Wednesday, June 13th, 5:30 pm

Greetings,

Just a few reminders...

1. If you choose to revise out of class essay #1, the first revision is due no later than Tuesday, June 19th. Please attach the revision to the original, graded version before submitting.

2. If you submitted a rough draft of out of class essay #2, please remember to attach it to the final version before submitting tomorrow in class.

Thank you! See you tomorrow.

Thursday, June 7th--second posting of the day

PACKETS 4 AND 5 ARE LISTED BELOW:


The issue of health care certainly rears its head in the Breaking Bad episodes. It seems fitting that the series features an ordinary high school chemistry teacher whose health care benefits do not cover his treatments for lung cancer. He is desperate to get money for his treatments and to leave money for his family in the event of his death. 

PACKET #4:
Please read the article (just published this afternoon) below that I have cut and pasted, along with the other two listed afterwards.

U.S. administration ready for health ruling: Sebelius

3:07pm EDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said on Thursday the administration will be ready to respond if the Supreme Court strikes down all or part of the healthcare reform law in a landmark ruling expected this month.

Speaking at a White House forum on the law and women's health issues, Sebelius said the administration remains "confident and optimistic" that the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act will be upheld as constitutional.

But if the ruling proves unfavorable, she added: "We'll be ready for court contingencies." Sebelius offered no details about how the administration would respond.

The reform law, President Barack Obama's signature domestic achievement, would extend coverage to more than 30 million uninsured people by expanding the Medicaid program for the poor and establishing regulated state insurance markets where lower income people could buy subsidized plans.

The court could overturn the entire reform package or eliminate selected provisions including the individual mandate, which requires most Americans to obtain health coverage by the time the law comes into full effect in 2014.

If the court strikes down the mandate, considered a pivotal issue in the case, that could cripple the law's ability to keep insurance costs down by compelling younger, healthier people to buy coverage.

Most alternative ways to bring down insurance costs would require cooperation from Congress, an uncertain prospect as many Republicans have vowed to try to repeal the law.

Sebelius warned that the court striking down the entire law would have a "pretty cataclysmic impact" on millions of people, including 60,000 with pre-existing conditions who have been able to gain health coverage through a program created by the law.

The government would have to establish new rates for Medicare, the popular healthcare program for the elderly and disabled, because higher payment rates for physicians who provide preventive and primary care would cease to exist.

Millions of young adults would no longer be able to remain on their parents' health plans until age 26, and a host of preventive procedures including mammograms and childhood immunizations would no longer be available without deductible payments or co-pays, she said.

"We assume that if the court would strike that down, those all would cease to be the law of the land," Sebelius said.

"What we're doing right now, quite frankly, is just working as hard as we possibly can to get ready for 2014," she added. "We think it's the best preparation to anticipate that the law is fully constitutional."

"Middle Class Struggling with Health Care Costs, Report Finds"
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10077/1043764-84.stm

"Why Does Health Care Cost so Much?"
http://www.newamerica.net/node/8920

Just a quick note...

When you are accessing these two required readings above, please make a note that the article titled
"Middle class struggling with health care costs, report finds" is the one I want you to read. It is an article by David Templeton from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. It is the link I gave you, but just in case you notice another listing when you google this title, it may be the entire PDF of the report. I do not want you to read the entire report, just the article ABOUT the report.


PACKET #5:
"Abraham Verghese: A Doctor's Touch"--TED TALKS
http://www.ted.com/talks/abraham_verghese_a_doctor_s_touch.html

Thursday, June 7 around 530 pm

Hello, below you will find a copy of the out of class essay #2 assignment which was assigned in class today. Check in later this evening for your next reading packet assignment.
Have an outstanding weekend!

English 20, Summer 2012---C. Fraga

Date assigned: Thursday, June 7

Rough draft (optional): due no later than Tuesday, June 12

Final draft due: Thursday, June 14

Details:

1. MLA format

2. At least 4 outside sources on your Works Cited page

3. Please, no Wikipedia

4. No formulaic, 5 paragraph essay

OUT OF CLASS ESSAY ASSIGNMENT #2

Among many things, the series Breaking Bad focuses on the family entity and what happens when something quite extraordinary occurs—how do members of the family cope, adjust, and/or “deal” with the event/situation? (In the case of this series, obviously it is Walter’s cancer that is the ‘event’).

