Public Discourse Blog (AleshaD)

In order for students to succeed they have to be placed in an environment that reflects succeeding, Chicago Public Schools are not that environment. A recent editorial in the Chicago Tribune by the editorial team discussed the new initiative/idea that Mayor Rahm Emanuel wants to be put into effect. Starting in 2020 high school students will be required to compose a post graduation plan in order to receive their diploma. High school students will have to provide proof that they have been accepted in to a college, the military, a trade or gap-year program, job offers are acceptable as well. If they do not provide this “plan” the will not receive a diploma. Emanuel’s belief that “ If you change expectations, its not hard for the kids to adapt” was praised by the editors and it comes across as though they are describing this initiative as the mayor disrupting the status quo in education solutions. Although I see this as a great step in the initiative to get students to think more

The topic of one of my op-ed pieces is in response to an editorial written in the Chicago Tribune recently that talked about and praised Rahm Emanuel on a new initiative he plans on implementing for students. Though a nice idea, I plan on breaking down the real issue he needs to discuss in regards to Chicago schools.

I do believe the "newer" formats of television shows are contributing to a breakdown in dialogue amongst opposing political viewpoints. There is not much respect or collaboration taking place and in turn there is always some sort of divide in my opinion between one side and the other. These formats have contributed to a lack of respect for other's viewpoints because everybody was the be in the right and intellects and people who speak on policies no longer want to do whats best for both sides they just want their side to come out on top. There is a great plus side to these newer formats of shows and media. A lot of voices are given the chance to be heard and considered. Beforehand opinions were either one way or the other, but with the newer formats there are all different types of variety of answers and opinions to the same questions. I believe the newer formats also make things easier for the general public to understand. I enjoy watching shows such as "The Colbe

In my opinion I believe the fields that are talked about most represented within the media are political science and economics. The past election plays a major role in the new found popularity with politics and economics. You can't turn on the television or radio to any channel without seeing something being debated in regards to our economy and the shenanigans of Trump being analyzed and broke apart. Even before the past election the academic fields that always seemed to get the most discussion and traction were political science and economics. Media channels tend to focus on what they believe the people want to hear and with the state of the economy as it is and has been for the past 10 or so years, they believe the citizens want to know about the countries economic plans or what government officials plan to do. You see a lot of call upon academics within the political field to discuss their opinions of what needs to happen and analyze the decisions the current political party in

When I see the word intellectuals, even after going through all our readings and for the week with different explantations of the word, all I can think about is older men with their glasses on the tip of their noses sitting in a library or conference room of some sort discussing things that are far beyond comprehension of any regular person in the world. Or at least in the older times that's how I pictured the people who were considered intellects in the older times. Today I feel there are so many intellectuals and it's not limited to a specific group of people who are superior to others. If you have something of substance to offer and you are able to back that up with research and knowledge of your subject then I would consider that person some sort of intellectual. A few people that come to mind as current intellectuals to me are college professors or even teacher, writers such as Roxanne Gay, and innovators such as Bill Gates just to name a couple.

I do believe that in fact in today's society online platforms are functioning as public spheres. This has both it's positive and negative effects in my opinion. People from different races, cultures, and backgrounds all come together on social media platforms and discuss details about themselves that others may not have known and also it is seen as a safe haven for many to get their views out into the world without anyone judging them or making them seem as though they don't matter. As their pieces make their way through the online forum it is received by others in a variety of ways. Some agree with their thoughts and react positively by joining their movements and initiatives for change, and on one end others ridicule their thoughts and react and respond negatively. This brings in the negative aspects of online forums being looked upon as major public spheres in today's society. Online platforms give individuals the freedom to not have to suffer consequences of the u