Friday, May 8, 2015

Saturday, May 8th--10:40 pm

Greetings...

Just one more reminder that Monday, May 11th, is the last class meeting.
Please bring all your graded work, your grade sheet, and a calculator.

ABOUT REVISIONS:
If you are still planning to submit a revision of out of class essay one or two, I will allow those to be turned in up until Friday, May15th at noon. You can either place it in my dept. mailbox in Calaveras, or you can email me the documents.

ABOUT SUBMITTING ALL THREE OUT OF CLASS ESSAYS:
Also, one more reminder that if you have not submitted out of class essay one or two or three, you MUST write and submit all OUT OF CLASS ESSAYS in order to pass the course. (of course, it is possible for one to not earn enough points to pass the class, even IF all three essays are written and submitted!) Even if the essay is submitted so late that it earns a failing grade, it still must be submitted by Monday, May 11th.

ABOUT PLAGIARISM:
Currently, I have completed grading two of the three English 20 sections. To be very open and honest, I am a bit devastated about the plagiarism I have come across. When I first starting utilizing Breaking Bad as a part of the course, the series was still very new and not much had been written about it. However, now that the Internet is full of a lot of material regarding the series, including some examinations of character, I am encountering plagiarism. UGH!

I realize that it is not logical to take it personally, but it is so frustrating to see students take this precarious route.

On a more positive note, many of the essays have been exceptional and truly a pleasure to read.

Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Wednesday, April 29th--5:30 pm

Greetings,

Only two weeks left of the semester!

Below you will find a quick re-cap of what will be going on during those two weeks, along with some reminders.

WEEK 14--May 4-8
--English Dept. Course Evaluation (Monday)
--Quiz 5 on Packet #8 (Monday)
--Out of Class Essay #3 due (Wednesday)
(REMEMBER TO ATTACH YOUR VIEWER'S JOURNAL TO THE BACK OF OUT OF CLASS ESSAY 3 BEFORE SUBMITTING)
--Watch a "behind the scenes" video on Breaking Bad, Season One (Wednesday)

WEEK 15--May 11-15
--Bring the following to class: all graded work; your grade sheet filled out; a calculator. (Monday)
--Complete Prof. Fraga's self-designed course evaluation (Monday)
MONDAY, MAY 11 IS THE LAST CLASS DAY.
ALL REVISIONS MUST BE SUBMITTED NO LATER THAN MONDAY, MAY 11.

REMINDER:
All students MUST write and submit all three out of class essays. Even if, due to lateness, the essay earns a failing grade, you STILL must write and submit each of the three essays in order to pass the course. (see syllabus)

Thursday, April 23, 2015

Thursday, April 23, 2015--8:50 pm

REMINDER:
The Musings on Immigration assignment is due on Monday.

Also...

Below you will find two sample student responses to out of class essay 3. I want you to consider the first one it a fairly strong essay. It earned a high "B". At times, the essay spends too much time summarizing, but overall, the focus and organization and supportive evidence is good. I want you to consider the second essay a bit stronger and of higher quality, especially the analysis. It earned an A-.

Walter White and Heisenberg

“The concept here being just as your left hand and your right hand are mirror images of one another, identical and yet opposite,” starts Walter White's lecture on chirality, “but although they may look the same, they don't always behave the same.” Throughout the first season of Breaking Bad, viewers watch the life of Walter White unfold after he is diagnosed with terminal and inoperable cancer. Walter, who initially appears to be a typical mild mannered family man and high school chemistry teacher, domineered by his controlling wife and emasculated by his macho brother-in-law, has a deeply buried side of himself, a side that viewers come to know as Heisenberg. With these two personalities, we learn the tragic irony of his lecture on chirality; two men identical in appearance, but opposite in behavior. Walter White is submissive, compassionate, and inadequate; Heisenberg is dominant and clinical.

            From the first scenes of Walter with his family, viewers see Walter being submissive. He is handed a plate of breakfast with eggs and bacon in the shape of a five and a zero, for his 50^th birthday.  Walter's son, Walt Jr., complains that it is not bacon, to which Walter replies, “We're watching our cholesterol, apparently,” along with the look that he does not like it either, but is eating it because his wife, Skyler, told him to.  Later that day, Walter is at his second job, as a cashier at a car wash.  His boss, to Walter's dismay, consistently tells him to leave the cash register and wipe down the cars.  While on his knees, cleaning the wheels of a car, one of Walter's students looks at him and laughs, taking a photo of Walter with his cellphone.  Although humiliated, Walter does not stand up for himself to either his boss, for making him do work outside his normal job, or to the student, who is constantly disrespecting him.  This humiliation is carried home with him to his surprise birthday party, where his wife nags him for being late.  That night, for his birthday, Skyler gives Walter a hand job, barely paying attention, while using the other hand to work on her laptop. Throughout that day, Walter puts up with being humiliated, ignored, and scolded without once doing anything about it.

