Feature Broadcast (Extra Credit)

Feature Broadcast Script (Extra Credit)

In My Humble Opinion #2

     The occupy movement has stirred up much debate. Critics of the “occupy movement” have criticized the protesters of the being misinformed. Although the movement extends beyond party lines, most of the criticism seems to be coming from conservatives. Conservatives have accused the protesters of being ingrates who are envious of the rich.

     I strongly disagree with the conservative mainstream media. The conservative mainstream media, largely comprised of Tea Party activists, has unfairly targeted the occupy protesters since the movement started.

     I think that the Tea Party activists are being very hypocritical. Just last year Tea Party activists were publicly protesting against big government and the increasing national debt. Tea Party activists organized protest all around the country and even occupied the Wisconsin State Capitol building with over 600 protesters for

     Now conservatives are criticizing the occupy movement for disrupting government and local businesses. Like the occupy movement, the Tea Party movement had no central leadership. The two movements have a lot of similarities, yet the conservative media continue criticizing the occupy movement protesters for the same things that they themselves did.

     The Occupy movement protesters are protesting against corporate greed and corruption. The wealthiest people in America have great influence over politics and financial policies. For example in 2010, multinational conglomerate General Electric Company paid no taxes despite making $14.2 billion in worldwide profits, $5 billion in the Unites States alone.

     Federal taxation has become less progressive. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the top one percent of income earners have more than doubled their income over the past thirty years. Since 1979 the average pre-tax income of the top one percent grew by an average of 275 percent, while the bottom 90 percent grew by only 60 percent. Since 1992, the top 400 income earners in the United States have increased their income by an average of 392 percent, while their average tax rate has decreased by thirty-seven percent. This is why the occupy movement protesters, labeling themselves as “the 99%,” are protesting.

     The right to protest is a fundamental right that we as Americans cherish. Freedom of speech and the right to assemble is what makes America great. I do not understand why politicians and the media have so much discontent with the occupy movement. I agree that the occupy movement protesters are misguided and disrupt businesses, but as long as they are protesting peacefully they should have the right to do so.

Word Count 407

Word #10

bungle: verb [ trans. ] – carry out (a task) clumsily or incompetently, leading to failure or an unsatisfactory outcome: Unlike Ron Paul, Rick Perry bungled his response to the correspondents debate question.


Sentence: The Republicans vying to challenge President Obama in next year's election slammed his administration's foreign policy, suggesting he's bungled efforts to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and played politics with a troop drawdown in Afghanistan.


By Holly Bailey 


Word Count 70

Fish Out of Water

           I glance at my watch and realize that the “Listening Hour” performance starts in three minutes. After dodging my way through a narrow passage full of students I arrive at the music building with one minute to spare. As I stride through the music building I finally find the concert hall, but then realize that I am at the performers entrance. I run around the hall and finally find the main entrance. As I try to open the door a young women glares at me through the small window and with her index finger pressed to her lips, signals me to be quiet. Apparently two minutes late, is too late for a performance.

            After some brief applause, five minutes later the woman finally opens the door. I quickly find a seat and try to absorb the performance. A women steps on stage and begins playing some big wooden instrument. At first I thought it was strange that she was playing with what appeared to be four drumsticks, but then I found myself entranced in the melody. The music was actually quite tranquil. It was very relaxing and even made me consider taking a nap. I glanced over to my left and realized I was not the only one that had this thought. I looked around the audience and saw four people sleeping.

            Although I tried to focus on the performance, the interesting architecture of the room kept grabbing my attention. Behind the performers was a strange zigzag pattern going up through the center of the ceiling. Every performance was played on a marimba, which I found out is a big xylophone with resonators. The performances were titled, Eruption of Sakurajima, Marimba Solo, Nocturnal Dance, Azalea and Echo Rhythm.

            I felt a little out of place at the performance. Other people in the audience seemed to be taking notes on the performance, which I assumed was for a music class. I was not familiar with the artistic culture. Before this event I never even knew we had a music concert hall on campus. I really enjoyed the event however. I feel like I now have a greater appreciation for music. I do plan to download the music I heard for the next time I want to relax.

Word Count 376

Word #9

obscured: verb [ trans. ] - keep from being seen; conceal.
• make unclear and difficult to understand: The corrupt politicians obscured the true agenda of the public policy.


Sentence: Witnesses differ with Perry as to when a rock bearing this name was obscured.


By Colleen Kane

Word Count 43

In My Humble Opinion #1

            The Federal Reserve is a corrupt and unconstitutional institution. Contrary to popular belief, the Federal Reserve is not part of the United States Government. The Federal Reserve is not even held accountable by the United States Government. The Federal Reserve is no more part of the United States Government than Federal Express.

            A recent article, “Despite fiery base, Paul’s spark yet to spread,” talks about the Federal Reserve and Ron Paul. 

