Fwd: [Qualitative Methods] Pao Yang - Research Paper 6 - Participant Observation

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From: "kubal" <tkubal2.2009@gmail.com>
To: tkubal@csufresno.edu
Sent: Sunday, March 9, 2014 9:13:29 PM
Subject: [Qualitative Methods] Pao Yang - Research Paper 6 - Participant Observation

Pao Yang

Sociology 176

Dr. Kubal

March 9, 2014

Word Count: 1,236

Qualitative Data Collection Paper 6 – Participant Observation

            This week I practiced the qualitative research method of participant observation. I participated in a public march on March 4^th, 2014 at CSU Fresno in an attempt to bring attention to multiple issues. The date was specifically chosen on the March 4^th to symbolize "Marching Forward on March Fourth." There were approximately 60or so participants. I collected notes using the comprehensive principle for observation and will be adopting a question from the GSS as the main focus of my research.

Question: "Over the past 5 years have you done any of the following to

express your opinion about an issue or your support for a cause?

c. Join a protest rally or march."

The march was the final event of the day. Before the march, groups of students spread information regarding Animal rights, Education, Environment, Pretrial Expansion, Sweatshops, Hunger, Peace, Women's issues, and Sexual Violence (see pictures). I felt that one of the biggest advocated issues at the time was Hunger. Many of the signs made I saw were regarding Hunger and the Hunger group talked to me more than any of the members from the other groups. I was given a flyer of locations where I could go volunteer and help fight against hunger (see pictures). This is not to say that the other groups did not do a well performance at sharing information about social issues; I just simply noticed the Hunger group's presence more. The social issue that I mainly supported was Education. I wanted lower tuition cost for students. In the past 5 years, college tuition has been constantly increasing and I want that to change. I remember when I first started college, a whole year of tuition at Fresno State was just above $3,000 but currently tuition has more than doubled. I feel that this financial burden on students has and will negatively affect student's performance in school. I feel that Education should be more affordable because I believe that the high increase in tuition cost over the past 5 years is unjustifiable. I feel that students are the scapegoat when more money is needed. I participated in this march to show to the world that "Hey, I see what's going on and you all should too." We need to acknowledge the issues before we can change them. This march was a motivating first step for me towards that direction.

My Sociology professor Dr. Kubal led the march at the Free Speech area where we would take a lap around the campus (see route map). There were many participants in the march but something that I noticed right from the start was the level of talking that was occurring. Many were talking within their groups instead of forwarding their message to the public. Every participant had a sign or two in their hands but their voice was not used to the fullest extent. Participants were able to learn a wide range of information regarding some of the socials issues presented. It was much more difficult to spread this information outward because bystanders would have to voluntarily look over and read what we were protesting or come over and talk with us. I saw that there was a challenge in marching, in how difficult it may be to grab someone's attention and motivate others to want a change too. I notice one of the students in front of me with a sign reading "… Or Are you not a friend?" This was a provocative question and one that I would not personally ask but I can see how it caught my own attention and I was sure it caught the attention of a few individuals who we passed.  Although provocative, it was effective at gaining attention. Another participant would continually ask bystanders to "make a sign of something you don't like and march with us."  His message was quick and efficient at promoting marching. He challenged the audience and got them subconsciously involved. Even if they didn't literally make a sign and march with us, his question could have gotten a few to think about social issues that are bothering them personally too. Our march to bring awareness, although not as loud or intimidating as I had originally thought was actually working. People were noticing us and our concern. I felt genuinely proud to be a part of this group. I didn't think that I had changed the world, but I thought I could have planted a seed somewhere that may change the world, and even possibly in me.

            This was my first time marching for a cause. I have seen multiple marches but had never participated in one myself. I never really asked myself why I had not march before, maybe it was just because I didn't "need to" or didn't "have to" in my mind. I wanted the extra credit from participating in this march and that enticement convinced me to join the march. I did however genuinely believe and want our education tuition to be lower. I think that many of the other students who joined in on the march on March 4^th felt something similar. At the beginning of the march, I was somewhat nervous and not knowing what to expect. I did not realize how tiring marching could be. It was somewhat of a warm day and I had decided that morning to wear a long sleeve button up shirt and a sweater because I thought the day would be cooler. Needless to say, midway into the march, my sweater was off and my sleeves were rolled up. The march lasted a whole 50 minutes. I saw in others as I did in myself, a feeling of content and fulfillment in having marched that day. I had fun in this empowering atmosphere.

            I asked my girlfriend if she had marched before and just like me she had not. She too supported the idea of lowering college tuition. The majority of the individuals I talked to about marching before had not marched also. This corresponded to the GSS statistics. In Figure 1, we see that only 6.3 percent of males and 5.2 percent of females who responded in the GSS had joined a protest rally or march in the past 5 years. It is safe to assume that the majority of people have not joined a protest rally or march within the past 5 years.

Because I had participated in this march, I felt that I would do a better job preparing for my next march if I ever join one. I hope to join more in the future. I had a fun experience doing this research. I had no idea how low the percentage was for people who had joined in a protest rally or a march in America. My questioning of individuals yielded similar but somewhat higher numbers because there was a majority of sociology students who had participated in marches before. If it was the general public, I would not be surprise to see lower numbers. I should have asked a wider range of question such as "why they had not march before?" I should have dug deeper and asked more question but because the march was somewhat an active environment, I was more focused on the cause at hand rather than studying participants. I believe I could have asked people before the march rather than during; this would have been more efficient and easier. I feel that I have much more room to grow in participant observation qualitative research method. I will work on asking more rather while flowing with the rhythm rather than just flowing.

Appendix

Pictures –

Students Sharing Information

Hunger Flyer

 

Map of Marching Route (yellow highlighted line)