            Even though most of the people around him do not fully respect him, Walter still manages to do his best to be a caring and compassionate person.  This side of him is perfectly illustrated by his interactions with Krazy-8.  Even though Krazy-8 tried to kill Walter, and is currently Walt’s prisoner, Walter still brings him food and tries to make his imprisonment more comfortable by giving him beer and toilet paper.  Walter's compassion also comes in the form of him receiving treatment for his cancer.  Originally, Walter was going to cook meth to secure his family's financial future, but because his family really wants him to go for treatment, he gives in.  This treatment causes him to be constantly sick and exhausted, but he still does it because his family wants it.

            Walter White is a genius in the field of chemistry, but very inadequate when it comes to everything else.  While good with chemistry, Walter is a very bad chemistry teacher; he fails to get the attention or respect of his students.  While he does care about his students, when he is shown in his classroom, there is absolutely no one listening to what he is actually saying.  This lack of success carries over to his attempts at cooking meth; while the chemistry portion of the business is perfect, everything else falls apart.  First, Walter and Jesse try to sell their product to Krazy-8, but Emilio ends up recognizing Walter from the drug bust; this causes the drug deal to implode, the aftermath of which is Walter attempting suicide, the RV stuck in a ditch with two bodies inside, and a brush fire.  Next, they try to sell the meth to Tuco, a crazy meth distributor, but Jesse ends up being robbed and beaten.  Their later attempts to kill Tuco almost result in both Tuco killing them and Hank arresting them. Every time Walt and Jesse take a step forward, their mistakes set them two steps back.

            Heisenberg is not a new personality of Walter's.  In a flashback, we see the Heisenberg personality talking with Gretchen about the composition of the human body; we see Heisenberg leaning over Gretchen, strongly asserting that his way is right.  Heisenberg's strongest trait is this dominant presence, most noticeably around Jesse.  This dominance is first seen when Heisenberg blackmails Jesse into partnering up, threatening him with jail time unless he helps him sell meth.  Once they made their first batch of meth, Walt and Jesse try to sell it to Krazy-8, and when that situation implodes, Walter barters his recipe for his life.  While in the RV showing them the recipe, Heisenberg is actually making poison gas, which results in the death of Emilio, and the incapacitation of Krazy-8. While Walter seems unaffected with being invisible, Heisenberg risks his life to make sure that they succeed.  That same night, after all the mayhem that the day brought, Heisenberg does not settle for the half-effort handjob, but instead initiates aggressive sex with Skyler, causing her to ask, “Walt, is that you?”

            The pinnacle of Heisenberg's dominance comes after Jesse is beaten.  Heisenberg calmly walks into Tuco's office with what appears to be a bag of meth, introducing himself as Heisenberg; he demands that Tuco give him the money that Tuco promised Jesse before beating and robbing him.  When Tuco is about to do the same to Heisenberg, he calmly picks up a rock of the meth, and explains that it is not actually meth.  He throws the rock into the ground causing a massive explosion; he then takes the entire bag and threatens to do the same.  Heisenberg submits and pays him.

            Heisenberg is not a violent person; he neither enjoys violence or uses it as a first resort like Tuco.  Heisenberg is clinical, in that he treats situations objectively and emotionally detached.    When dealing with Krazy-8, he rationalizes letting him go up until he realizes that Krazy-8 has a shard of a broken plate, and is planning on killing him. Heisenberg only resorts to killing Krazy-8 after learning that Krazy-8 is planning to kill him once freed.  When disposing of Emilio and Krazy-8, he nonchalantly tells Jesse to buy plastic bins for the acid.  Heisenberg didn't reassure him about dissolving human bodies, but gave him simple direct instructions.

            These two personalities are most often at odds with each other; while Walter is content with being humiliated; Heisenberg, on the other hand, will attack a display case saying, “Fuck you and your eyebrows, wipe down this,” while grabbing his genitals.  But there are times when they both work for a common goal.  The first time we see this is when jocks are tormenting Walt Jr. about his disability; viewers see both Walter's fatherly care in defending his son, and Heisenberg's dominance in assaulting and taunting the jock until they backed down.  A similar event happens after Jesse is beaten by Tuco, while Walter feels sad and guilty for sending him to Tuco and wants to fix his mistake, Heisenberg walks into Tuco's office and ensures that neither himself or Jesse will be harmed in the future.

