smoke from phone casings

as they identify and separate different kinds of plastics for recyclers." And also in the text it says, "most

scientists agree that exposure poses serious health risks, especially to pregnant women and

children....[and] can cause irreversible neurological damage and threaten the development of a child."

The waste can affect people in terrible ways and can put them at risk. It's not right that the United

State's waste is causing this.

         Also, the e-waste is not being recycled properly. For example in the article it says, "Changes in

the way manufacturers glue, screw, and solder components together would make it easier to dismantle

discarded phones and thus reduce the risks posed by crude recycling techniques, like those employed

by children in Ghana." If we don't help change the way that we recycle our e-waste, it can affect our

environment, hurting us. As the quote states, making the components of the electronics easier to

dismantle could help us recycle better. If we did this and recycled the waste on our own, it could help

our environment and the people being affected by the e-waste in the places that the United States is

sending our waste to.

          In conclusion, I think that wrong for manufacturers to be paying other countries to take the

Unites States' e-waste. It affects the people in the countries that the e-waste is being sent to and it is not

being recycled properly. We should recycle our e-waste in the U.S.  If we recycled our e-waste on our

own, it would help the people and the environment.

Every Soul A Star by Wendy Mass Response

           In the book, “Every Soul A Star,” by Wendy Mass, there are three main protagonists: Ally, Bree, and Jack. They all have different issues and they deal with them in various ways.

            So far in the book, I think that Ally’s issue is that she’s lonely. Even though she doesn’t really mention it that much in the book, I think that her living alone on a campground, not being able to experience anything like friends, causes her to feel like shes alone. She deals with her loneliness by pretending that she’s friends with constellations that she calls Eta, Peggy, and Glenn.

            Bree’s issue so far is that she’s insecure. She feels that she doesn’t have the potential to do anything other than being pretty. She deals with this by pretending to be someone that she’s not and by covering up her whole face with make up and by acting like she’s high maintenance. Her parents can see her potential, but she can’t. For example in the text it says, “And the best thing about being beautiful? No one (except maybe my deluded parents who don’t understand that modeling is a perfectly respectable career choice) expects me to be anything else.” Bree thinks that she’s not capable of everything else besides modeling.

            I think Jacks issue is the same as Bree’s issue. However, he deals with it in a different way. Jack doesn’t think that he has the potential to do anything. He deals with this by being independent and keeping his problems to himself. For example in the book it says, “I gave up trying a long time ago. I also gave up trying to pay attention in class. And trying to get people to like me. It’s just too much effort. When they look at me, other kids just see a big pudgy kid who sits in the back of every class drawing in his art book…all I want to do is be left alone.” He only sees himself as the “big pudgy kid” that can’t do anything, and thinks that he will never live up to his older brother who is a football player in highschool.

            Overall, Ally, Jack, and Bree, all deal with their issues in different ways throughout the book.