Participants Marching

Figure 1 –

Field Notes –

Observation at Fresno State – March 4, 2014 – 1:30pm to 2:50pm
Space	CSU Fresno State, Free speech area, central campus, maple street, shaw avenue, open area, no big limitations or boundaries to limit your voice/opinion, outdoors
Object	Tables, Flyers, pamphlets, signs, Microphone/speaker
Actors	Most participants were students, a few professors and a few others. Total of approximately to 50 to 60 participants/marchers. Included me, school attire/casual clothing, non-professional clothing
Activity	Students/People spreading information regarding causes, people talking about issues, people/students holding signs, people/students walking with signs around campus, talking to others as they walk, spreading awareness
Events	Walking around campus, holding signs spreading awareness, a march draws attention to the marchers and in doing so, we hoped to bring awareness to the audience who we pass by.
Time	March starts at approximately 2pm, lasted around 50 minutes, the walk was around campus creating a full lap of the central area of the campus, (see map of march picture), we started and ended the march at the free speech area on Fresno State
Goal	Spreading awareness to people. Students/People in the march aimed at bringing awareness about certain issues to bystanders/onlookers. Some asked bystanders to join in the march or take a stand for something they believe in or against something they didn't like.
Emotions	Initially nervous, I sense maybe nervous because many of the students have not marched for a cause before. The start of the march felt motivating and empowering, The march became fun when you realize that there are people who are rooting you on for your causes. There was a feeling of content and fulfillment after the march because I felt that I've learned from this experience. I enjoyed the march along with fellow students and professors and other participants. Empowering atmosphere, (how I felt…)
Talk	Friendly talk about issues and concerns, There was also small talk about misc. topics that were not related to the issues and concerns. The walk was approximately 50 minutes so there was a fair amount of time to converse which lead to other possible topics of different individuals. Some individuals talked in small groups of 2 to 4. People passing by rooted/cheered on the march. Students cheered and yelled in a motivational way. There were moments of silence or small talk but a sudden yell from one individual or a honk from a car would rouse the whole group up for a short moment. Some individuals were more open and talked more openly about issues they were concern with. Others were much quieter but they still marched on. I was one of the not as voice-ful individuals. I yelled out "lower tuition cost" 4 times throughout the whole march but I think I could have done better/more. I also looked onward to the bystanders in order to grab their attention with eye contact. Sometimes it worked, other times time just ignored me.  I had my girlfriend participate with me in the march so I had company to talk with about social issues and how the march was going.

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Posted By kubal to Qualitative Methods at 3/09/2014 09:13:00 PM

articles march 9

Erik Guerra

Social Movements

Are any plastics safe?

http://www.democracynow.org/2014/3/4/are_any_plastics_safe_industry_tries

In this video the issue is BPA free bottles. BPA was found to be harmful so it was then replaced. There has been recent investigations implying that the materials that replaced BPA are yet as or more harmful. BPA is still used even though it has been linked to have estrogen like properties. This has been linked to breast cancer and diabetes. BPA can hamper brain development. It was found by research that the vast majority of everyday plastics still use the estrogen mimicking substance called BPA. In 2008 the dangers of BPA were widely known and was pulled off. The chemicals that replaced BPA had not been tested to see if they possessed similar properties which they do. These chemicals still pose health threats. The big plastic companies have now adopted a big tobacco style campaign to bury the information. I was never aware of these harmful chemicals in everyday plastic.

Freed Ex-Black Panther

http://www.democracynow.org/2014/3/5/exclusive_freed_ex_black_panther_marshall

Marshall “Eddie” Conway has been freed. Marshall was released after serving nearly forty four years in prison. He was formal leader of the Black Panthers. He was described as one of the longest held political leaders. Conway was convicted of killing a Baltimore police officer. The officer was shot dead. Another officer was injured during the event. The Baltimore chapter of the Black Panther was supposedly founded by an undercover police officer. Conway was constantly helped by his attorneys in the attempt to have him released from jail. They had found that the instructions given to juries back in the 1980s were unconstitutional. The jury was told that the instructions were only advisory and did not have to be followed. This had already started the movement of other prisoners being released. Although some have been released some are still being denied their release. The reason for their denial is unknown.

Weekly Discussion

Alejandro Aguirre

March 9, 2014

SOC 122 – M/W 3:30 PM

Kubal

 

Weekly Discussion

 

      In Democracy Now’s story, Are Any Plastics Safe? Industry Tries to Hide Scary New Evidence on BPA-Free Bottles, Containers, there are a number of things covered with respect to the harm the BPA chemical has to its consumers and the harm of its concealment from them. It was discussed that 3 billion dollars a year is spent in health costs because of BPA consumption. Products that comprise of this chemical are in plastics (i.e. sippy cups, bottles, etc.). It was also clarified that this chemical mimics the female hormone, estrogen. Too much or too little consumption of this chemical can establish a disease, especially if it is during childhood. A shocking piece of information unveiled by the story is how out of 80 thousand types of chemicals circulating the U.S., only a small fraction have been tested for safety. What made matters worse were the biased studies that proclaimed BPA safe for consumption.

 

http://www.democracynow.org/2014/3/4/are_any_plastics_safe_industry_tries

 

      The injustices of the recent release of a former black panther was discussed in Democracy Now’s story, Exclusive: Freed Ex-Black Panther Marshal “Eddie” Conway on 44 Years in Prison & FBI Surveillance. After nearly a 44-year (33 years and 11 months) sentence, it was mentioned that Conway did not receive a fair trial nor did he have counsel at the time of his conviction. He was convicted of killing an officer, but was actually only within the vicinity of the actual culprit. This was taken into account for his prosecution. It was also discussed that the judge told the jury to ignore the regulatory burden of proof of the convicted (“beyond reasonable doubt”) and to just rely on instinct for the appeal. Conway claimed that he was 1 of 200 people who may have been wrongly convicted of a crime and sentenced for it. What may have been the cause for all of this injustice against Conway and others is COINTELPRO, which painted the Black Panthers as purely violent, for them not to have fair trials, and to be assassinated.

 

http://www.democracynow.org/2014/3/5/exclusive_freed_ex_black_panther_marshall

Democracy Now 4

Tabitha Arambula

Democracy Now

March 9, 2014

            Tuesday March 4^th: Are Any Plastics Safe? Industry Tes to Hide Scary New Evidence on BPA-Free Bottles, Containers

            Many products still contain BPA-like chemicals like food packaging and other commercially available plastics. BPA is a chemical that mimics estrogen. It plays an important part in our development for the brain and our organs but having too much or too little can cause health issues later on in life. Now new evidence shows that the chemicals they used may be similar to BPA. There was a story about a father and his daughter, on how she was given a princess sippy cup and always wanted it for dinner. He worked for the environmental health field and he decided to collect sippy cups from stores like Wal Mart, Babies R US etc. He sent them in for testing and one third of them had been tested positive for BPA like chemicals. His daughter’s cup had the chemicals as well. Plastic companies are burying the truth and they borrowed the ideas from Big Tobacco companies. There were many studies that proved that most of the products by plastic companies had BPA or leached estrogen. But of course the companies try to buy science to prove that their products are safe.

 

Wed March 5^th  2014 “The Death Penalty is a Hate Crime”: Bob Autobee Speaks Out to Spare Life of Son’s Killer

            This was about a murder case. The father of the victim doesn’t want the death penalty for the accused. He did years ago when the trial first started now he says that the death penalty is a hate crime of humanity. The victim was a prison guard and the murderer who beat Eric to death in 2002. Autobee has changed his mind about the death penalty but the case is back in court after a judge decided not the jury to go with it. The murderer pled guilty in the first trial now he pled not guilty because of insanity. Autobee, the father of the guard cannot say what he wants in the victims statement. He doesn’t want the death penalty for the accused and has been picketing outside the courthouse. The murderer, Edward, was in prison for killing his just months old baby, and so he went in being a baby killer. Now they are saying that it may have been a mistake since the death was undetermined. Autobee has been trying to make changes to the Colorado laws by suggesting other alternatives in prisons. For example different color uniforms to identify the type of prisoner he is faster, and by having guards walk with dogs instead of by themselves.