            How does a man deal with the fate of death? That is what Breaking Bad attempts to show.  In Walter White's case, he lives.  He spends the little time he has free to be both of himself: the man who will do and put up with anything for his family, and the man who demands respect and receives it.  Both men make Walter White whole and compelling because both by themselves would be just another one dimensional character, but together they showcase a man's struggle with himself and the world around him.

************

AKA Heisenberg

A pushover, a coward, a shell of a man, extremely passive. These characteristics all describe Walter White, the main character in Breaking Bad, before his cancer diagnosis.Walt is not oblivious to these failings, and they become even more distinct when he learns he is dying. In episode 1, Jesse asks Walt if he is crazy, and Walt’s response is, “I’m awake.” The cancer diagnosis wakes him up. Walt goes through a transformation. This diagnosis becomes a monkey off Walt’s back. No longer is he confined to the psychological comfort zone he has set for himself; he is now free to do what he wants, take risks, and pursue his passions, without the fear of consequences. No longer must he do things the way others want them done, for he is no longer the ‘yes man’ he once was; he is Hiesenberg, the man he wants to be, and perhaps always has been inside his soul. Yet with this new found inner power, there comes a time limit. Walt knows he must accomplish his goals in a timely manner, and that the clock is ticking, so his options for success are cut drastically. This ticking clock represents Walt’s motivation, it pushes him to make quick, life changing decisions, and through these decisions we see just how deeply layered, and undeniably human, Walter White, AKA Hiesenberg, really is.

When Walt receives the cancer diagnosis it devastates him. Walt recollects his life, what he has accomplished, and gets lost in a swirl of emotions. He feels anger, bitterness, and regret. Walt is a simple man, a straight shooter who goes with the flow; he has never smoked a cigarette in his life, yet he has caught lung cancer. Something in him begins to change; he feels a sense of blandness and lack of excitement in his life, questioning, is this really it? Walt sees Ken, asshole lawyer, and something snaps. He realizes it is time to take control, to extinguish himself of the passive spirit that allows atrocities to manifest in his life, to take action. He then proceeds to blow up the lawyer’s car, and it feels good. This sense of control, with a hint of chaos, is something his life has been lacking. He has been walked over by his boss, his students, his brother in law, and his wife; now it is his turn to do the walking.

Walt’s first substantial decision post diagnosis is, how will my family make it once I am gone? Walt is a man who cares deeply for his family. The thought of leaving them is devastating enough, but the thought of leaving them helpless and financially unstable is gut-wrenching. Walt has a lot of pride, when he thinks about his family needing to rely on others for support because he is not able to carry on his fatherly duties (since he will soon be dead) it sickens him. Taking hand-outs is not an option; being a charity case does not sit well with Walter; it must be him and only him who provides a financially stable future for his family. As he sits by the pool, contemplating his situation, a chemical reaction occurs in his brain spontaneously with the spark of the match, chemistry.

Chemistry is Walt’s first love; it is absolute, it is numbers and certainty, it is everything. There is no guessing with chemistry. For years Walt did not utilize his knowledge of chemistry to his full potential, and the match sparking wakes him up to this. Now, instead of teaching, he will utilize. Walt’s cancer diagnosis causes him to lose his sense of fear, as well as some morals; therefore, something as dangerous and ethically questionable as cooking meth becomes a legitimate option. Desperate times call for desperate measures; how else might he earn large amounts of money in a short amount of time? It is the ethics and not the danger that causes Walt to think twice, for he is a man of virtue, and wishes no harm on anyone. Because of the time constraint, he must act quickly, and so the decision is made to move forward.

Before Walt progresses to full blown cook, there are a series of smaller decisions he must make, that give insight into the depths of his character. Walt is the type of person who pays extreme attention to detail. Rather than using the internet, or some other means of research, Walt chooses to go on a ride-along with Hank. This gives him an opportunity to see the meth business, first hand, from the opposing forces’ point of view. Know thy enemy. Walt also chooses to enlist Jesse, as a sidekick, to handle the distribution aspects of the business. By having Jesse between him and the customers, he provides a cushion, not only from the dangers of distributing, but so that he may not witness the devastation his product creates. This is an example of how his morals play a part in Walt’s decision making. He knows what he is doing is morally wrong, so in order to feel comfortable continuing, he must avoid circumstances which remind him of his wrong doing. By only being the cook, he feels less responsible for the plight of his product.

