Final Class Reflection

Final Class Reflection

Before starting this course I was afraid of writing, I was under the impression that writing had to be perfect and the grammar impeccable. However I realized that writing, about anything, relaxed me, I think I feel comfortable now writing and when I do write  I try to write about anything that I have in mind  and for some reason when I go back and read, it makes sense now. Taking this class it changed my perspective about writing, I don’t think that any particular assignment made me change my perspective, it was the class in general because in each assignment we had to write a lot and give our opinion , so I learn to give my opinion not only to write what the assignment asked. It is very nice to be able to freely write and let other people know how I fell and what my opinion on certain topics.

My favorite assignment for this class was making of the documentary film because it was fun to integrate different types of media and putting all the information together. It was nice because most of the research was done so it was no stress in that part, and it was just about to put it all together.  However the least preferable assignment was the literature review, I had a hard time going through all these 15-20 journals and reading all of these, which the information was great by the way but, it was very difficult to me to integrate all of them into one piece.

This semester I learned about different social issues that are happening all around us and I was now aware of it. For example the DREAM Act which was my semester topic, I’m glad that I choose that because I learn what I can do to help. In addition I learn about the community need for help in several aspects. I had the opportunity to help the community by volunteering at a church helping others to learn the questions for their citizenship. The classes are free and anyone can attend. By helping others, I learn and made me grew as a better person.

What I learn in this class, about citizen journalism, DREAM Act, Volunteering, these are experiences that I would keep with me forever, I learn that volunteers are needed in the community and I will continue to help others by volunteering to different organizations in need.

I don’t have any suggestions to better this class for future semesters, I think out instructor did an excellent job in communicating and in the time given to us to turn in the assignments. The class material was very well organized. This is one of the best classes I have ever taken. 

Thank you professor Carl for the experience. 

Citizen Journalism Reflection and Response - Part B

If you are not able too see the video above click to see the documentary ...    Invisible Children 

This documentary is amazing, it is about three young men that decided to travel to Sudan and make a documentary about what was happening in that country. It caught my attention what one of them said, bobby mentioned that “ media is what defines our lives” , I think that is very true, media is all around us and pretty much that is what we do and participate every day in. Anyhow, they had heard that the boys as young as 8 year old were used as slaves and were used to fight in the war and these three young men wanted to go and witness that and gather information so they can bring to the U.S. so they started their journey.

 First they traveled to Kenya and had a welcome gathering there so they can be introduced to the community which is a tradition in Kenya. Later they traveled to Sudan to see if they find what they were looking for, the children and the war. At this point in the video they were showing footage about them vomiting, killing a snake and cutting a chicken head, it make me want to stop the video!! Only by seen this, I know that is no way for me to have the strength to ever do something like this brave men did. Yes I understand now that media is all around us, however, it is definitely not for all of us.

The young men found what they were looking for with the aid of one of the Uganda residents Jolly who took them to the town of Gulu  where they found the refugee camps and the kids that go to sleep outside their home so they can be protected from kidnapping and they go to the bushes to sleep on the grass. One of the journalists was following a couple of boys to where they sleep; these boys go away from the rest of the crowd and sleep hiding in the dark. But, what is amazing is that two of them were doing homework and studying!! I think that is amazing that after all the things they go throughout the day, at night they still have the strength to study!! Wow, that is a motivation right there for me!

The journalist interviewed several kids and learned that the kids become immune to what is happening there and are not able to cry because crying mean weakness and they can’t be weak. Once the kids are abducted they are so afraid of escaping that they become killers. Is very sad to see that this kids the only thing they can think of and draw is pictures about killing.

I love what this three young men, excellent journalist did at the end, they didn’t put any credits and instead persuaded by asking people for support for this invisible children. Great job!

As far as the Ethos, Ethical appeal. The authors presented themselves at the beginning of the film and they established a common ground by explaining the reason why they wanted to do this documentary which was to find out if it was true that the children were abducted and used to participate in the war.

Pathos was all over, by the journalist traveling to Uganda and personally living there and interviewing the kids and being there showing footage of the daily living of these kids, they created emotion, and emotion was all over the film! It is a topic that yes, is interesting to the audience and the emotional appeal was very effective.

The Logos was all the evidence used to support their thesis, they actually went to the camps were the kids were hiding and that is more enough support of the evidence. Overall, this film was amazing source of information.

This film relates to my semester topic, citizen journalism because we talked and learned that all of us are journalist because we experience and live around media. We talked about being actively involved by recording and letting others know what is going on around us. In this care these three young men are being actively involved by personally going to the place were bad things are happening and letting the rest of the world know and asking for help for these site. An excellent documentary.