Article Summary # 4

Article Summary # 4

Landon Clow

3/6/2014

The article titled " Freed Bahraini Activist Zainab Alkhawaja on Her Year in Prison" gives insight of Zainab Alkhawaja's continuous fight  for democracy in her country of Bahraini. The young woman stated that her one year in prison is nothing because she said she is willing to do anything for democracy in her country. Not only was Zainab in prison, her father was also sentenced to life in prison for holding rallies for the third anniversary of pro democracy protest that started on February 14, 2011. Zainab Alkhawaja also described the horrific conditions of the prison and said she as not allowed to leave her cell for the first six months. Within the article the young activist stated that her main goal is to have her country treat every citizen with respect and treated equally. Her description of her country is a place where the criminals have the most power. A startling statement was when she stated that going to jail for most people in her country means you did something right rather than wrong. After reading the article a quote that stood out to me was when Zainab stated, "I feel pity for our oppressors because what they do breaking them inside. We are not broken. We sacrifice, but we feel proud and we hold our heads up high."

The other article is called "I was beaten: Tortured Pakistani Anti Drone Activist Karim Khan on being Abducted by Masked Men." This article gives details on a Pakistani anti drone activist who was abducted on February 5, days before he was scheduled to speak about the United States drone program. The main motivation behind Karim's goal of exposing the drone strikes is that he lost his brother and son to a drone attack. He also made it clear that the United States government does not want the American people to hear the stories of civilians who have been victims of the drone program. He also stated that another reason for his activism is to give the American people an actual face behind the victims. A eye opening fact within the article was that more than 1,400 civilians have been killed by U.S. drone strikes.

http://www.democracynow.org/2014/2/28/freed_bahraini_activist_zainab_alkhawaja_on

http://www.democracynow.org/2014/2/28/i_was_beaten_tortured_pakistani_anti

Joanna Sanchez

Soc Mov 122

Dr.Kubal

Entry 5

 

This article addresses President Obama pardoning 8 cases of people who were serving unfair time for drug crimes. Six men and two women were sentenced life to prison for charges of crack cocaine. As the article informs there are more than 2000 people in the federal system serving life without parole for nonviolent drug crimes. The fact that Obama pardoned these cases should alert congress that they need to pass bipartisan sentencing reform legislation that would relieve some of the illogical sentencing laws that were passed in the late 80's and 90's. I think a lot of people are in prison for petty crimes that they shouldn’t be in. People fail to realize how much it costs us to keep people incarcerated and where this money could be going instead into the prison system.  Obama introduced the Smarter Sentencing Act which hopefully congress passes with in this upcoming year.

http://www.democracynow.org/2013/12/20/obama_commutes_8_unfair_crack_cocaine

This second article is about 398 students arrested in front of the White House due to a protest they were participating in. Students from more than 80 colleges marched from Georgetown University to the White House  wearing mocking suits and holding banners and signs that protest the issue that Obama is going to decide on the xl pipeline. If Obama passes the issue more than 830,000 barrels of crude oil EVERYDAY would be transported from Alberta's oil which is in Canada to the US Golf coast. It is great to see so many people against the issue because it shows that it's something that our nation does not want or need.  We have a lot of global and climate issue and transporting that much oil on a daily bases is going to cause a lot of harm to many people, not just in the United States but everywhere else as well.  People are doing the right thing by protesting and even risking getting arrested for the safety of our environment.

http://www.democracynow.org/2014/3/3/xl_dissent_398_youth_arrested_at

Democracy Now assignment

For this weeks assignment we had to choose two top stories on Democracy Now that relate to social movements and the media. An interesting story for this week was ‘Rep. Ryan: Lunch Programs Yield “Full Stomach, Empty Soul”. This Thursday in Washington there was an annual Conservative Political Action Conference that brought all types of activist, pundits and politicians for one of the largest right-wing events of the year. To start off the conference Rep. Paul Ryan opening speech suggested children who receive school lunch are sometimes not cared for by their families. He suggested how even when children come to school just to receive their free school lunches they don’t want the school food anymore, they want to have brown paper bags just like the rest of the other kids because they know someone who cared for him made it for them. It was interesting to see how kids are changing there perspectives of school lunches, if a child was really hungry they would come everyday to receive the free school lunches but kids get embarrassed about it. Many kids come from low-income families and it’s not in the family’s budget to give all their children lunches. I don’t agree that all families don’t care for their children its just not in their budget majority of the time. Another story in which I found interesting was “Duke Energy Ordered to Stop Pollution at North Carolina Plants” the energy giant Duke energy spilled over 35 million gallons of coal ash into the Dan River, one of the worst spills in U.S history. On Thursday, a state judge reversed the North Carolina Environment Management Commission ordered to stop groundwater pollution at its 14 coal-fired plants. Coalitions of environmental groups have challenged the case saying what they called lackluster state oversight. I believe they should have been harsh punishments for the energy company, they have destroyed a beautiful river because of lack of cleaning up the chemicals they proper way. The decision to not expose of the chemicals the proper way has now destroyed a beautiful piece of our environment and I agree with environmental groups that there needs to be harsher consequences for this company. 

Colleen Soares - 3/7/14 - Weekly Discussion 2

                                                            The wedding Summery

There were 12 civilians that were killed in December when the US targeted Yemeni.  During a wedding between a bride and groom outside of central Yemeni,a drone attacked which resulted in the deaths of innocent people.. According to the article  There were 12 men, between the ages 20 to 60 which were a part of the deaths cause by the drone.  By the first look media. “Dirty wars” Attack and killed men. The wedding that became a funeral. The strike was carried out by the U.S military’s Joint Special. 

 

                                                Democracy Now! Celebrates 18 years on Air

Eighteen years ago, on February 19,1996 Democracy now it was aired for the first time. We began as a daily election-years show. It has been aired for 18 years.  Now a t.v and radio.

http://www.democracynow.org/2014/2/21/turning_a_wedding_into_a_funeral

http://www.democracynow.org/2014/2/20/democracy_now_celebrates_18_years_on

Democracy Now 3

Cynthia Davila

March 7, 2014 

Sociology 

Democracy Now 3

The 2 topics that I covered this week on democracy now were very interesting. The first one was about how the senate rejected independent oversight on sexual assault. They rejected a action that would have moved the hold of military sexual assault cases outside of the secures of command. Kirsten Gillibrand, the Democratic Senator, led a campaign to be able to strip military commanders of authorities over sexual harassment and assault. The reason for this is in favor of an independent military prosecutor. Democrats joined with the republicans to defeat that proposal and I feel like I would be one of those democrats also but then again it shows a report of 26,000 sex crimes within the ranks in 2012. In conclusion, Senator Gillibrand paid tribute to the military sexual assault victims who stepped up and came forward to the lobby congress. I think it's crazy how people would give up their uniform and place in the military to believe in so strongly that they do need to be seen and help the system. 