Because of the time limitations posed by the cancer, Walt does not always think through his decisions, leading to many unintended consequences. When Walt steals the chemistry equipment from his school, an innocent man is blamed. This situation hurts Walt, especially since he was fond of the janitor. Other, harsher circumstances occur as well. When Walt sends Jesse to talk to Krazy 8, he is not expecting Jesse to return with the clientele. When he is holding the door to the RV shut, while Krazy 8 and his cousin are dying, Walt is almost crying. Walt does not want to kill anybody, yet through quick decision making, it seems to be a recurring event. It is either them or him; he makes sure it is most definitely them. Walt knows that if he dies before accomplishing his goals, he fails his family, and to fail his family is to fail himself. Failure is not an option.

Walt’s dedication to his family is clear throughout his decisions, but to say he does not make decisions for himself, as well, would be inaccurate. Walt chooses to mislead his wife, but he does so with good intentions. Walt knows that his wife does not understand his pride. When his former colleague, Elliott, offers to pay for his treatments, Walt declines. To accept their offer is to give up on himself. As much as Walt needs to have his family financially stable after his death, he needs to be the one who provides the stability. The reason Walt stashes the money in his daughter’s room is to convince himself that he is breaking bad strictly for his family; he does not want to believe he is doing it for himself.

Walt’s use of chemistry, as a means to progress, is not limited to cooking meth. Similar to the hammer of Thor, chemistry becomes Walt’s secret weapon (Thor). The use of chemistry gives Walt a sense of power, something he has lacked thus far in his life. Walt begins to utilize chemistry to overcome obstacles, and for each time the use of chemistry is a success, his confidence in chemistry is elevated. This is where Walt truly begins to manifest his Hiesenberg character.

As Walt’s choices lead him down a path full of destruction and chaos, he must create a distinct separation between himself and his actions. Hiesenberg is that separation. By putting on the hat and glasses, Walt is able to let go of any inhibitions and calmly execute his mission. Hiesenberg is the polar opposite of Walter White; where Walter is soft and timid, Hiesenberg is firm and direct. There are repercussions to using Hiesenberg though, as Hiesenberg follows a different moral code than Walt. Where Walt is in it for his family and pride, Hiesenberg wallows in money, power, and respect. Using Hiesenberg gives Walt a rush, so much so that it becomes like an addiction, similar to the rush Spider Man gets when he dons his black suit (Spider Man 3). As Hiesenberg, Walt begins to make choices he normally would not make. Money and power begin to be Walt’s objective, almost on the same level as providing a financial future for his family.

In episode 5, when it is Walt’s turn with the pillow, he says, “All I have left is how I choose to approach this.” Walter’s story seems original, yet it fits the basic structure of the classic hero’s journey (Campbell). Walt is a simple man, who is served a cancer diagnosis, which sends him on his journey. He is given a weapon, chemistry, to protect himself. He has Jesse, a partner with hindsight, to help him on his way. He travels into the belly of the beast, Tuco’s hideout, and emerges stronger -- a changed man. Walt, having to make decisions and live with the consequences, is what makes him such a relatable character; he makes mistakes; he has emotional highs and lows; he has psychological issues, and he is trying to be successful against all odds. Walt is neither good nor evil. He is both; he is human.

Wednesday, April 22, 2015

Please read ASAP==Wednesday, April 22nd--7 am

Unbelievable!
I just awoke with the stomach flu.

If you have a hard copy of your rough draft today, please place it in my dept. mailbox in Calaveras.

Monday, April 20, 2015

Monday, April 20, 2015--9:10 pm

Greetings--

Below you will find the assignment I explained in class today as well as a few adjustments in due dates.

DUE MONDAY, APRIL 27TH
1. Must be typed
2. Must not have any identification (no name, section number, etc.)
3. Title this: MUSINGS ON IMMIGRATION
4. While considering the term, immigration, record what comes to mind. There is NO minimum length requirement and no specific format. You may list by number or bullets; write in prose form; or?
5. When submitting on Monday, be sure to sign your name on the list I will provide on the front table.
6. This assignment is worth 25 points of the 50 points allotted for Group Work #3 next Wednesday.

ROUGH DRAFT (OPTIONAL) FOR OUT OF CLASS ESSAY #3
This is due on Wednesday, April 22, in class.
OR.
You may submit it to my dept. mailbox in Calaveras by Friday. April 24, before noon.
OR.
You may email it to me as a Word attachment no later than Sunday, April 26, at noon.