What the Federal Reserve Is

            The Federal Reserve is an oligopoly of 12 independent and privately owned banks. These banks provide the government with a source of loans, and act as a safe depository of federal monies. The Federal Reserve also greatly affects/ manipulates monetary policy.

            These banks print money out of thin air and spend it at will. The Federal Reserve literally prints money, lends it to the Unites States Government, and then charges a huge amount of interest for the money that it lent out.

Why the Federal Reserve is Ruining Our Country

            As explained by Congressman and 2012 GOP Presidential Candidate Ron Paul, “The Federal Reserve is the chief culprit behind the economic crisis. Its unchecked power to create endless amounts of money out of thin air brought us the boom and bust cycle and causes one financial bubble after another.”

            Since the creation of the Federal Reserve in 1913, the dollar has lost more than 96% of its value. The Federal Reserve continuously and intentionally inflates the money supply to maliciously manipulate interest rates and weaken the value of the dollar.

            What hurts the economy the most is that the Unites States Government has to pay back the interest on the huge loans. The government pays these loans with the taxpayers money.

Why the Federal Reserve is Unconstitutional

            According Article 1, Section 10, of United States Constitution, “No State shall make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts.” To go off of the gold and silver standard, the Constitution would have had to be amended, pursuant the provisions in Article 5 of the United States Constitution.

The Solution - HR 1207

            The ultimate solution is simply to END THE FED (Federal Reserve). A more probable solution, and a first step however, is to first Audit the Federal Reserve.

            HR 1207 is the Federal Reserve Transparency Act, which calls for an audit of the Federal Reserve. The audit would require to the Federal Reserve to report its spending policies and history, and make them available to Congress.

Works Cited

1. Ron Paul on the Federal Reserve

2. Federal Reserve Commentary

3. HR 1207 Information

4. History of U.S. Central Banks

Word Count 416

Word #8

ostensible: adjective [ attrib. ] - stated or appearing to be true, but not necessarily so: his ostensible claims were widely believed by his followers.


Sentence: One ostensible example of these reputed powers was when Efim Rasputin, Grigori's father, had one of his horses stolen and it was claimed that Rasputin was able to identify the man who had committed the theft.
From Wikipedia
Word Count 61

Japanese Internment Memorial essay

The Empire of Japan attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Following the attack, President Franklin D. Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066 on February 19, 1942. The order allowed for the relocation of approximately 120,000 Japanese Americans and Japanese who lived along the Pacific coast of the United States to internment camps.

Despite much protest, the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the order in 1944.

Ruth Asawa is a Japanese American sculptor, who was relocated to an internment camp as a child. Asawa sculpted the San Jose American Interment Memorial. The bronze monument was unveiled in 1994 on the East Plaza of the Federal Building on 280 S. First St., San Jose, Calif. The sculpture timeline ranges from the Japanese-West Coast immigration to the signing of the congressional legislation, which apologized for the internment on behalf of the U.S. government.

The first side of the sculpture depicts the Japanese-West Coast immigration. This side portrays the historical background of Japanese American life.

On the side of the sculpture is a copy of Executive order 9066.

The second side of the sculpture depicts the Japanese Americans being relocated. What stuck out to me the most was the depiction of Japanese families being forced onto the train. On the bottom left corner of the sculpture there is a man talking and standing with his wife and three children. His wife is carrying a baby in her arms and looks distraught. The sad looking man is carrying his luggage. What is most disturbing to me is that there is a long line of armed soldiers standing behind them. One soldier to the front of the line is pointing a rifle with a bayonet towards the people on the train.

The rest of the second side depicts life inside the internment camps. There are armed guards everywhere and many Japanese families seemingly trying to get through the day. With the exception of a baseball game being played, the whole scene looks very somber.

These Japanese Americans and Japanese were incarcerated for up to four years without due process of the law or any factual basis. Many died due to inadequate medical care, and some were killed by guards for allegedly resisting orders.

Although maybe not to the same extent as the Japanese American Internment, I believe that something similar can happen again. Executive order 9066 permitted the military to circumvent the constitutional safeguards of American citizens in the name of national security. Just recently, President Obama gave permission to the military to assassinate an American Citizen without due process. The citizen was alleged terrorist Anwar al-Awlaki, who was killed by a U.S. drone attack. Although Awlaki was undoubtedly a bad person, he was assassinated without due process and any charges.

As Jameel Jaffer, deputy legal director for The American Civil Liberties Union stated, “The government’s authority to use lethal force against its own citizens should be limited to circumstances in which the threat to life is concrete, specific and imminent. It is a mistake to invest the president – any president – with the unreviewable power to kill any American whom he deems to present a threat to the country.”

