Columnist Ahoy! Synthesis

From the several editorials that I have read by Sandy Banks, it is clear to me that she is a columnist focusing on the intersection of the personal and the public, using her own personal examples regarding her family and situations that she has been through, such as in "We're thankful -- and worried" when she assumes the reason why travel was at an all time high during Thanksgiving of 2011. She is an editorial who focuses on people who inspire and infuriate us, however she does it using mild language, using schools and organizations as a segway into explaining her opinion on such services done in the community. In the title itself, "Retired Los Angeles Judge launches literacy project", the audience can see the motif of "projects" and service in her editorials to present to the audience things that they can do on a smaller scale to ensure that our country does not fall to ruins. The same idea of service is presented in the article about Kidsave. She shows that even though Angel Barrett of Plummer elementary may be dislike by several teacher's unions, she has gained respect from her school because of the increase in educational standards that she is setting for the children in her school. She is a columnist who focuses on the chances one takes along with the choices one makes, which is depicted in all of her columns.

Columnist Ahoy! Position/Communication

In Sandy Bank's articles, "Retired Los Angeles judge launches literacy project" and "Where poor students soar", the reader can clearly see her opinions on this general topic, the topic that opportunities must be presented to the less accommodated in order to exceed and excel in their actions. From these two articles, the reader can see that she believes that the actions that people like Judge James Reese and Angel Barrett took were the proper actions to begin the path to creating a better education system for all of America. Banks communicates this view in "Retired Los Angeles judge launches literacy project" when towards the beginning she states that "An afternoon with retired Judge James Reese is like a living history lesson" and that it is a "walk through time" revealing her respect for the situations he has been through, such as being whipped for having poor grades and donating $100,000 to USC, so boys near the campus can afford a better education to receive respect for colleagues and society in the future. In "Where poor students soar", Banks addresses the opposition when she claims that she understands that the actions taken by Angel Barrett could upset teacher's unions because of the strong adherence that she respects, but she also agrees that her hard work, presented ultimatum and transition resulted in ultimate success in the end.

Columnist Ahoy! pt.4

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-0103-banks-20120103,0,1439202.column

This week, Sandy Banks speaks about an organization called Kidsave, whose goal is to find families for children from other countries who are labeled, "unwanted". Years ago, this organization was simply a place for children from Russian orphanages to come to, but over the past 12 years, it has blossomed into a place where thousands of children have been sent to. The biggest struggle for these families that "adopt" these children is the feeling of failure when they aren't able to find a home for the child they have custody of for a short period of time. The biggest problem in caring for these children is the language barrier, which does not allow the children to share their life story with the advocacy family they are staying with. One family that is an active member of Kidsave claimed that that children who are labeled as unwanted is on their list of tragedies. 

Columnist Ahoy! pt.3

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-banks-20111217,0,6676350.column

Lost Angeles Judge, Judge James Reese donated $100,000 to University of Southern California to provide tutors and mentors for nearby poor boys in the area who cannot afford to exceed without guidance. His goal to make sure that these boys can read because he believes that black boys are not given the same opportunity in this country as several other boys of other races and religions. He speaks from experience himself, as a part of the army when he was rejected from the Biltimore hospital because of the color of his skin. In trials, he mandated that boys who pleaded guilty as a misdemeanor complete tasks such as be a part of the Peace Corps, rather than punishing them for their wrong-doings.

Columnist Ahoy! pt.2

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-1126-banks-20111126,0,451572.column

Sandy Banks uses her own personal experience with her family to express her concern about the financial situations of the majority of America. She states that this year, with each travel expense "lurks uncertainty" because of the 20% price increase in gasoline and airfares. The ironic part about this though, is that even though people have this uncertainty of traveling due to travel expenses and other costs, travel was at an all time high this year because of American's need for familiarity. They believe that if they return to a tradition, the feeling of routine and reflecting the determination of Americans.

Columnist Ahoy!

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-banks-20111105,0,6217594.column

 Sandy Banks speaks about the elementary school in Los Angeles, Plummer Elementary in the San Fernando Valley campus. After doing her research at the school, she was surprised to see that one of the poorest schools with the majority of it's attendants who do not speak English, was ranked one of the highest scoring schools in the area. She had a meeting with the principal of the school, Angel Barrett, who claimed that once she saw that the campus was on the list of failing schools, she created a plan for all teachers to shape up their acts in order to fix the errors of the school. She gave the teachers homework, made them meet together to discuss areas in which they could improve on and presented them with an ultimatum of 200% change or they would be fired. After a tough transition, the hard work paid off with the children having some of the highest test scores in the area.

Differing Perspectives- Military Women and Abortion Synthesis

During this ongoing controversy, several columnist depict different scenarios to justify their opinions on whether the U.S. Department of Defense should cover the costs of abortions for women serving in the military. The majority of the editorials I found believed that Congress should allow women to have their expenses covered, especially in the case of rape (incest is less frequent when overseas). Although I understand the opposing viewpoint, the case in which Post-traumatic stress disorder results as an outcome in the emotional procedure (affecting how a woman in the military completes her given tasks at work), I disagree with columnists, such as Jody Duffy. It's simply irrational to completely deny a military servicewomen the right to this procedure, which is what military hospitals must abide to currently. Even if the woman is willing to cover the entire cost of the abortion, the U.S. Department of Defense even denies her this, which American Civil Liberties Union states in their editorial, making military hospitals a burden and feelings of resentment begin to show, which does not benefit the military in any way. I believe that it is unfair to make a woman who is serving our country and risking her life choose between traveling far and costly distances towards an American (non-military) clinic or to a back-alley clinic who 70% of the time result in an unsanitary procedure which the Sun Times stresses as well. A woman who is protecting hundreds of people a day deserves that same protection from the U.S. Department of Defense.