The other topic I learned about was about a Colorado prisoner who avoided death penalty with backing of victim's father. He is a Colorado prisoner that drew a huge shock over the efforts of his victim's father to spare his life. The Colorado prisoner, Edward Montour was facing execution for the 2002 killing of prison guard Eric Autobee. Thursday, Montour entered a plea deal that will sentence him to life in prison instead of death! Bob Autobee, the father of Eric entered a statement asking the jury to not impose the death penalty because it was too cruel of a punishment and it just shows Edward how lucky he is and that there are nice people out there that could save you within seconds although he killed his son. I feel like that Bob is a blessing, what he did is really incredible. 

S.A.F.F.E.

Good afternoon! We are the S.A.F.F.E.(students against fossil fuel divestment). We welcome and encourage you to add your thoughts and opinions about Fossil Fuel Divestment and our Environment by taking our brief survey. 

http://16.selectsurvey.net/catishack/TakeSurvey.aspx?SurveyID=74KK9p2

Thank you to all that incorporate this into their schedules.

- S.A.F.F.E.

Antiwar War group CodePink

In this news story, The co-founder of U.S.-based anti-war CodePink, Medea Benjamin says that she was detained, at the airport and strip searched, rough-up, fracturing her shoulder and also wrestled to the ground with out any help from the other members of the same delegation of women activists.There was not apparent reason why they did this to her only to say that she was on their blacklist. They did not explain anything to her of why she was barred from entry. this is to show how in this time of age there is the governments of certain country's that do want they want to do no matter who you are. If I ever do some thing in that, I better do what you said in class, that at times you have to know when to fight and where to take the fight. however if we want change we have to continue what we have learned here in class and in your life time in changing this world.  During our march yesterday, I felt like I was a kid again and it felt good and I want to learn more on how to do more of this demonstration.

Peace group Pink

During the hearing, an activist with the peace group Code Pink accused a Blackwater employee of threatening his life. The activist, Tighe Barry, stood before Blackwater officials as they exited the room during a recess. Barry held up a sign and called for an end to the use of private contractors like Blackwater. Video footage of the incident shows a Blackwater employee saying something to Barry as he passes by.

Tighe Barry: "We do not need to hire these murderers. There, you get a threat from this guy. He says he's going to kill me. This is how they react. This is how they run their business. They are trained murderers. They're killers."

Barry was referring to Blackwater employee Johnnie Walker, a former program manager for Blackwater subsidiary Paravant in Afghanistan. Barry says he's filed a complaint against Walker with the Capitol Police.

 

I want to comment on the Blackwater company. While I was in Iraq in one of my tour of duties, we soldiers knew first hand of the blackwater employee's. They are mean and ruthless hire for murderers and do want they want, when they want and also have no rules. they have their own or make their own rules. On one instance they shoot into a school and went inside to get  a Iraqi. However they did not find any and all of them were all school kids. Some of the blackwater employees are former marines and army soldiers.

March Forth For Justice- SAFFE

Joseph Abdul- SAFFE

3/4/2014

Protest March Summary

            As part of the March Forth event on March 4^th, the Students Against Fossil Fuel Extraction organization participated in the march for justice. Our focuses included promoting greener lifestyles and a greener campus. Our campus invests in oil stocks, we would like to put an emphasis on this point and try to convince students to oppose the idea. Investments in solar and wind energy stocks are a better option. CSUSF have already boycotted oil investments.

            Three members of our group participated in the event. We made plenty of meaningful signs for the march. I was pleased with the amount of people who were supportive of our stance on the issue. Many people volunteered to march for our cause. We grabbed the attention of plenty of students and faculty. Cars were honking and pedestrians were cheering as we walked by. The march lasted about 45 minutes as we covered a large portion of the campus. Other marching groups received a lot of attention too; they did a fantastic job of utilizing the resources they had available.

            I believe in the power of numbers. Today, the main reason to why the whole march was successful was the number of participants. When all groups get together and put out an event, chances are it would be successful. Having the leadership of our professor made it possible for the large number of groups to come together. What we did before the march contributed significantly. Food, drinks, and the raging grannies’ singing were the greatest factors that gravitated people to our tables before the march.

            After the march, I heard a faculty member saying the writing on some of the signs was hard to read from indoors. This is an area were all groups need to focus on next time. Thicker markers and fewer words per sign could be the easy fix.   

Democracy Now!

Joseph Abdul

3/4/2014

Democracy Now!: Week 6

Texas Frackling/ LGBT Rights in Arizona

            Last week’s democracy Now! Revealed the link between fracking and toxic air emissions. The Eagle Ford area of south Texas had a major toxic spill lately, but it was not emphasized like the east coast spill was. This is because of the strong economic boom associated with the freaking. Big oil corporations and the have bought out the politicians to minimize the issue. Ranchers in the area are leasing their lands for the oilrigs to allow them to pump the oil out. Ranchers who refuse fracking are still affected by the toxins and pollution emitted from nearby properties. Eventually all land owners will give in for the money.

            Also this week, Arizona republican governor Jan Brewer vetoed the LGBT limitation bill. The proposed bill had passed both houses and was waiting for governor approval. Had it passed, it would have given business owners the right to refuse service to LGBT individuals for religious reasons. However the governor was advised by many other governors not to pass the bill. Also, many corporations threatened to pull out of Arizona if the bill was to pass. Moreover, the NFL alleged that the next super bowl would not be held in Arizona as planned if the state would discriminate against human rights in such way. I believe that it would have been a disaster of violence and conflict had the vaguely worded bill passed. The frightening thing is that the bill did pass both houses, meaning those representatives are religion extremists who do not represent the people of Arizona, according to George Takei, actor and LGBT activist. However it is also scary how corporations can have great influence on lawmaking in my opinion.     