ALSO!
The final due date for out of class essay #3 has been changed from Monday, May 4th to Wednesday, May 6th.

Saturday, April 18, 2015

Saturday, April 18th, 2015--7:30 pm

Greetings--
Just so there is no confusion, arrive to class on Monday having completed Packet 6 and 7.
Our last writing response will happen on Monday--Writing Response #4.

Tuesday, April 14, 2015

please read before class tomorrow, Wednesday, April 15th

Greetings,

as you probably have surmised, the in class essay 2--the practice WPJ exam--will take place tomorrow in class since Monday's session was cancelled. Remember to bring a blue or green book to class. Please plan to use pen, not pencil, to write your response.

Due to the slight change in the syllabus, Writing Response 4 will obviously not occur until Monday. Be sure you are caught up on the readings assigned for tomorrow and Monday when you arrive in class on Monday.

Sunday, April 12, 2015

PLEASE READ--CLASS CANCELLED FOR MONDAY, APRIL 13TH

I deeply apologize--this is not at all what I had planned. But the weekend has been very tough personally and I feel it will be best to take some time for myself.
We will have in class essay 2 on Wednesday.

Tuesday, April 7, 2015

Tuesday, April 7, 2015--5:45 pm

Greetings,

below you will find a copy of essay 3 assignment, distributed and discussed in class on Monday.

English 20, Spring 2015, Instructor: C. Fraga

Out of Class Essay Assignment #3 (200 points)

Assigned: Monday, April 6

Optional Rough Draft Due: Wednesday, April 22

(reminder—even if you submit a RD, there will not be time to revise this essay after I return it to you with the final score.

Due: Monday, May 8

Requirements:

• MLA format

• If you utilize any outside sources (besides for season 1) not required) you must follow MLA format for in- text citations, Works Cited page, etc.)

At the very least, you must have a Works Cited page that lists Season 1 of Breaking Bad. (If you have viewed other seasons, you may use material from them, but be sure to be clear that your evidence IS from another season)

• Attach your Viewer’s Journal (all 7 entries) to the back of the final draft when submitting. Reminder: if a Viewer’s Journal is not submitted, 20 points will be deducted from your earned score.

Before we began viewing the first season of Breaking Bad, I assigned a Viewer’s Journal. You were to record your observations and any other notes you wished in order to eventually select a character to focus on more carefully than others. However, as we have discussed, your first few journal entries, or perhaps more than a few, might just be summary plots and notes regarding several different characters.

This Viewer’s Journal will now be a valuable source as you write your last out of class essay for this course.

Assignment:

Write an in-depth character analysis of one of the six main characters in the first season of Breaking Bad. (Walter, Sr; Skyler; Marie; Hank; Jesse; Walter, Jr.)

Your essay must include the following:

• Assertion(s) about your character

• Evidence from the episodes that support your assertions (how did you come to the conclusion(s) you did regarding this character?)

Your supportive evidence might include but is not limited to:

• what others observe/say (or don’t observe/say) about the character—either directly or in private

• the actions of the character in particular situations

• the reactions/responses of the character in particular situations

• what drives this character

• what terrifies this character

• what pleases this character

• what does this character long for

• what does this character need

Your thesis must be assertive…it is YOUR opinion as a viewer of these episodes.

· Whether or not you LIKE or DISLIKE this character is not an issue in this essay.

· Whether you LIKE or DISLIKE the series is also not an issue in this essay.

Proving to the reader that this character has the attributes (good, bad, layered, shallow) that you assert he or she has is your goal.

Keep in mind that your reading audience HAS viewed each of the seven episodes so avoid writing extensive summaries of each episode.

Your thesis might read something like this:

Once Walter learns of his terminal cancer and begins cooking meth, he appears very unstable and irresponsible; however, his behavior ultimately represents a very determined, loving, highly intelligent and moral father and husband.

or…

Marie is a very insecure and lonely woman who is unhappy and uncomfortable living in the shadows of her power-driven DEA husband and her happily married and very bright sister, Skyler.

