Obama Blames "Bad Apple"

This week we had to read “Obama blames 'bad apple' insurers for canceled coverage,” which discusses how “bad apple” insurance companies are the reason for thousands of people losing their insurance in the past couple weeks. Obama states,"Remember, before the Affordable Care Act, these bad-apple insurers had free rein every single year to limit the care that you received, or used minor pre-existing conditions to jack up your premiums, or bill you into bankruptcy.” Obama states that those who have a hard time seeking new insurance plans after their coverage is dropped, they may find new options through online exchanges or marketplaces. Michigan Representative Fred Upton, the Republican who oversaw the hearing for Obamacare said,"For those who lose the coverage they like, they may also be losing faith in their government," I agree that people are losing faith in their government and if they do not make a decision on this debacle soon, then people won’t believe that their government is in a good position and start taking matters into their own hands.

If you would like to read this article go to the following link: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/10/31/us-usa-healthcare-sebelius-idUSBRE99T0PN20131031

Erin Cox Was Suspended For Driving Her Drunk Friend

Erin Cox was suspended for five games for driving her drunk friend home from a party.

When Erin arrived at the party for pick up her drunk friend, the cops had already shown up, arrested several people, and told several others they would be summoned to court. When her school got notice of this, they benched her for five games and stripped her of her captaincy. Eleanor Cox, Erin's mother, did and interview on "Good Morning America" to talk about the recent events dealing with her daughter. "She did what she thought was right and I'm very proud of her," she stated to the interviewer. Her mother seemed very worried about her daughter stating she was “fragile”. Trust us, we get that teen drinking is a serious problem, but do we have to show our stance by punishing an innocent party for trying to help out a friend?
Personally, I think that she did the right thing and she helped her friend. If she would have attemped to drive home drunk, it would not have turned out too well.
Wendy Murphy, their family attorney, released a statement to “Good Morning America” that later tuesday and said “By punishing Erin Cox, the North Andover School District sends a contrary and very dangerous message -- that young people are better off letting their friends drive drunk.” With this said, did the school expect Erin to stay home and let her friend drive home drunk?

We Are Teaching High School Students To Write Terribley

This article discusses the writing portion of the SAT. It reveals that when grading our SATs, the proof readers do not look for errors in facts or even if the story is well written. Most of them just want to see how many points you can clearly convey into your message in your allotted time. I honestly think this is an unreliable way to judge us on our writing skills and techniques. Someone may possibly be a slow writer but have a great story to tell and know a great way to tell it.

    This article also states that people who spend time trying to write true facts down or try to recall a memory, it often takes them longer to write and they do not see results in their SAT grade. But... people who make up stories or take an opposite stance to their own may find that it is easier and their ideas flow more.

    "...exam readers love quotations," I feel exam readers may love quotations because it give more of a since of your writing capabilities. If you put a quote, you obviously have to explain your quote and I guess this is sort of the "flexing your muscles" of writing. It shows your writing capabilities and helps convey your message thoroughly.  

Overall, I believe that our teachers should prepare us for both ways in writing. You will need to know how to write thoroughly and effectively deliver your message for the SAT, but at the same time be more clear, concise and detailed in order to prep you for college level writing.
Honestly, I do not believe that their way of grading our SAT writing is effective at all. I think they should grade us upon our message, not how long or how many quotes are in our message. Critiquing us on our ability to convey a message is effective, but wouldn't it be more effective if we could input details and a true sense of who we are into our writing?