Link to videos:

http://www.democracynow.org/2014/2/27/big_oil_and_bad_air_report

http://www.democracynow.org/2014/2/27/george_takei_on_arizonas_anti_gay

   

 

Ashley Holmes

Professor Kubal

Social Movements

March 2, 2014

Summary

For my first summary I read the article “Venezuelan Protests the Attempt by U.S.” I thought this article was interesting for social movements because it involved movements in another country. It is important for our country to know about these politics because it involves as well as impacts us. The article discusses how protesters in Venezuela have been leading to deaths. So Far there has been a few deaths with an added six more. This has been gathering the attention of people around the world.  Included in the number of fatalities was a local beauty queen who died of a gunshot wound. The article also discusses an arrest of the new president of the country. He is being charged with ordering an explosion of 3 U.S officials and it is said that he is siding with the enemy.

http://www.democracynow.org/2014/2/20/venezuelan_protests_another_attempt_by_us

The second article that I read was “Chokwe Lumba: Remembering Americas most Revolutionary Mayor”. Chokwe Lumumba was a revolutionist who was very involved with movements for Americans rights as well as African American rights. His passing cause a lot of people to reflect on his great accomplishments while also informing people of the things he has done to help this country. He was an attorney as well as a Black Nationalist and organizer. He participated in things such as being the vice president of the republic in New Africa, as well as working with Malcolm X in the Grassroots Movement. Unfortunately he recently passed due to heart failure. In his lifetime he has accomplished great things to help the people.

http://www.democracynow.org/2014/2/26/chokwe_lumumba_remembering_americas_most_revolutionary

Re: Summary

with citations

On Tue, Mar 4, 2014 at 4:25 PM, Ashley E Holmes <ashleyh24@mail.fresnostate.edu> wrote:

Hello Mr Kubal,

I sent in my summary on sunday night but it didn't post so i am re emailing it to you.

Nadia Leon

Soc122: Wed 3:30-4:45

Marching (March forth on march 4^th)

                Marching around campus advocating for each of the group’s causes was more exciting than I thought it would be. Having such a large group marching with us around campus made it feel more empowering. It also helped grab the attention of many people walking around campus. All of the signs that were created for the march were a big factor in grabbing the attention of those we passed. One thing that could have been improved with the signs could have been the time we had to make the signs. With our group the signs that we were able to make were rushed and they could have been better and more appealing if we had more time. While marching I feel it would have been more beneficial if the group collectively chanted some phrases for each group’s causes. Most of the march was silent with only a few randomly yelling sayings for their cause. This did not really get the attention of many. Also the route in which we marched could have been better. Most of the sections where we marched were empty and there were not very many people around. Also the organization of the group could have been better by being closer together and for not so many falling behind. For those who did see the march I feel that the signs did interest them and they were able to see what we were fighting for. I don’t believe the march had as much of an effect on the views people had about each issue, than the actual tabling. With the march people were only able to see our signs and not be able to actually interact with each of us. I feel the march did not alter people’s opinion on our issues very much. The only setup that was really required for the march was the making of the signs. Another thing that helped with this event was the advertisement that was placed in the Collegan. This is something that I have never done before and honestly never was interested in doing but now that I have actually been involved in something like this it has actually interested me and made me more interested within this area.

Summary

Hello Mr Kubal,

I sent in my summary on sunday night but it didn't post so i am re emailing it to you.

Tabling Event Summary

Nadia Leon

Soc122 Wed: 3:30-4:45

Tabling at March forth on March 4^th

                This event took place in the free speech area and included many different aspects. In order to prepare for the event tables were put out and we also created boards and flyers to attract people to come to our table and interact with each group. Our board included the flyers that we created for the event and we also included different statistics on the board to catch people’s attention. Another thing that was incorporated within the event to attract people was food and drinks. The food and drinks did very well attracting people over to the area but not all of those who got food and drinks came to the tables. I think if the tables that contained the food and drinks were closer to the tables then more would stop by the tables and we would be able to attract more to the tables just by simply engaging them and possibly asking them questions. Another thing I feel that could have Improved the event would be to have advertised earlier. Chalking around campus would have helped and also flyers around campus so students could be aware of the event. More time decorating and creating our own boards and signs could also have been beneficial. A lot of the sign and board making were rushed and did not come out as well as they could have if we had started them earlier. While actually tabling and talking to students that were passing by I was able to actually see how it is to get involved and fight for a cause. Many that came up to the table were really interested in learning more about our cause and it made me feel good when they actually took the time to have discussions with our group about the issue. I believe the event went really well and many were able to learn more about important issues and how they can help within these issues.

article summaries

            Recently in the news I have been hearing about drone attacks. For this week I wanted to read more about these so called drones. One of the articles I found was I Was Beaten, Tortured: Pakistani Anti-Drone Activist Karim Khan on Being Abducted by Masked Men. Pakistani anti-drone activist Karim Khan was abducted on February 5. Khan was abducted before he left to Europe to speak out about U.S. drone strikes. After being abducted and realized Khan wanted to speak about his experience. He describes how he was held for nine days. During that time Khan stated that he was repeatedly tortured and beaten. Khan is against drone attacks because in 2009, a drone killed Khan’s brother and son. This is one of the many reason why he traveled to London to meet with British lawmakers to raise concerns about the U.S. drone program. Karim stated, “They attacked our mosques, they attacked our schools, they attacked our schoolchildren, they attacked our teachers.”

            Shahzad Akbar is a Pakistani lawyer who represents drone victims. He believes the whole problem with drone is that the U.S. government doesn’t really want to talk about what’s rallying going on ground. He says it is important that people in America are told about who these people are.

http://www.democracynow.org/2014/2/28/i_was_beaten_tortured_pakistani_anti

           

            Looking through the articles for this week an article that caught my attention was George Takei on Arizona’s Anti-Gay Bill, Life in a Japanese Internment Camp & Star Trek’s Mr. Sulu. Azizona’s Republican Governor Jan Brewer vetoed a bill that would allow businesses to deny service to LGBT people in the name of religion. This bill was passed by both houses of the Arizona legislature earlier in February. The passing of this bill sparked a outcry not only from human rights activists, but also from major corporations, and eventually even from some of the Republican lawmakers who voted for it.  

            The same day as the Arizona veto, a federal judge in the state of Texas declared that state’s same-sex marriage ban unconstitutional. George Takei who is a legendary actor from the show Star Trek is a well-known gay rights activist. Takei recently wrote a essay which was tittled “Razing Arizona”, in this article he promised to boycott Arizona if Brewer had allowed the controversial anti-gay bill to pass into law.

http://www.democracynow.org/2014/2/27/george_takei_on_arizonas_anti_gay

Weekly Discussion

Alejandro Aguirre

March 2, 2014

SOC 122 – M/W 3:30 PM

Kubal

 

Weekly Discussion

     

      The Personalization of Politics: Political Identity, Social Media, and Changing Patterns of Participation, seems to explain how social movements fare with methods of protesting and how belonging to a certain community influences these performances. First, it was explained how people belonging to a heterogeneous community are more likely to participate in protests than those from a homogenous atmosphere. The reason why the latter community is less participating involves people’s dependence on modern technologies (i.e. cell phones, tablets, computers, etc.). It was mentioned that although the use of these technologies can still be of great benefit, it can also be detrimental to a certain degree in social movements. The benefit is that a cause is more likely to reach a wider audience with the internet. The disadvantage, on the other hand, is that the technologies can distract or segregate people from those who are protesting the same cause that they are.