Suggested Vocabulary for Discussing Character

adaptable daring industrious sensitive

aggressive deceitful insensitive serious

aimless dependent intelligent shallow

alert determined intolerant shrewd

ambitious dishonest jealous sincere

antagonistic disloyal kind sly

boastful disobedient lazy spiritual

bragging energetic loyal sportsmanlike

brave enthusiastic mean stubborn

capable envious mercenary studious

careful extravagant modest sympathetic

careless faultfinding observant sullen

cheerful fearless original tactful

clever frank patient temperate

commanding generous persistent thorough

conceited greedy petty thoughtless

confident helpful practical thrifty

conscientious honest presumptuous tolerant

considerate hopeful proud truthful

cooperative imaginative punctual unfriendly

courageous impatient purposeful ungracious

courteous impulsive reckless unjust

cowardly independent reliable unselfish

credulous indifferent rude vain

cruel indomitable sensible wicked

Sunday, April 5, 2015

Sunday, April 5, 2015--8:30 pm

Hello,

Below you will find the following:

Packet 6 assignment
Packet 7 assignment
Packet 8 assignment

PACKET 6: (two readings)

1. "Immigration Pros and Cons"
http://apecsec.org/immigration-reform-pros-and-cons/

2. "Pro/Con: Immigration
Moderated by Tom Sabulis

President Obama has announced that he will use his executive power to act unilaterally on immigration, allowing some five million undocumented immigrants to remain in the U.S. and work without the threat of deportation. His executive order followed a congressional stalemate over a bipartisan bill that was passed in the Senate but stalled in the House. Today, a local immigration lawyer and a member of the state’s immigration enforcement review board share opposing views of the president’s decision.

Necessary step to reform

By Charles H. Kuck

President Obama’s announcement Thursday certainly shook the ground in Washington, D.C. — and that is a good thing.

We have been living with a nightmarish immigration system for more than 25 years. I know this because I deal with it every single day. My clients deal with it every single day. This broken system not only limits economic growth, but destroys families, punishes businesses, clogs our courts and jails, and drives away talent from America.

The broken legal immigration system actually creates illegal immigration by not adequately providing for the supply to meet the American demand for labor, particularly in agricultural and service jobs. At this point, everyone of sane mind understands that we must do something to fix it, stop illegal immigration, stop employers from hiring undocumented workers, and use a good immigration law to support the American economy and families.

It has been more than 13 years since politicians have had a renewed push to “fix” immigration law, since George W. Bush campaigned on and promised a fix to our current immigration system. A bipartisan group of Senators passed a bill in July 2013 that would strengthen our borders, create more interior enforcement and fix the legal immigration system. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimated that this bill would create billions of dollars of economic activity. Yet, this common-sense solution to fixing the system has been sitting it the House of Representatives for more than 500 days without a vote.

The Congress and the Constitution give the executive branch the duty to enforce the law, and the authority to use discretion in its enforcement. Congress has also written immigration law very broadly and relies on the executive branch to interpret its frequently vague laws through regulations and policies. The Congress has also given the President only limited funds to carry out this enforcement. Yet, like every prosecutor, the President has to decide which laws to enforce, and how to enforce them with a limited budget.

As every President before him, President Obama simply announced a list of changes his administration is making in immigration regulations and policy (not laws) and enforcement, with the authority provided him by Congress.

These changes include both an incentive for undocumented parents of U.S. citizens and residents to come forward and identify themselves, go through a background check, and pay a fee; in return, they receive a temporary work permit with no permanent immigration status. He also has expanded deferred action for individuals who came to the U.S. under the age of 16, who graduate from high school here. It allows them to obtain a temporary work permit, again with no permanent status. These two changes alone are estimated to affect millions of families in the United States, including several hundred thousand in Georgia. We all know these families; they are our neighbors, our friends, and the people who work with us on a daily basis.

President Obama also announced a greater focus on enforcement (which you can do when you are not deporting people for a broken tail light). This focus puts even more emphasis on the border, heightens interior enforcement, and ensures that all undocumented immigrants with serious criminal convictions are held and deported much faster. To date, illegal immigration is at its lowest level in decades. These steps will reduce it further.

The executive action adds greater flexibility to immigration regulations by allowing investors and entrepreneurs to obtain quicker legal status in the United States. The plan also increases the time period that graduating foreign students can work in the U.S., thereby helping to ease the problem of the high demand for the artificially limited H-1B visa. There are more than twenty different changes to immigration regulations and policy, all within the President’s purview, that he is modifying or extending, in an effort to ease the pain caused by the broken immigration system.

Many do not like that the President acted without Congress, particularly without the House of Representatives. Yet, Congress can very easily resolve their concerns today — or in January, before any parts of the executive action are effective — by passing an immigration bill.

We all know that you lose the right to complain when you do not offer your own solution. Perhaps President Obama’s executive action is what is needed to get Congress to finally act in concert to pass immigration legislation that works for America and its people. We can only hope.

Charles H. Kuck is an immigration attorney in Atlanta, and the former National President of the American Immigration Lawyers Association.

