New York Times Readings 11/2/09-11/12/2009

New York Times Reading, Monday November 2, 2009

On the front page today one article that I thought was interesting was the one entitled, ‘When Texting Kills, Britain Offers Path to Prison’. I first liked that the NYT put an article about something going on over-sea’s, which can directly relate to issues that go one over in the US as well. The article was about a young girl who killed another driver in England because of texting while driving. The car she hit was broken down on the side of the road; she killed the other driver instantly. I think articles like this one show people consequences of something that they may do while driving too, and think it is not a big deal. Occasionally I used to text while driving, and ever since I have become more aware of stories like the one here I do not text anymore. I think these types of articles are benefited for people to read, and to see what happens to people who continue to drive dangerously.
I enjoyed the section on the marathon that they had for many reasons. First was I had not seen a special insert of this type in the New York Times yet, but it seems appropriate for the 40th running of the marathon, and the fact that six Americans finished in the top 10. I really liked the design on the page, including the header where ‘The Marathon’ was written in shoelaces, surrounded by two sneakers. I thought it was very original and different than a lot of the Times headers that they normally had. It was one of the first times I saw a decoration of some sort around the title. It was very inviting and initially made me interested in reading the insert.


New York Times Reading, Tuesday November 3, 2009

For someone in college, the credit report article was an interesting article for me to read. Coming out of college in an economy like this one, paying back my loans and trying to start a career is going to be difficult. There are a lot of things I don’t know about my credit and how to keep it good. I found it particularly interesting that these websites like, freecreditreport.com, are able to take so much money from people by playing into their fears. They say that it is free, but then you must pay 14.95 a month for them to actually monitor your credit. I also had no idea that the government had their own website that is actually free for people to use. It was a good article for me to read to help try and understand how to manage credit and know the right places to go for help.
Another article that I thought related well to UNH and would affect many people was the article on the spread of swine flu through people who work with the public. The article stated that because of the economy and peoples need to make money, most people who work with the public go to work when they are ill. The article stated that people believe that people who work with the public should receive paid sick days, so the spread of the flu can be minimized. I believe that this is something that needs to happen, especially at places like a college campus, because the flu spreads so fast. If people, who needed to work for money, were able to get paid on sick days, the community as a whole would benefit and stay healthier.

New York Times Reading Wednesday, November 4, 2009

In this issue of the Times, it seemed very politically based, with most of it’s front page articles based on elections or the presidency. It even continued to the Dining section with a large picture taking up the first part of the fold of the white house with a chef hat on top of it. The article that it was mirroring was, “Someone’s in the Kitchen with Michelle”. Not many articles in the issue grabbed my attention; maybe it was because they were all on similar topics.
One article that I did read and thought was interesting was the one about dogs who use sent to identify suspects of crimes. I always knew about police giving dogs scents to find evidence but I never knew that because of these scents alone you could convict people of serious crimes like murder or burglary, without any other evidence. The “sent line-ups” that they do are said to have a great chance of sent mix-ups. I thought that because of this great chance that it did not make much sense that you can convict someone of a crime with one having more evidence than just a sent trail. I also wondered after the two men mentioned in the article who were wrongfully accused, how many other people who were also convicted of crimes using the sent line-ups may come forward.


New York Times Reading Monday, November 9, 2009

While reading the New York Times today, I know that the article on the shooting at Fort Hood would be on the front page. The article gave me all the missing information I needed from seeing the story over the previous weekend. They had a follow up story below the article on how it is a difficult time for American Muslims to serve their country.
A major topic that always seems to be on the front page, is an article regarding the health care bill that the government wants to pass. One article that pertained to this was that a new section was added to the government’s heath care bill that added a restriction on abortion funding. The new addition would require any woman who received the government funding who had an income of under $88,000 for a family of four, to have to pay for an abortion out of their own pocket or go through a private insurer. This new law would make it difficult for women to get the funding to have an abortion. One spokesman for the united states conference of catholic bishops said that they believes universal health care for women will provide better coverage and result in a reduced number of women needing abortions. This article interested me because I think that this is a major issue within the health care bill that is going to receive a great deal of response from both parties.


New York Times Reading, Tuesday November 10, 2009

When I first stated reading the New York Times today, and went through the front page and into the business section, I thought that it was different to see a business article on a clothing store. The clothing store, Burberry, had a front page business article talking about their success and what they have been doing to try and over come the recession and appeal to younger audiences. When I first started to read the article I thought it was interesting, but then I began to think about Burberry and their prices, products and who purchases those products. I thought the article started to contradict itself because it talks about the brand wanting to appeal to younger generations and working women. I though that this was interesting because Burberry is extremely expensive, something I could not afford and most of my friends couldn’t either. It’s a brand that people like, but most know that it is too expensive to obtain. I began to think why in a recession like this, would the New York Times want to put a company like Burberry on the front page of their business section to explain how well a retail empire was performing. It might have been to show that even in a recession high end companies can still attract consumers, but who are these consumers that can afford over a thousand dollar trench coat? Even though the article had a business aspect to it, I wondered why it got a front-page spot light.




New York Times Reading, Thursday November 12, 2009

I started reading the story on the front page of the New York Times today about the recession taking an emotional toll on children. I began reading the article because I know many friends and family who have gotten laid off in the past 2 years, and how it has affected them and their children. I wanted to read the article to see what it had to say about similar situations. I thought the article repeated many of the things I assumed and knew from friends and families stories. The article did still provided a look into a families life that gave you a better understanding of what children themselves go through having to watch what unemployment does to their family. It also covered the idea that parents would have more time to spend with their children, in their home, helping them with homework, playing sports ect. But from the children’s point of view, although great to have them around, they knew that their parent was unhappy and it caused added stress to their family. I couldn’t help but think about my own life, and what my family and I would do, if my dad became unemployed or if my mom ever lost her business. It wouldn’t just be emotionally frustrating for them having to deal with the loss, but for me and my brother and sister as well. It is articles like these that make me appreciate what I have in a time like this in the United States. When I opened up the article to the continued page, I was distracted by the advertisement that ran on the other page along side the article on unemployment about purchasing cowhides. It seemed odd to me why the add would go their and if people who are unemployed themselves reading this article, why they would want to look at an add that was advertising the sales of cowhides for $299. It was distracting.