Opinion Piece

The DREAM Act

-by Claudia Teruel.

The Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act (DREAM Act) is a  policy that if passed, will give legal status to millions of illegal students that in the present have no access to government aid. According to an Article posted in El Paso Times, “15,000 undocumented immigrants in El Paso area can apply for deferred deportation,” all of which are illegal students who would not be able to go to college unless they gather the requisites required to participate under the deferred program.  Therefore, it is important to implement measures that would allow for a policy chance that would permit students to pursue their education once they collect all the requisites to apply for the deferred program. Such policy change, will allow undocumented students to receive student loans to be paid back when they graduate from their four year college degree.

One of the provisions to be able to receive the student loan will be to gather all the requisites needed and apply to the Deferred Program. According to the U.S Citizenship and Immigration Services you may request consideration of deferred action for childhood arrivals if you:

• Were under the age of 31 as of June 15, 2012;
•  Came to the United States before reaching your sixteenth birthday;
•  Have continuously resided in the United States since June 15, 2007, up to the present time; 
•  Were physically present in the United States on June 15, 2012, and at the time of making your request for consideration of deferred action with USCIS;
•  Entered without inspection before June 15, 2012, or your lawful immigration status expired as of June 15, 2012;
•  Are currently in school, have graduated or obtained a certificate of completion from high school, have obtained a general education development (GED) certificate, or are an honorably discharged veteran of the Coast Guard or Armed Forces of the United States;
•  Have not been convicted of a felony, significant misdemeanor, three or more other misdemeanors, and do not otherwise pose a threat to national security or public safety.

The reason why illegal students should be able to receive the student loan is because first, it is required that they maintain a good moral character, so we know they will pay back. Second, because it is required of them that they complete a two or four year college, so finishing their career will be their goal.

According to the Institute Policy Center (IPC), another 6,210 young undocumented immigrants, who are between the ages of 5 and 14 years, could benefit in the future if they graduate from high school, obtain their GED or serve in the country's armed forces. What that means, is that here in El Paso alone, there will be thousands of illegal students that, if able to obtain student loans, will be able to graduate from college, obtain a legal status and therefore contribute to America’s economy.

IPC estimates there are about 1.3 million immediate and future potential beneficiaries in the country. Some 226,700 live in Texas, the second state with the most potential beneficiaries in the country after California. If these students gain legal status, they will be able to contribute nearly $3.6 trillion dollars in tax dollars to the economy over the course of their lifetimes.

By having a legal status and finishing their two or four year college that is required, these students will be able to make much more than minimum wage and will be able to pay back their student loan.

So far only a few details about the application are known, other than the program's launch date and the filing cost. Applicants will need to pay $465, which includes $380 for the employment authorization and $85 for a biometric background check, according to USCIS's website.

Illegal students can obtain information about the application process locally by going to the church in El Paso, Diocesan Migrant and Refugee Services, or DMRS, located at 2400 E. Yandell, El Paso TX.

Applicants will need to prove their age and the amount of time they've been in the country, so birth certificates, school transcripts, medical records, rent agreements, and letters from teachers and church pastors might be useful documents to fetch.

References

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service

http://www.immigrationpolicy.org/just-facts/dream-act

Immigration Policy Center

http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis/menuitem.eb1d4c2a3e5b9ac89243c6a7543f6d1a/?vgnextoid=f2ef2f19470f7310VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD&vgnextchannel=f2ef2f19470f7310VgnVCM100000082ca60aRCRD

El Paso Times. 08/13/12. Martinez.A. 15,000 undocumented immigrants in El Paso area can apply for deferred deportation.

http://www.elpasotimes.com/news/ci_21298892/15-000-undocumented-immigrants-el-paso-area-can-apply-deferred-deportation

Citizen Journalism Reflection and Response - Part A

A. Watch the link for History of Citizen Jornalist and Context for Contemporary Bloggers  and answer the questions.

Citizen Journalism Reflection and Response

1. The video first start by different people describing what Citizen Journalism is to them. It caught my attention one person who mentioned that “you don’t need to go to college to be a citizen journalist, just be in front of a search box”, that was very well said and I agree with his comment. Another person described Citizen Journalism as being “journalism done by non journalist”, I think that by not having the education needed to be a journalist probably will not give us the same pay, but I think the material provided will be the same. The video is a documentary that was done to show different opinions of what citizen journalism is, and also talk about how journalism has change with technology by starting only with newspapers for example the newspaper who reached people houses and was read by people during breakfast to now days people being able to see the same information and obtain information in the computer from any place that is convenient for them. Another person started creating a blog and he started to network with journalist and explaining to them that it would be more beneficial if he created a video blog and that way he was going to be able to be more specific and people will be able to see who he really was following his blog, and he did create a blog and people like it.