No respect for our laws

By Phil Kent

Everyone agrees that our broken immigration system needs to be fixed. But President Barack Obama’s “fix” is a blatant unconstitutional overreach of executive power which undermines the rule and law, and serves as a magnet for more illegal immigration.

His executive order “deferring” deportation for approximately five million illegal aliens — which means giving them work permits and Social Security numbers, as well as allowing them driver’s licenses — will encourage more illegal crossings through porous border areas.

Americans have seen it before. After all, experience is a great teacher. Ask U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa. He voted for the 1986 so-called “Immigration Control and Reform Act” based on the promise of a “fix.” But since it granted amnesty to millions of illegals first and promised border security and employer sanctions that never occurred, the senator admits he was “completely fooled.”

Let’s not be fooled again.

Our past president didn’t enforce some immigration laws and our current president not only doesn’t enforce laws, he “waives” parts of laws that he doesn’t like through executive fiat. Obama’s main justification for his order is that “Congress failed to act.” That’s not true. Congress did not fail to act. It chose not to act in granting such a massive amnesty. That’s the way our republic is supposed to work.

Greg Jarrett, a lawyer and Fox News analyst, cites three compelling reasons why the Obama order is illegal:

• It is a distortion of “prosecutorial discretion.” In past decisions the U.S. Supreme Court has cautioned the executive branch that executive orders may not be used to adopt a sweeping policy of non-enforcement of the law. Such discretion has applied only to decisions not to prosecute or expel specific individuals or small groups of people. Furthermore, Obama is bestowing this blanket amnesty not for reasons allowed by law, but for reasons purely political. He wants these low-wage illegals to remain here permanently, hoping that in the future they and their children will be voting predominantly for Democrats.

• It is a usurpation of legislative authority. The Supreme Court has declared that Congress has “plenary power” (meaning full and complete) to regulate immigration. Derived from Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution, the doctrine is based on the concept that immigration is a question of national security, relating to a nation’s right to regulate border policy. Yet this is usurped by a unilateral presidential directive.

• It breaches a president’s sworn duty. Article II, Section 3 requires that a president “shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed.” Current law specifically requires the deportation of illegal aliens when apprehended. A president cannot ignore or nullify such a law.

Consider what this executive order does, if not overturned or defunded.

• Most of the five million illegal aliens may stay permanently. It may be next to impossible to remove these “temporary” deferrals. It will depend on who the next president is.

• The “legalized” illegals, with their work permits, would compete directly in the job market with Americans — 40 million of whom are unemployed.

• By giving work permits to millions of low-skilled workers, many with limited English skills, wages will be depressed.

Consider, too, the impact of this new order on all 50 states. A 2010 study revealed that the burden of supporting illegal immigration with public benefits costs just Georgia taxpayers $2.4 billion annually (a figure that includes U.S. citizen children of illegal aliens). The taxpayer tab for the nation as a whole, according to Fox News business analyst Stuart Varney, is $113 billion a year — with most going to education and healthcare. With more potential illegal immigrants planning to sneak across our borders to enjoy everything from schooling to healthcare courtesy of Uncle Sap, the added costs are incalculable.

What would real immigration reform mean? First, repealing this damaging executive order either through a successful lawsuit or through the new Congress defunding as much of its expenditures as possible. Real reform also means enhanced border and internal enforcement, fixing the exit-entry visa system so we know who enters and leaves (to assist in thwarting terrorists like the Boston bombers) and streamlining our guest worker programs so that, if no American is displaced, a temporary foreign employee can fill the job.

Finally, think of the message this Obama decree sends to the world. How can we expect foreigners to respect our immigration laws if our own president doesn’t respect them?

Phil Kent is a member of the Georgia Immigration Enforcement Review Board.

******************************

PACKET 7: (two readings)

1. "The Deadliest Trip in America? Desperate Search after Immigrants Die in Desert."
by Isabel C. Morales, CNN
http://www.cnn.com/2014/05/17/us/immigrant-desert-deaths-dna/index.html

2. "This Single Reform would Improve the U.S. Immigration System and Grow the Economy"
by Herbie Ziskend
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/herbie-ziskend/green-card-recapture_b_6984076.html?utm_hp_ref=immigration-reform

PACKET 8: (one reading)

1. "They Take our Jobs" -- Debunking Immigration Myths"
http://www.seiu.org/a/immigration/they-take-our-jobs-debunking-immigration-myths.php

Tuesday, March 31, 2015

Tuesday, March 31st--3:45 pm

Hello, just a quick note to let you know that there will be class tomorrow.
I am feeling back to "normal" and again, I apologize for having to cancel classes on Monday so suddenly.
We will have the Writing Response as scheduled as well as the Group Work from Monday.

