Reaction to Story 6. in book Floating off the Page

The title of this article is "Why the Girl Scouts Sing the Blues." It was written in October of 1993. The main dilemma for the Girl Scouts and many other camps and similar organizations is that the American Society for Composers, Authors & Publishers has informed camps nationwide that they must pay a licensed fee to use any of the more than four million copyrighted songs written or published by Ascap's 68,000 members. "Those who sing or play but don't pay, Ascap warns, may be violating the law." The company even warned that they will sue camps and organizations that do not comply. The only song that was mentioned in the article that was not on the list was Kumbaya, however songs that include God Bless America, Edelweiss and Ring Around the Rosie are copyrighted. Ascap warns that if you do not know if the song is part of the copyrighted list, do not sing it. Even the song "Happy Birthday" is included. Ascap believes that if restaurants, bars, clubs and stores already pay fees to use copyrighted music, camps should too, even if they are non-profit.
I am remembering back to when I went to day camp when I was very young and recall sitting in groups or around a campfire and singing popular songs. I would suppose that my camp, which is affiliated with the YMCA, paid a fee to Ascap. I agree with Ascap, even though naturally I at first found it to be a bit strict, I understand that the individuals that write these songs deserve their royalties! They create such popular songs, therefore they should be rewarded a salary without question. It is difficult to explain to children why they cannot sing songs, but I feel that they should be told specifically why and not "walk around the bush" instead. The organizations should just pay the fee so as not be responsible for copyright infringement.

Reaction to Story 8. in book Floating off the Page

The title of the article is: "Ruff! Ruff! Ruffage! Here, Rover, Have a Nice Bean Sprout!" It was written in October of 1993. This article took me by surprise. Even though I have heard of particular dog food brands that include small portions of vegetables and certain vitamins in the diet, I have never heard of dogs or cats becoming vegetarians. This article is quite peculiar and striking in all respects. When I first thought of this article, I immediately thought of my two Persian cats at home. Though they are two brothers and act completely different, I find that they are attracted to foods that are not considered part of a regular feline diet. For example, Puffy likes to eat cream cheese only off bagels, whipped cream, butter and eggs. Tigger on the other hand enjoys eating broccoli, but other than that he is very "nutritious" as my family and I like to refer to him as. There regular diet consists of fancy feast and standard hard cat food and dental diet balls. When I was younger, I had met a very energetic cat that oddly enough enjoyed eating potato chips and would eat them off your plate.
This article seemed to have mixed views in regards to a vegetarian diet for a natural carnivore. Some cases have reported their pet to feel more energetic and healthy where as some veterinarians were very skeptical. One veterinarian stated that "Dogs and cats are naturally carnivores and that [they] feel we do not have the right to impose [their] will on another creature." I agree, it is not like they are venturing to the produce section of the grocery store and choosing to buy carrots and beans instead of fish and steak. Another issue I saw was that many pet owners actually have to feed their dog or cat "beano" because they become very gassy and it is hard for them to digest their food. In my opinion, that right there would be a significant reason to stop feeding your animals no meat. The cost for some pets owners have been as much as $450 a month to maintain a vegetarian for their pets. Just because you may be a vegetarian, does not mean your pet has to become one. I understand the underlying motive but I feel what those individuals are doing is only troubling the circumstance. Cats and dogs should stick to their carnivorous diet.

Written Exercise With No Adjectives or Adverbs

Next semester, I will be certain to buy tickets to Broadway shows when I have some free time. One of the shows I look forward to seeing The Lion King. I have seen this performance once before when I was in third grade, yet I cannot remember it completely. I would like to see it again so I am able to appreciate the experience. I saw the majority of them when I was young. For example, some of the other shows I have seen include Spamalot, Grease, Rent, Big, The Christmas Spectacular, Cats and many others. I would like to see The Color Purple, Wicked, and Avenue Q. Seeing a show like those is an experience like no other. It is unfortunate that the shows that have been on Broadway for years are canceling! I hope that the shows that canceled make a comeback.

Note: This assignment was much more difficult than it seemed!

Words that should be spelled differently

Here is a non-exhaustive list of some words I feel should be spelled differently than how they are originally spelled. For example, some words should be spelled the way they sound, other words I simply cannot understand why they are spelled that way! Some words have silent letters and some words have completely different pronunciations that the way they are spelled.
1. words that end in -ght, such as night, and bright
These words should be spelled: nite, brite, fie, etc.
2. through
This word should be spelled: thru
3. scent
It should be spelled as sent or cent
*I believe words in English should not sound the same but have different meanings and spelled differently. Most words in other languages do not have that rule, such as Spanish, French, and Italian.
4. island
Silent "s," how about just iland?
5. spaghetti
This word was a challenge to learn when I was very little. I would always forget the "h." The way I would try to remember the spelling was pronouncing it: spag-het-ti
6. pneumonia
Sounds like "knew"
7. psychology
The common silent "p"
8. doubt
This word is commonly misspelled and there is a silent "b." I have seen it spelled "dowt".
9. weight
Silent -ght.
10. reign
Sounds very similar to the word "rain." The spelling of this word must be quite difficult to learn and understand.
11. rhyme
Silent "h" and "e"
12. beau
This word is spelled completely different than the word that sounds exactly the same: bow

These differences in spelling will make it much easier for others to learn our language and for people to remember spelling.
Check out: 100 Most Commonly Misspelled Words

Good Writing and Writing Well

These two quote have a very profound impact on me: "Good writing is good writing, no matter what form it's in" [and] "Writing well is reading well." These words are very insightful yet precise. I have always believed that good writing in itself does not have to have a specific format or style and does not have to be about a certain subject. Good writing could cover any topic and portray any theme. Good writing should never be judged by its’ form, rather it may be judged by its content. If the writing is intriguing, powerful and well developed, it certainly can be considered good or better than that. Sometimes it is better to write about something in a different type of form than the form it was written, depending on what the writer's goal is and how they want to express themselves. Writing is such a wonderful spectrum because there is always room for improvement and exploration. The second quote is certainly quite interesting; I believe that when you advance your reading, in addition you are advancing your writing skills, whether you realize it or not. When reading, you may pick up on certain words, ideas, philosophies, styles or phrases that may stick with you and therefore you can develop into your own unique style of writing. This second quote suggests that writing and reading go hand-in-hand in terms of understanding. What I mean is that if you can recognize noteworthy literature, you can also recognize great writing while taking more knowledge from both.

Academic Background and Future Plans

Currently, I am a sophomore. I am an English major with a concentration in professional and creative writing with a double minor in Psychology and Classics. I also have taken or plan to take courses in dance, such as yoga and t'ai chi and foreign language courses in Italian and plan to take courses in Chinese and German. I also study music and perform with the Manhattanville Community Orchestra. I have chosen to study writing because I enjoy expressing myself creatively in various ways through different styles of writing, such as fiction, poetry, plays, and narratives. I have been writing creatively before I started grade school. I just began media writing and have caught on very well; I enjoy it as much as creative writing. I write for various publications on and off campus and am considering making a career out of it. In the future, I plan to go on and study English and Irish literature at the graduate level as well as writing for the mass media on the side. I also would like to teach writing and literature at the university level. Outside of school, I volunteer my time working with children, the elderly, and work at my local public library. I work in the DPI/NGO (or non-governmental organization) office at the United Nations and report on the briefings held every Thursday on issues around the world, such as poverty and domestic violence. To keep myself physically active, I work out regularly at the gym, swim, sail, and participate in different forms of dance.
I took this class so I could have the oppportunity to learn more in-depth about the field of journalism and how to effectively write for the mass media. I hope to take what I will learn from this course with me into my career.