1. Blogging and citizenship journalism are connected because by a person having a blog and giving information to be viewed by citizens or having a public, they are participating by being citizen journalist.  They both reproduce information, the blogs being more personalized to different communities being more specific and I think that is why citizens like that more. The blog that I follow this semester, Immigration Impact, has helped me realize that there is many people in this country that it has no support not just from the government, but from the rest of the citizens. By reading their weekly topics and following their blog, I decided to do my research on DREAM Act which was the topic that caught my attention and I begin to write and research that topic. I created a blog about the same topic to provide information about the DREAM Act and let other people know what is available to them and how to get more information about how their path for citizenship. I have learned a lot with the blog myself because by having the blog and express myself I c can help others.

1. The distinction between a focus on news and a focus on community in citizen journalism. By being a citizen journalist, people raises concerns that are related to the community we live in, it can be narrow or can be broad. Narrow if talking about for example on a problem concerning the city and can be broad if the issue concerns the whole country. In this case the news could be a national interest and community in citizen journalism can be problems that affect the community we live in. Journalist in general would focus on news, general news that many time citizens are not interested in. In the other hand, citizen journalism would raise topics of concern to other citizens in the community.  That relates to my research because DREAM Act even though it is of national concern, it is important for the community we live in, we live in a border town therefore,  important for the people in this community, for the same reason it relates to my research and advocacy for the DREAM act in this border town community.

Deconstructing Citizen Journalism

 Week 13  Discussion board

This reading explained how he terms of Citizen Journalist and Citizen Journalism were produced. The article talks about five participant groups and details on what they each did to advance their position. Explains how citizen journalist started by providing publishers with information that they were not available to collect, by being present for example on fires, crushes and floods. Soon enough there were many journalist providing tons of information and is when the competition began. 

Many social media websites emerged and are taking over media by exploding websites with information and acquiring millions and millions of subscribers. After the evolution of mass media 5 groups were formed and are the key participants, 1) the journalist who is the one who puts the information available for the public on social media sites like blogs for example 3) the citizen that accept and read and follow the information 4) academic who research and critique the information provided 5) free speech advocates.

These five key participants also have evolutioned and the discourse was viewed, as well as myths associated with it. The myths discussed here are for example the myth of the Robinson Crusoe citizen, which talks about the idea of the journalist being independent offering an independent “voice of the people”, also debating if the journalist is truly independent or if is working because is his job so therefore, citizens can perceive the information in different ways depending in who is the journalist. Next, The myth of the noble citizen, which talks about how the journalist has been working and now citizens are aware and know the difference between news and opinion. 

The Myth of perfect plurality, which talks about journalism being more representative, or open to ‘everyone voices’, or telling ‘the whole story’. The article also talks about some implications that are related to these myths but in particular to one, the audience. Therefore, the participants were showed and the implications with it, the information provided by the journalist will be assumed in a different point of view depending the group that is receiving and perceiving the information. As citizen journalism has evolved, we still making changes by networking and the web growing, the citizen journalist and journalism in general will continue to evolve.

Group Opinion about TED video on group topic

Group 2:

Andrea De La Fuente

Paola Villareal

Claudia Teruel

As a group we are doing our video based on the DREAM Act where it is an act to fight for Mexican immigration children who lived here their whole lives to have an education. We could not find a specific TED video that demonstrates exactly what our documentary is about, however, we have found a video where First Lady Michelle Obama discusses about how much education is important in the world. This relates to our documentary project because that is something that the DREAM Act is fighting for; an education to all who truly want it. Watching this video has impacted our project presentation by knowing that we should present all possible information and as well discuss about how other people struggle their wholes lives by not being allowed to get the education that they wished for. The DREAM Act is something that can fight for all those immigration children who lived here their whole lives and want to continue living here to get the education they want. The TED video where First Lady Michelle Obama speaks is where she fights for the same thing of education for all. She talks about how she had struggled her whole life as a child younger and loved going to education and hopes, fights, that no other child should have to go through this struggle of getting the education needed.

The TED Video:  Michelle Obama's plea for education

Blog Followed this semester: Immigration Impact

Immigration Impact Blog

This semester i decided to follow a blog related to my semester topic. The blog that I'm following is Immigration Impact Blog , it is a blog from the Immigration Policy Center website. I subscribed to receive weekly email with their topic and I enjoy reading about the Immigration reform.