Monday, March 30, 2015

PLEASE READ IMMEDIATELY--Monday, March 30th

Good morning,
I have been fighting huge waves of nausea since very early this morning.
I have always prided myself on VERY rarely missing class due to illness.
I apologize for this huge inconvenience.
Unfortunately, I am not going to be able to make it to my classes today.
Take care and have a positive, safe day.

Sunday, March 29, 2015

Sunday, March 29th, 2015--5:45 pm

Greetings,

I hope you have enjoyed this last week from attending classes.
Below you will find Packet 5 assignment.
You will be utilizing this article and another that I will distribute in class on Wednesday for your in class Writing Response.

PACKET 5

I Won't Hire People Who Use Poor Grammar. Here's Why.

by Kyle Wiens | 8:02 AM July 20, 2012

If you think an apostrophe was one of the 12 disciples of Jesus, you will never work for me. If you think a semicolon is a regular colon with an identity crisis, I will not hire you. If you scatter commas into a sentence with all the discrimination of a shotgun, you might make it to the foyer before we politely escort you from the building.

Some might call my approach to grammar extreme, but I prefer Lynne Truss’s more cuddly phraseology: I am a grammar “stickler.” And, like Truss — author of Eats, Shoots & Leaves — I have a “zero tolerance approach” to grammar mistakes that make people look stupid.

Now, Truss and I disagree on what it means to have “zero tolerance.” She thinks that people who mix up their itses “deserve to be struck by lightning, hacked up on the spot and buried in an unmarked grave,” while I just think they deserve to be passed over for a job — even if they are otherwise qualified for the position.

Everyone who applies for a position at either of my companies, iFixit or Dozuki, takes a mandatory grammar test. Extenuating circumstances aside (dyslexia, English language learners, etc.), if job hopefuls can’t distinguish between “to” and “too,” their applications go into the bin.

Of course, we write for a living. iFixit.com is the world’s largest online repair manual, and Dozuki helps companies write their own technical documentation, like paperless work instructions and step-by-step user manuals. So, it makes sense that we’ve made a preemptive strike against groan-worthy grammar errors.

But grammar is relevant for all companies. Yes, language is constantly changing, but that doesn’t make grammar unimportant. Good grammar is credibility, especially on the internet. In blog posts, on Facebook statuses, in e-mails, and on company websites, your words are all you have. They are a projection of you in your physical absence. And, for better or worse, people judge you if you can’t tell the difference between their, there, and they’re.

Good grammar makes good business sense — and not just when it comes to hiring writers. Writing isn’t in the official job description of most people in our office. Still, we give our grammar test to everybody, including our salespeople, our operations staff, and our programmers.

On the face of it, my zero tolerance approach to grammar errors might seem a little unfair. After all, grammar has nothing to do with job performance, or creativity, or intelligence, right?

Wrong. If it takes someone more than 20 years to notice how to properly use “it’s,” then that’s not a learning curve I’m comfortable with. So, even in this hyper-competitive market, I will pass on a great programmer who cannot write.

Grammar signifies more than just a person’s ability to remember high school English. I’ve found that people who make fewer mistakes on a grammar test also make fewer mistakes when they are doing something completely unrelated to writing — like stocking shelves or labeling parts.

In the same vein, programmers who pay attention to how they construct written language also tend to pay a lot more attention to how they code. You see, at its core, code is prose. Great programmers are more than just code monkeys; according to Stanford programming legend Donald Knuth they are “essayists who work with traditional aesthetic and literary forms.” The point: programming should be easily understood by real human beings — not just computers.

And just like good writing and good grammar, when it comes to programming, the devil’s in the details. In fact, when it comes to my whole business, details are everything.

I hire people who care about those details. Applicants who don’t think writing is important are likely to think lots of other (important) things also aren’t important. And I guarantee that even if other companies aren’t issuing grammar tests, they pay attention to sloppy mistakes on résumés. After all, sloppy is as sloppy does.

That’s why I grammar test people who walk in the door looking for a job. Grammar is my litmus test. All applicants say they’re detail-oriented; I just make my employees prove it.

Read the summary of the #HBRchat on Twitter based on this blog post.

More blog posts by Kyle Wiens

More on: Business writing, Communication, Personal effectiveness

KYLE WIENS

Kyle Wiens is CEO of iFixit, the largest online repair community, as well as founder ofDozuki, a software company dedicated to helping manufacturers publish amazing documentation.