I am not referring to the everyday “bumps in the road” that occur for all families. Instead, I am asking you to consider the family unit when faced with an especially challenging situation. These situations could include but are not limited to:

• death

• birth

• infidelity

• serious injury

• dementia

• serious illness

• divorce

• unemployment

• new employment

• moving to a new home/state/area/country

• the return of a war veteran

• moving BACK home after initially moving OUT

• alcoholism

• drug abuse

Select ONE situation that you are most interested in exploring. You will conduct research (and possibly personal interviews, if possible) in order to write an essay that offers the reader background on the topic and makes an assertion about what elements impact a family in the most challenging of ways and supports it logically and interestingly.

Your thesis might read something like this:

When a family member develops dementia, the challenges are often devastating, yet the disease definitely impacts family members more than the dementia patient.

Or…

When a couple divorces, it most certainly impacts the children still living at home; however, it is the older children who have already moved away that are most affected by the split.

Wednesday, June 6th, 2nd posting today

Hello,

just a quick correction I wanted to draw your attention to in the syllabus.

I just noticed that I indicated an In Class Group Work #2 for today -- AND AGAIN on Tuesday the 12th. If you would, just cross out In Class Group Work #2 on the 12th. Thanks.

Wednesday, June 6, 12 noon

Greetings,

I apologize for not mentioning that the REASON we ended our class session early today was to provide you with a bit more time to finish up your out of class essay #1. I cannot always afford to give you this opportunity, but today's list of lessons afforded that luxury.

Also, I have just completed reading over your group notes from the Group Work #2 today. I am really impressed with many of the discussion points, both the ones I read and the ones I heard while you were in your groups. My goal is for you to understand the PROCESS of writing and how vital it is to brainstorm and discuss and think about and read before committing to your MAIN focus and assertion. The insights that I observed from your discussions are encouraging to me.

See you tomorrow...with your blue or green book.

Tuesday evening, June 5th

Greetings...
A few things.
1. Remember to bring copies of Packet 2 and Packet 3 to class tomorrow.
2. If you submitted a rough draft of Essay 1, you will receive it back tomorrow with my comments and suggestions. Please ATTACH this rough draft with my comments to your FINAL draft when you submit on Thursday.
3. Remember to bring a blue or green book to class on Thursday for in class essay #1. I encourage you to also bring along your Viewer's Journal from Breaking Bad. You may find it useful.

Sunday, June 4th, 9 pm

Greetings,

I hope you have had a safe, enjoyable weekend.

A few things before we meet again on Tuesday...

1. IF you are submitting a rough draft of out of class essay #1, please be sure it is typed, double spaced, and follows MLA format. You need not submit a Works Cited page with your draft, but please have in text citations in place. Also, I cannot provide sufficient feedback unless your essay is complete--in other words, do not submit a partially written essay. I realize that it is in rough format and may not be completely developed throughout, but it should have a beginning, middle and end.

2. Remember to have the readings due for Tuesday in hard copy or on your laptop.

3. Packet 3 Assignment (due to be read by Wednesday's class session) :

Should Drugs be Legalised? (June 2011--one year ago)

In the Independent, the UK's politically neutral and arguably most informative daily newspaper, there has been some interesting articles and debates regarding calls to legalise some or all drugs as the so called 'War on drugs' has undoubtedly failed.

So says a panel of world leaders who called yesterday for the biggest shake-up of drug laws in half a century. "The global war on drugs has failed, with devastating consequences for individuals and societies around the world," declared the Global Commission on Drug Policy. "Fundamental reforms... are urgently needed."

The Commission, which counts the former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan along with former presidents of Brazil, Mexico and Colombia as members, believes governments must now experiment with "legal regulation of drugs."

Ecstasy, which is currently considered a class-A substance, ought to be reclassified in line with medical opinion that it is far less dangerous than legal drugs such as nicotine and alcohol, the report suggests. Users of narcotics should be offered education and treatment, rather than being incarcerated, it advises. And countries which insist on continuing a "law enforcement" approach to drug crime should focus resources on taking down high-level traffickers, rather than arresting everyday drug mules and street dealers

My initial response was an astounding no. However if we was to view it from a more critical view, such as the the success of stopping drug use and the millions of pounds spent on the 'war on drugs'.. I do feel there needs to be some changes. 

"Calls to Legalise Cannabis and Ecstasy" by Guy Adams
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/politics/calls-to-legalise-cannabis-and-ecstasy-2292485.html