Word Count 526

Drinking Coffee Elsewhere

           I read the short story “Brownies” in Drinking Coffee Elsewhere by Z.Z. Packer. Packer uses good descriptions in her storytelling. For example, when describing the complexion of some of the girls, Packer portrays them as having “a blend of ice cream: strawberry, vanilla.” I thought it was interesting that she used food as a description. Packer also makes good uses of similes. When describing the look on the girls’ faces, she depicts them as looking around “like tourists determined to be dazzled.”

            I thought that Packers descriptions were quite humorous and unconventional. For example when referring to the girls she says, “They smell like Chihuahuas. Wet Chihuahuas.”

            Packers writing style is predominantly narrative. She does not use much dialogue in her writing. I think that this is an effective writing style. By using short quotes, she is able to better describe then scene. The few times she uses longer quotes, she does so to effectively convey the emotions of the characters. For example when she quotes Janice saying, “They gone be sleeping… then we gone sneak into they cabin, then we’ll put daddy longlegs in they sleeping bags. Then they’ll wake up. Then we gone beat ‘em up till they’re as flat as frying pans!” This quote is humorous, but it also conveys the emotion better than paraphrasing would have.

            Packer is a talented writer. 

Word Count 225

Copy Edit the World

Word #7

austerity: noun - sternness or severity of manner or: the austerity of his corrupt polices angered the people.

Sentence: A ruling Greek Socialist party deputy quit parliament on Monday to protest against austerity, striking a blow at Prime Minister George Papandreou's efforts to secure approval of a deeply unpopular package of measures later this week.
By Renee MaltezouWord Count 57

NPR Radio Interview Analysis

           The interviewer interviewed Seth MacFarlane, the creator of the animated show Family Guy. She appeared to already know a lot about MacFarlane’s career. She mentioned that he does a lot of the voices on the show and sings often. She also had select musical clips played during the interview.

           The interviewer started off by asking MacFarlane about one of the songs that he sings. Most of the questions had to do with MacFarlane’s singing career rather than his popular television show. She asked often about what his motivation was for specific songs. She briefly asked him about his personal life, but most of the interviewed had to do with his career.

            The interviewer asked a lot of two-part questions. She followed up a lot of the questions by asking him to elaborate on his responses. She also asked him to confirm a lot of rumors. The interviewer seemed to have a specific strategy. She asked question after question, not allowing any silent pauses in the interview. She seemed to ask the type off questions that would allow MacFarlane to talk the most.

            There were no apparent inadequate or evasive answers. The interviewer asked a lot of follow up questions, but the responses themselves were direct and complete. The relationship between the interviewer and interviewee seemed casual and friendly. Her interview style allowed for a straightforward and honest interview. Both the interviewer and the interviewee seemed to enjoy the interview.

            From the interview I learned that it is best to avoid silent pauses. By having a set of interview questions prepared, the interview progressed well. 

By NPR

Word Count 264

Word #6

acolyte: noun – a person assisting the celebrant in a religious service or procession.• an assistant or follower: The acolyte assisted the priest in the ceremony.
Sentence: Be thy Tebow acolyte or accuser, proof of your faith was available Sunday when the Broncos turned their lonely, losing eyes to Tim.
By Dan Wetzel
Word Count 52

Mystery Character

           The room was filled with chants. As the enthusiastic public servant spoke, he crowd grew louder. “Peace is far superior to war. That should be our goal,” he said to a standing ovation.

          As an older respected leader, he commands the attention of the people. His white hair symbolizes his experience and wisdom. His pressed blue suit and red tie shows he means business. Although not the most slick public speaker, his consistent message resonates among the American people.

Word Count 79

Word #5

Eclectic: adjective - deriving ideas, style, or taste from a broad and diverse range of sources: he visited many diverse restaraunts, so his cooking was very eclectic.

"You know I'm pretty eclectic," the president said. "I read a lot of news that I used to read in print, I read on the Web now.


By: Russel Goldman


Word Count 56

Word #4

Revile: verb [ trans. ] criticize in an abusive or angrily insulting manner: The students reviled the board of trustees for raising tuition.

Sentence: Most are led by monks who are fiercely loyal to Tibet's exiled Buddhist leader, the Dalai Lama, who fled the Himalayan region in 1959 amid an abortive uprising against Chinese rule and is reviled by Beijing.

By: Alexa Oleson

Word Count 60

Word #3

Ilk: noun [in sing. ] a type of people or things similar to those already referred to: Republican Presidential Candidate, like other of his ilk, is skilled in public speaking.

Sentence:  Like other programs of its ilk, "4th and Long" had a tenuous connection with reality.

By Chris Chase

Word Count 38

What Makes it News?

President Obama is proposing a $1.5 trillion increase in new tax revenue in an effort to reduce long-term deficits. This Associated Press article explains that the $1.5 trillion would come from repealing the Bush-era tax rates for couples making over $250,000, as well as ending certain corporate loopholes and subsidies. The proposal would also cut $580 billion in benefit programs such as Medicare. The article is newsworthy because it portrays the conflict between Democrats and Republicans. The article is also newsworthy because it is about a prominent figure and the proposal impacts millions of Americans.

