Author Archives: Briza

Sneed, Tierney. “Fast-Food Workers to Strike to Super-Size Their Wages.” usnews.com. US News & World Report, 3 Sept. 2014. Web. 4 Aug. 2015.

The controversy I am discussing for my second essay is the raising of minimum wage. The text I chose relates to my first source because it gives exigency as to what was and still is going on in the U.S. when it comes to low wage workers.

I believe that U.S. News & World Report is a trusted source. Although the site is known more its world rankings of colleges and universities, these rankings are generally trusted and so by this standard I’m choosing to believe that its information is credible. Also since the site caters to a much broader audience than USA Today — which is evident from its title that states the source as providing a “World Report” — it has more pressure on itself to be more credible and truthful. Tierney Sneed, the author of the article, is credited in her U.S. News bio as being a “cultural and social issues reporter.” Her Twitter is also linked on her bio page and upon investigation, I discovered that her header is Nicki Minaj with a group of kids and she posts things that are mostly politically relevant with a bit of pop culture.  From looking at this as well as her other articles which mainly focus on politics, Sneed seems like a trusted reporter that cares about what she writes and is socially conscious. The article itself is very professionally written and informational. There are links to studies by places like The Center for Economic and Policy Research and the language in which it is written is very straightforward. What really gives the article credibility is the quotes the author includes from various pro minimum wage protesters and political officials.

In 2014, protesters were gathering across the country in front of fast food chains like Wendy’s and Burger King to protest in favor of raising minimum wage. The author, Tierney Sneed, includes a quote from President Obama that that states “America deserves a raise. Give America a raise.” Sneed goes on to explain that the protesters are seeking a fifteen dollar minimum wage. She cites a report by the Economic Policy institute that describes restaurant wages as being “significantly lower than those in other industries.” The author speaks with a man named Ronnie Kitchen who is protesting minimum wage as he works for Burger King and is “tired of living in poverty.” Sneed describes Kitchen’s anger with minimum wage as being fueled by the unfair pay difference between major restaurant chains’ CEOs and their workers. Employees plan on protesting at restaurants and holding press conferences in which they will voice their opinion over minimum wage and fast food chains. According to Sneed, the fast food industry is not happy with these protests and believe that labor unions are behind the employee unrest. The author highlights how the protests are causing a change in the United States. President Obama had been advocating for a raise in wages but his plans had been derailed by the National Restaurant Organization, and other organizations like it. These organizations argue that raising wages would “kill jobs and increase food prices.” Sneed describes states, such as Washington, being moved by these protests and a few politicians from both sides supporting the raising of wages.

Jack Quinn, Mike Castle, Steve LaTourette, and Connie Morella. “Raising the Minimum Wage Is Common Sense: Column.” USA Today. Gannett, 09 Oct. 2014. Web. 29 July 2015.

The controversy related to this article is raising minimum wage. This source is relevant to the minimum wage debate because all four authors of the article were members of their respective states’ house of representatives; Jack Quinn represented New York, Mike Castle represented Delaware, Connie Morella represented Maryland, and Steve LaTourette represented Ohio.

I believe this article is a credible source over the minimum wage debate because as state representatives, the article’s authors have firsthand knowledge about the US and it’s inner-working economy. The speakers write in a credible way as they cite a lot of statistical data but also mention their political work as a way to make themselves seem more knowledgeable in the matter. The venue of the article is USA Today which is a widely known news source. Due to the fact that the source represents itself as the face of current US news and strives to do just that, it is respected by Americans and probably those in international communities that follow world news. The authors of the article embedded many links to websites of the sources where they got their information. This shows that the authors actually researched and thought out their argument instead of just stating their opinion with no facts. The authors approach their argument in a straightforward and responsible manner because they are appealing to their former colleagues who are politicians.

Jack Quinn, Mike Castle, Connie Morella, and Steve LaTourette are all former state representatives that are calling their former political colleagues to raise minimum wage all over the country. They start of by saying that when they worked in Congress, they all voted in support of raising the minimum wage and encouraged others to do so. The authors then explain that the “the last time Congress voted to raise the wage to its current rate of $7.25 an hour was seven years ago.” Since that time, things like groceries, gas, and college have all increased in price. The authors state that inflation had not been kept up with in terms of wage. They then note that low minimum wage isn’t mostly affecting teenagers but parents who’s “average age is 35” and have to support children. The authors explain the unfairness of people working long hours and yet still being “stuck in poverty.” When they worked in Congress, the authors paired “minimum wage increases with pro-tax reform.” This strategy was met with majority approval. The authors argue that it’s time for the “Republican Caucus to take back our party” by addressing the issue of minimum wage accordingly. They explain that even an increase of the minimum wage to $10.10 would allow “one in five US workers” to benefit. In conclusion of their argument, the authors call on their former colleagues to raise the minimum wage because its “simple common sense.

Williams,  Patrick. “‘Smokey dare: Maybe it’s time to regulate marijuana like cigarettes’.” Alt-PressWatch, The Dallas Observer, 20 Aug. 2009. Web. 19 Jul. 2015.

Patrick Williams is a writer for the Dallas Observer. In ‘”‘Smokey dare: Maybe it’s time to regulate marijuana like cigarettes’,” published by The Dallas Observer in August 2009, Williams interviews Craig Johnson who is head of ProtectYouth, a lobbying and nonprofit group. Williams initially establishes that while Craig Johnson is interested in legalizing marijuana, he still does not believe that children should be using the drug.

Johnson believes that by legalizing marijuana, the US will be able to regulate and tax it more effectively and in doing so limiting the access of it to minors and youth. Williams then explains Johnson and his groups efforts in attempting to legalize marijuana. The group had been collecting data from the government that shows the effects of tobacco regulation in the 90s. Since the government put pressure on tobacco companies to stop pandering their products to youth, the result was that fewer high school aged students are using tobacco. But, as this number went down, the number of youth that are using marijuana has stayed the same and even surpassed those who use tobacco, even though cannabis is still illegal.

Williams then cites an online source to state that the number of tobacco merchants who sold to minors had decreased 11.3 percent up to 2009 because of government regulations. Yet still, regardless of the amount of marijuana arrests made, the price of marijuana has mostly stayed the same and young people are using the drug the without decrease.

Johnson states that the US is more able to regulate the tobacco market than the marijuana market because the former is legal. “Effective regulation beats our current system of ineffective criminalization any day,” he argues. Williams agrees with Johnson’s ideals and then mentions the benefits legalizing marijuana could have on the government as well as young people. “Demographics are changing, old people are giving up seats of power and a younger, more reform-minded generation (you know, stoners) is taking the reins,” Williams states.

Ultimately, this article is arguing for the legalization of marijuana so that the government can effectively regulate it and in turn keep it out of reach of youth. This article would be good for anymore comparing marijuana with tobacco in their own argument in terms of teen use and government policies and economy.