 

http://sciencepolicy.colorado.edu/students/envs_5720/bennett_2012.pdf

 

 

      The article, Making the News: Movement Organizations, Media Attention, and the Public Agenda, explains what kind of movement organizations receive the most and least media attention and how the public agenda is influenced by both of these factors. For example, it was mentioned that confrontational or volunteer-led groups, or those that advocate on the behalf of novel issues do not receive as much attention in local media outlets. This article also covers the upper hand on using the internet for an increase in visibility for social movements. However, such visibility can be extinguished with what reporters decide to broadcast and not to broadcast. It was noted that where a tactic may prove effective in one location and/or era, it may not be the case at a different location and/or era. Despite this, the rule of thumb for heightening newsworthiness is to use outsider tactics, which provide drama conflict, and novelty.

 

http://kta.web.unc.edu/files/2011/08/AndrewsCaren_ASR2010.pdf

Article Summary

Article Summary 

Landon Clow

3/2/14

In the article " A Coup or a Revolution?" it gives insight on the chaos that is taking place in Ukraine. After months of street protest and the death of 82 people, Ukraine's parliament voted to remove president Viktor Yanukovych. After his removal, Viktor Yanukovych made it clear in a statement that his removal was that of a coup, and that he would not resign. The former president is also being charged with the death of the 82 innocent protesters. The article also states that a added dimension to the crisis in Ukraine is that Russia has stated that it is against the removal of Viktor Yanukovych, while the rest of Europe is in support for Ukraine's decision on a new government. Mean while the country of Ukraine is in economic turmoil. Ukraine is receiving help from the European Union Foreign Policy Chief to help get the country back into economic stability. Also until elections are held on May 25th, the country has a interim president named Oleksander Turchynov. The article shows the power of protest, and with enough people on the side to fight the injustice, change can take place.

The other article I found to be extremely interesting is titled, "Protests Call for Release of Al Jazeera Journalists Jailed in Egypt." The article states that in over 30 countries people are protesting for the support of the freedom of the captive journalist. Not only have protests in the streets of many countries brought attention to the cause, the use of social media has become a new tool for protest groups to get spread their message world wide within minutes. The twitter hash tag freeAJStaff has been trending world wide in support of the journalists. The journalists are being held for what Egypt is calling aiding a "terrorist organization." The treatment of the journalists has also been documented by a wife of one of the journalists. She stated that, "Abdullah should be treated like a journalist, but they are not treating him on this basis."

http://www.democracynow.org/2014/2/24/a_coup_or_a_revolution_ukraine

http://www.democracynow.org/2014/2/28/headlines#2285

Democracy Now 2

Cynthia Davila 

March 2, 2014

Democracy Now! #2

As I was watching democracy now, 2 topics really caught my attention. The first one was about 42 people who lost their life in Baghdad, Iraq bombing. On Thursday, there was a motorcycle that was rigged with explosives that blew up in Sadr City, Baghdad. It blew up near a secondhand market with a bunch of people around. About 51 people were injured. In the same city, there was a different encounter that killed 5 civilians and wounded 14 by a bomb that was planted on a minibus. It is also said that in Iraq over all this year, so far there were more than 1,650 people killed. This year has barely began and it is completely shocking to me to see such a high number of people that have passed away over planted bombs. The group of people that continue to do this need to be stopped. I hate war and I can't help but wish there was nothing but peace everywhere, especially in Iraq because my cousin is currently fighting for our country in Iraq and it breaks my heart to hear people dieing there because it terrifies me that I could lose him in war.

The second topic that I really found interesting was about Bank America contesting $2.1 billion fine! It was sought by Obama's administration consisting over damaged mortgages that was sold by the unit of the bank countrywide. It is said that Bank of America is fighting the fine against them. The argument will be based on the amount of profit that it has made. The amount of profit was made by selling the flawed loans, which was said to be nothing. I find it very interesting because overall the economy right now is in a tough struggle and for the bank to be going through such a hassle right now is very frustrating. My bank is Bank of America and it really bothers me that I even had to find out that they are going through a fine struggle at this moment. 

summary stories

Tracy Galarza

2-02-14

 

 

The first video I watched “Migrant Shot Dead by U.S Border Agent Near SanDiego After Throwing Rock” dealt with the issue of migrants being killed by the boarder. The latest case in this is when a group of people was suspected of wanting to cross the boarder and an officer shot a man who had thrown a rock at him. The officer claims the rock was a basketball size rock and felt the need to shoot at the man, the man who he shot was killed. This is one of the many stories about people being killed by the border because of rocks being thrown at the officers In San Diego. As John Carlos Frey mentions in the video the U.S border patrol have recommendations by the Police Executive Research Forum on what to do when dealing with rock throwing, but most border patrols decide to ignore this recommendations and choose to use there gun. What surprised me the most about this video is that no officers have ever been highly injured or killed and yet they still continue killing due to these threats of rocks being thrown at them. 

 

http://www.democracynow.org/2014/2/20/excessive_force_migrant_shot_dead_by

 

 

         In the second video I watched “U.S Drone Strike in Yemen Killed as Many as 12 Civilians” it dealt with killing of 12 people due to a drone strike in Yemen. The U.S militaries target was to attack a group of members of the al-Qaeda. During the same time when the throne was surrounding the village there was also a wedding going on. Many of the members of this wedding had been driving in several cars together when the throne was strike killing 12. The people in the village claim that the U.S had attacked many innocent people and had not the people who they wanted targeted. The government of Yemen helped the family of those killed with money for the funeral. I think this is the story many people have to deal with everyday and fear for their lives.

 

http://www.democracynow.org/2014/2/21/turning_a_wedding_into_a_funeral

 

Democracy Now

Evelyn Espinoza

Democracy Now

 

The video “Turning Wedding into a Funeral: U.S. Drone Strike in Yemen Killed as Many as 12 Civilians” dealt with an attack on vehicles that were part of a wedding procession. It has been stated that some if not all killed were civilians and not members of the armed group al-Qaeda. A witness of the incident stated, “The U.S. government made a big mistake. They killed innocent people. This was a serious crime. They turned many kids into orphans, many wives into widows. Many were killed, and many others were injured, although everyone was innocent.” The strike may have violated international laws and also Obama’s policies on targeted killings. He has gone on record saying that the U.S. does not strike unless near certain that no civilians are within the proximity but yet the incident in Yemen contradicted that. The reports are subject to criticism as contradictions are apparent between Yemeni officials and local officials. Another video titled, “Did an 8-Year-Old Spy for America? U.S. Drone Killed Yemeni Man After Boy Planted Tracking Chip” the U.S was able to target an al-Qaeda member by convincing an 8 year old t place a tracking device on the suspect who he considered his surrogate father.  Once the tracking device was placed the U.S. was able to track him down and kill him with a missile. The boy was taken in by the individual and convinced the little boy to place the tracking chip, which resulted in his death.  The boy and the biological father were then kidnapped by the al-Qaeda and they later killed his biological father. Unfortunately this little boy is now orphaned with the loss of both his surrogate and biological father. A confession video was done of the boy and his biological father by the al-Qaeda.