            The news story could be localized by explaining how the increase in taxes affect the local community. A lot of big corporations such as Google, Yahoo, and Hewlett-Packard Co., are headquartered in the Silicon Valley. A reporter could localize the story by mentioning these corporations and explaining how these corporations would be affected, as well as listing statistics for the number of couples earning over $250 in the Silicon Valley. The reporter could also mention the amount of Medicare recipients residing in the Silicon Valley. 

By Jim Kuhnhenn - Associated Press

Word Count 185

Word #2

Irk - verb [ trans. ]irritate; annoy: I was irked by the comments from the reporter who obviosuly had no idea what he was talking about. 

Sentence: Their bad blood apparently dates back to the 2008 campaign, when Huckabee was publicly irked that Perry endorsed Giuliani and then John McCain in the GOP primary. (By Holly Bailey)


Word Count 53

A Fly on the Wall

Downtown 

As I walked down the street I spotted an empty wooden bench. The sun was nearly setting and the sunlight glared directly on the bench in between two high rise buildings. I took a seat and immediately noticed the pleasant smell of coming from the Chinese restaurant behind me. The increasingly overwhelming aroma of freshly cooked meats and spices began to make me hungry. In an attempt to ignore my growling stomach, I took out my blue notebook and began to record the details of my surroundings.

            There was a lot to see downtown. It was interesting to see the stark contrast between the various individuals walking by. It was easy to differentiate between those that obviously had somewhere to be, and those that were simply enjoying their stroll through the city.

            I tried to single out the individual noises but found it difficult at first. The constant sounds of honking horns, speeding cars, and people talking, all mixed together in one big tumult. After a few minutes of listening intently, the sounds began to become more distinct. I began to hear the chirping of birds in the trees that line the sidewalks. I could hear the leaves rustling on the ground as the wind began to pick up.

            I overheard a peculiar conversation between two young women standing nearby. “You’re crazy,Yogurtland is way better than Pinkberry,” the first woman said. “What, I wouldn’t eat there if it was free,” said the second woman. “You would have to pay me,” she replied. It was really funny how surprisingly long this debate went on. I walked home and called it a day.

            Most people don’t stop to notice their surroundings, but if you sit down and take a look around you find that it’s actually pretty entertaining.

Word Count 296

Favorite Writing

A particular piece of writing that I enjoy is “The Raven” by Edgar Allan Poe. The poem was first published January 1845 in the New York Evening Mirror.

I have always liked this poem because of the eeriness you feel when reading. The poem is about a man that is mourning over his lost love named Lenore. Late at night, alone in his room he hears a tapping at his door. When he goes to check there is nothing there.

Poe uses his style of writing to create suspense in his stories. The way he describes every minute detail really gives you the sense that you are in the dark room.

Suddenly a raven enters the room and begins to taunt him. Throughout the rest of the poem the man is conflicted with him self and seems confused. The Raven only answers “nevermore,” whenever the man asks a question, which further upsets the man.

I like the poem because it is scary, but it is also sad at the same time. Like most of his writings, "The Raven" is considered gothic.

I also like the poem because of Poe’s use of alliteration. For example the opening line, “Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary….”

Word Count: 208

Word #1

Festooned:  verb [ trans. ]- adorn (a place) with chains, garlands, or other decorations : I festooned the Christmas tree with ornaments to make it look livelier. 

Sentence: A rusty cargo ship festooned with welcome banners arrived Wednesday at North Korea's Diamond Mountain resort to mark the launch of new tours from China that snub Seoul and aim to replace suspended South Korean trips. (By ALEXA OLESEN - Associated Press )


Words Count: 62

All About Me

Hi! My name is Eric Armendariz and I am a public relations student at San Jose State University. I have also recently declared biological sciences as my minor. I am originally from Southern California, but I chose to attend SJSU because I liked the campus.

I have previously had the privilege of serving two terms on Associated Students as the Director of Student Resource Affairs. As a board of director I was able to learn a lot about the campus and the surrounding community. I also enjoyed the opportunity of contributing my own ideas to help improve the educational experiences of the students.

After graduation I plan to work for a PR agency. I eventually hope to become a public relations director and maybe someday run my own agency.

In my free time I like to hang out with my friends and just do random activities. As a member of Sigma Nu Fraternity I always have different activities and events going on.

I consider myself a decent writer, however I have trouble getting started. I especially take a long time deciding exactly what I want to write about. However, once I find a topic that I am interested in, the creativity and words just seem to flow out. I don’t believe I have a problem writing creatively, however I do seem to struggle in my organization of what I want to say.

Word Count: 232