New York Times Readings 11/30/2009-12/3/2009

Monday November 30, 2009


While reading the New York Times today one article on the front page that caught my attention right away was, Tree Harvester Offers to Save Indonesian Forest. I was interested in the article because I had taken Anthropology and we had learned about a similar topic of endangered forests. I thought that this article was interesting because the large corporations that wanted to initially harvest and cut down the forests, were now realizing that if they wanted to expand in Indonesia, they had to work with the country. The forest that they were talking about in particular was responsible for 20% of the world greenhouse gas emissions, if cleared could affect the environment dramatically. With the environment being a top priority in this country and around the world, it was good to see an article based in another country on the front page of the new York Times. It gives us different perspectives on how important the environment is to others, and that we need to pay attention to certain situations around the world.



Tuesday December 1, 2009

The one article in today's New York Times that I'm sure many college students read was, "In Job Hunt, Even a College Degree Can't Close the Racial Gap". What I thought was particularly interesting about this article was the point that the author brought up about Obama's presidency and how this has affected the way African Americans are treated in the country. The article presented that Obama's presidency as negative for African Americans who were looking for jobs in this economy. The article explained that even though the economy was tough for everyone out of college and looking for a job, that it had more of an affect on African Americans even though many have graduated from top schools. They gave concrete examples of good educated African Americans who were turned down for what they think, was their race. They even went so far as to change their names to sounds more "American" or Irish as they said in the Article, and to take off certain black organizations they were involved in. At times I thought that the the idea of whether or not Obama's presidency affected African Americans ability to get jobs was difficult to prove true or false. The article was a very different twist on the economy situation and it was very interesting to read.


Wednesday December 2, 2009

While reading the New York Times today, it was one of the days where nothing really seemed to jump out on me when I opened the paper. Although there were many interesting articles on the front page and throughout, none really grabbed my attention, and normally at least one on the front page does. But this issue of the Times had the Dining sections, which is one of my favorites and I look forward to it every week. One fun article within the Dining section that I enjoyed reading was the one a vegan eating sister and a non-vegan eating sister. I thought it was interesting because it talked about how two sisters can be raised in the same household, loving and eating the same foods growing up, and then later in their life have completely different tastes. The article shows this through a cookie recipe that one absolutely adores and the other can not even bare to put in their mouth. It makes people think about all the ideas behind genetics and many peoples food choices today. It shows how evolved our society has become with all of the different diets and life styles people have chosen.


Thursday December 3, 2009

Today's front page of the Times did not seem to be very diverse with the content of the stories covering the page. Some days it just seems that there are so many different things going on in the US government that the news just floods the front page. It is very informative and gives the reader good information about what is going on throughout the country, but sometimes I would like to know different, non-government or Washington related, stories. Sometimes I do not feel like I get an accurate portrayal of what is going on in communities around me and in the US unless I read the paper from back to front. That is a difficult task for me to complete, and most people would not even bother to open up to other sections. Throughout my entire readings and posting of the Times, I have learned that if I want an accurate potrayal of what is going on I need to hit every section and all different stories. It is a lengthy process and I catch myself not always having enough time to read all of the stories i want to get too. I enjoyed reading the paper though everyday. I felt my educated and better about my roll as a college student, a learning journalist and a voting American citizen.