http://www.democracynow.org/2014/2/21/turning_a_wedding_into_a_funeral

http://www.democracynow.org/2013/8/16/did_an_8_year_old_spy

 

 

Democracy Now Videos

http://www.democracynow.org/2014/2/21/silencing_the_scientist_tyrone_hayes_on

The first video I watched is about a scientist and professor at Berkeley named Tyrone Hayes. Simply put, he got on the wrong side of a powerful corporation named Syngenta and is basically being hunted, having his privacy invaded, discredited with false information and threatened violently by this company. This starting all over some research he did for Syngenta about a herbicide product used on corn with Hayes finding out that it had some serious health issues and side affects. Normally I would be leery of this, being that the scientist has no hard proof recorded down of Syngenta doing these things to him and his family, but if anyone has ever followed Syngenta, this would not be the first time they have gotten their hands dirty and it is well known they are not the most morally upstanding company by far. But it floors me that something like can happen, Hayes doing the right thing, and really no one willing to help him, the college, college lawyers, government, or other colleges have turned a blind eye to the situation or avoided it all together. Makes you wonder how much of this goes on behind closed doors, how many people are destroyed because of things like this? what kind of chemicals are they releasing on our food they don't want us to know about? It is a scary thing to wonder about. I am all for a "laissez faire" government, but this is one instance they need to step in and the people too, to stop this. Protect our right to information that affects us, protect the people that take the chance to warn us and to bring down these over grown corporations that are way to powerful to begin with from controlling this kind of stuff.

http://www.democracynow.org/2014/2/21/the_shadow_lobbying_complex_how_corporations

This second video is about the today's day and age lobbyist. Reason for choosing it is that it some what ties into the above video. The issue and problem of lobbyist in our government has always been a problem, you have these big powerful corporations and and people in private sectors that want things a certain way. What better way to get it then to pay someone that can give it to you. All together lobbyist should be excluded from our politics, I think it should be a crime to accept money in these situations. Especially when these same companies and people wont give us any answers, which is normal because they do not want us to know about the illegal and unmoral things they do and have planned. Obama halfway started a war against lobbyist, but after being elected he really didn't carry it much further, but for the time being it did force these lobbyist to change their game and strategy. But it did nothing to get ride of them like we thought it would. There really just has to be someone, or a group of people even that can get in there and take these large corporations and people down a few pegs. Much like Teddy Roosevelt did during his presidency. It created a lot of enemies sure, but I believe it was for the greater good of people and the country in the long scheme of things.

Jerrod Goertzen

Soc 122 

MW 3:30 pm

Democracy Now! Week of Feb. 24 2014

“Japan, U.S. Move to Expand Nuclear Power Programs Despite Contamination at Fukushima & New Mexico” aired on February 26 was about how Japan wants to revive their nuclear program. After the disaster of Fukushima 30 years ago,  Japan wants to reopen its power plant near Carlsbad, New Mexico. I think that the thing about power plants is that the ones who suffer, if something like Fukushima would of happen again, is the innocent people around the power plant.  The second video aired on February 27 called, “Big Oil and Bad Air: Report Exposes Link Between Fracking and Toxic Air Emissions in Texas” argue about a place in Texas called Eagle Ford and the people who complain and are having trouble living around that are. Lisa Song was one of the investigators of the air quality and air pollution in the area, she talks about how people are complaining about head aches and having trouble breathing most of the time. Like I mention above the people who are suffering the consequences are the residents around the area, these people should be worried about not being able to breath because of inconsiderate people, who only care about manufacturing and business. I'm completely against these power plants with chemicals that not only harm our environment but our population. 

Elizabeth Jorgensen, Dem. Now Soc 122

Elizabeth Jorgensen

Dem. Now Summaries

3/2/14 Soc. Mov

Big Oil and Bad Air: Report Exposes Link Between Fracking and Toxic Air Emissions in Texas:

This show focuses on the issue of ‘fracking’ in areas throughout Texas and the environmental/health issues that are a direct effect from natural gas development. It focuses on Eagle ford, a 20,000 mile area in South Texas which has become one of the biggest booms in the nation with very little awareness. This causes huge concern for the large number of pollutants going into the air, many leading to long term side effects that are linked to health issues such as the development of cancer. Individuals living in this rural part of Texas have little resources to turn to and people to protect their rights when it comes to this issue. Individuals are directly affected by these pollutants even if they haven’t leased any land for drilling, with hundreds of homes lined with wells polluting the air. The people that are being affected by this drilling should explore other options for help while awareness is shared concerning this new drilling area. Before watching this segment, I hadn’t heard anything about this new boom and the side effects the individuals are having from the pollutants. There are only 5 permanent air monitors in Eagle Ford, none being located in areas of major drilling. Instead of exploiting the people and environment, more regulations should be put on big oil companies and the emissions from drilling. 

(http://www.democracynow.org/2014/2/27/big_oil_and_bad_air_report)

Peeping Webcam? With NSA Help, British Spy Agency intercepted Millions of Yahoo Chat images:

This show focuses on the issue of documents leaked by Edward Snowden revealing webcams being tapped by the Government Communications Headquarters and the NSA, the National Security Agency. The codename for this surveillance program was called ‘Optic Nerve’, composed of pictures compiled from yahoo chats. In the documents, between 3-11% of the yahoo webcam images were considered ‘undesirable’. During a 6 month period in 2008 the program tapped more than 1.8 million yahoo users accounts worldwide. The program targeted individuals through facial recognition, identifying if one user was creating multiple accounts for issues dealing with terrorism. The leak of this documentation by the NSA and GCH is an extreme violation of privacy, expanding issues dealing with this topic. Racial profiling is also a concern used with government webcam tapping. The documents released also showed agencies using different types of cameras to tap individuals, such as Xbox 360 game consoles. This is absolutely terrifying to think about. Images and web chats that individuals find harmless can be deemed undesirable through different agencies standards and individuals could be under surveillance for harmless actives. These agencies should demonstrate concrete evidence towards the efficiency of mass surveillance before this type of extreme violation of privacy is allowed to be used. I think it’s just another excuse for government agencies to have more control over society, and this type of control causes more harm than good in the long run and only increases hostilities already held towards government control. 

(http://www.democracynow.org/2014/2/28/peeping_webcam_with_nsa_help_british)

Democracy Now!

Joseph Abdul

3/1/2014

Democracy Now!: Week 5

Drone Attack on Yemeni Wedding/ U.S. Borader Patrol Regulations Questioned

            A mission led by U.S. Special Forces attacked a wedding convoy in Yemen, wrongfully killing 12 innocent civilians. According to president Obama’s law on drone use, they are not to be used unless there is certainty of no civilian casualties. He also said that we are targeting the terrorists, not those who they hide amongst. Letta Tayler, author of “A Wedding That Became A Funeral”, claims that U.S. needs to come clean on how it is targeting people and what the casualties are. Records of most drone attacks are not revealed. There were no evidence of any terrorists being in the attacked convoy, even if the wanted terrorist was there, the ratio of innocent casualties should not have allowed the attack.

            In other news, the U.S. border patrol regulations are questioned after a man suspected of attempting to cross the border was shot and killed by U.S. officers for throwing a rock. Border patrol agents are allowed to use deadly force against rock-throwers. Dead migrants are not going to be able to speak for themselves; the word of the agents is the only evidence for such cases. Hundreds or rock-throwers have been killed this way while no deaths among agents have occurred due to rocks. Therefore lethal force should not be allowed for such situations according to investigative reporter John Frey. There seems to be a special threat taken from Mexicans when it comes to borders. There have been cases of boarder patrol agents shooting into Mexico at individuals believed to be trying to cross.

Link to videos:

http://www.democracynow.org/2014/2/20/excessive_force_migrant_shot_dead_by

http://www.democracynow.org/2014/2/21/turning_a_wedding_into_a_funeral

 

Democracy Now 3

Tabitha Arambula

Democracy Now 3

3/1/2014

Japan, U.S. Move to Expand Nuclear Power Programs Despite Contamination at Fukushima & New Mexico Wed Feb 26

            This story covered the push for a nuclear power plant program in Japan after the third anniversary of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear meltdown, and one week after hundreds of tons of radioactive water had leaked from one of many storage tanks at the Fukushima’s power plant. The United States has approved a 6.5 billion loan guarantee. There was an unexplained leak in New Mexico on February 14 that was said to be not threat to the public. Japan wants people to forget about the crisis that occurred and the U.S. government above all want subsidies on nuclear plants. Any power plant is not a safe bet because there are risk but there are steps to reduce a disaster. We haven’t learned the lesson from Fukushima. The U.S. government said that Fukushima was no threat but in reality they were concerned and couldn’t handle the truth on how bad it could have affected us. WIPP is or is considered the safe place to store radioactive waste, but there was a leak in the New Mexico power plant and there is so much that it can take in.

I Was Beaten, Tortured: Pakistani Anti-Drone Activist Karim Khan on Being Abducted by Masked Men Friday Feb 28

            Karim Khan was abducted on February 5^th just before he was about to travel to Europe to talk against U.S drone strikes. He was blind folded taken to a place for the night they asked him questions about people he did not know. They took him to another place and was there for eight days. They released him after that. They abused, beat and tortured him. The U.S government doesn’t want to talk about the drone strikes. These people are being targeted for the U.S national security. And this is not making any friends. They killed Karim’s son and brother. They went to court and they took it really serious. There was a clip of the Rehman family, they were attacked by a drone and they killed their grandmother and the boy was injured in the leg. The father wanted answers but local political officer was unable to give him an answer. The drones have destroyed schools, their health institutions, and homes etc. They are targeting those who they believe are terrorists but they are killing innocent people. Karim and his people feel like American’s are criminals, and they hate America.

Soc Movements 121 weekly discussion

George Takei on Arizona’s Anti-Gay Bill, Life in a Japanese Internment Camp & Star Trek’s Mr. Sulu

A huge triumph for civil rights activists after Arizona’s Republican Gov. Jan Brewer vetoed a bill that would have allowed businesses to refuse service to LGBT people in the name of religion. Companies such as, Delta, PetSmart, American Airlines Group, Marriot and Apple all pushed Brewer towards blocking the bill. Brewer even faced pressure within her own party to veto the bill. This bill was passed by both houses of the Arizona Legislature in early February. It created an uproar from not only human rights activists but also major corporations and even Republican lawmakers who voted for it. In addition, a well known gay rights activist, legendary actor, and author known as George Takei promised to boycott Arizona if Brewer would have allowed the anti-gay bill to pass into law. He wrote a contemptuous essay called “Razing Arizona” promising to boycott Arizona if this bill was passed. Luckily for him it did not pass because he stated that, “we have a vested interest, know many people, have friends here, and also have family here as well.” Takei also stated that the veto was not a surprise and that he expected it to happen. Besides this victory in Arizona, federal judge in Texas declared that the state’s same-sex marriage ban was unconstitutional on the same day making it a successful day for the LGBT community. Takei’s take on this subject is that it is consistent with all that has been happening in the United States. However, he believes that the vast majority of public reaction and the fair- minded people’s reactions will eventually put a stop to the recent efforts of gay rights because it is unashamedly unconstitutional.

http://www.democracynow.org/2014/2/27/george_takei_on_arizonas_anti_gay

Big Oil and Bad Air: Report Exposes Link Between Fracking and Toxic Air Emissions in Texas

Residents who live near the areas of oil and natural gas fracking have been complaining for a while not that the industry has poisoned their water with toxic chemicals. Recently, a new study is now also worried about air quality. This new report called Fracking the Eagle Ford Shale: Big Oil and Bad Air on the Texas Prairie is the result of an eight month investigation by InsideClimate News, the Center for Public Integrity and The Weather Channel. Lisa Song, of Boston, was amongst the researchers who conducted this investigation and said that they decided to focus on air quality and air pollution issues from a natural gas development rather than a water one because the issues with water have been looked at before.  In the Eagle Ford study that took place in South Texas, Lisa stated that by looking through air permits and the regulatory regime, they found that there are all of the facilities that the well and compressor stations as well as all the infrastructure that comes with the boom that are emitting industrial sized air pollutants into the air. Lisa also said that the pollutants include things such as hydrogen sulfide, volatile organic compounds like benzene which can cause cancer in the long term. As well as Lisa who was amongst the researchers, David Hasemyer was one of the researchers as well. David focused more on the politics and how regulatory systems know very little about the air quality in the area because they only have five permanent air monitors in the entire Eagle Ford area and none of these monitors are in places with a lot of drilling. David’s focus was more on the people of the area. These people were longtime residents of the area who wanted a quiet rural area to live but instead wound up surrounded by dozens of well and processing plants. These residents have tried to fight the government and big businesses but have fell short. These people feel like they have nobody on their side and are disenfranchised.

http://www.democracynow.org/2014/2/27/big_oil_and_bad_air_report

Hi Professor Kubal,

I am just emailing you my weekly discussion on Democracy Now.

Thank you,

Alyssa Abayari

CAPE Mission Statement

Hello Professor Kubal my name is Andrea Garcia from your SOC 122 Social Movements M,W 3:30-4:45pm class my group C.A.P.E has completed our Mission Statement and wanted to know if you are still able to print these out for us for the March 4th protest?