Essay 3.1

Dear President Samuelson,

I send this letter in regards to your prestigious and well-structured university that has been growing in size ever since 1903 when it first officially became Brigham Young. Let me first start off by saying that I highly respect how the university is sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints considering that it serves more than 1.2 million people throughout 144 different countries. I assume with this sponsorship must come certain responsibilities and codes that I am sure all the students must follow. Being interested in what specific codes must be followed, I took a look at the webpage and this is what I found. According to the Honor Code Statement, “ All students will be honest, live a chaste and virtuous life, obey the law and all campus policies, use clean language, respect others, and abstain from alcohol and substance abuse.” (Honor code) Although all of these rules are understandable, I would like to talk to you about one in particular that I feel very strongly about. This is f the severity of the living a chaste and virtuous lifestyle.

            Having about 12,000 students in the entire university as compared to other 30,000 student schools, it is safe to say that in a smaller campus, it may be easier to keep track of the students and what activities they engage in. It is possible for campus police to spot alcohol and other substances as well as enforcing a dress code, but one thing I do not see being reasonable is the severity of not following the code of living a chaste life in which they may not participate in sexual actions with either the same or opposite sex. I know that the University is known for its moral code and that if the student decided to attend the college that there is no way around it but I think the severity of the rule should be looked over. According to a study done with 1,000 students from UW-Madison by Mark Kinders, “Students between 18 and 23, 75% of males and 60 % of females are sexually active.” (Kinders) I know BYU and UW-Madison are two completely different schools and that you both have your own rules, but if that many students are sexually active at other colleges, it could be possible that students at BYU are secretly engaging in sexual activity as well. This being said, I would like to talk about a recent incident in which I believe you might reconsider your approach on the severity of the chaste lifestyle code.

            During the entire month of March, the men’s basketball team, who has been brilliantly been coached by David Rose was in the running for a National Championship but were unfortunately knocked out in the round of 16. Being that BYU is very school spirited and appreciates their basketball team, if it is not too soar of a subject, I would like to bring up the incident that happened with the Center, Brandon Davies. Before the tournament even began, Davies was a top player on the team and unfortunately was kicked off for engaging in pre-marital sex. I send my apologies to you and the University in that this obviously hurt the chances of a successful tournament in that BYU was just doing what they had to do looking at the Honor Code. According to Marien Garcia of USA Today, “The team’s momentum for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament, and its chances of reaching the Final Four, might go with him.” (Garcia) That being said, I would like to hope we could both agree that these unfortunate actions could have been a factor as to why the BYU basketball team did not move on further in the tournament.

            I know in the scheme of things, winning a basketball title is somewhat of a road-bump when realizing that to win it meant breaking an entire Honor code that has been established for years and years. Now, I would like to look even further past just losing a game, and focus on how the severity of the chaste code might affect Davies future out of college as well.  Being president of a University, I think it is safe to say that you truly care about each and every one of your students and that you want to make sure all of them leave with successful and happy job opportunities. Being that Davies is only a 19 year-old sophomore, at 6 foot 9, this tournament wasn’t just a basketball game to him, but also meant having an opportunity to impress NBA coaches who might be interested in him in the future. NBA coaches recruit top athletes from the time they are in high school all the way through their college years, so for Davies to be a huge part of a possible National Championship team means that he could have definitely had a couple of looks. I know there was no intention by the University to hurt his career, but this is a real and serious consequence from being kicked off the team. I also know the University has not made a decision as to whether Davies will be allowed to play or attend the school next year, but I would really hope that you take the NBA scouting opportunity as a reason to give him another chance in the back of your mind.

            As I wrap up this letter to you, I think it is clear that I honestly do respect the rules and regulations set up by Brigham Young University. I do believe that it is fair for all students to remain substance free and I even think it is all right for you to have a chaste code in general, but once again I think the severity of it can be reduced. I appreciate that you have spent the time to read my letter and before I let you go I would like to just bring up some possible alternatives for punishment if the chaste lifestyle rule is broken. Instead of being expelled from the school or being kicked off a collegiate team, maybe the student will have some credits taken away from them during the specific semester that the rule was broken in. One other possibility could be that the student must take a course/class in the college that offers reasons and beliefs on why the code really should be followed at the University and what it is all about. Once again thank you for your time and when considering my reason as to why the severity may be reduced, just remember that as a college student and you as a president, we both want successful and happy job opportunities when graduating.

Sincerely,

Jake Eckhaus

Works Cited

Garcia, M. (n.d.). BYU's brandon davies suspended for the rest of the season.

     Retrieved March 23, 2011, from http://content.usatoday.com/communities/

     campusrivalry/post/2011/03/byu-brandon-davies-suspended/1

Honor code statement. (n.d.). Church educational system honor code (byu

     webpage). Retrieved March 29, 2011, from http://saas.byu.edu/catalog/

     2010-2011ucat/GeneralInfo/HonorCode.php#HCOfficeInvovement

Kinders, M. (n.d.). Educators discuss student sexual activity. Retrieved March

     27, 2011, from http://www2.uwrf.edu/news_bureau/1103001.html

            

Reflection 2.2 Rebuttal

I enjoyed doing the rebuttal essay more than the rhetorical analysis. When doing the rhetorical analysis, I was limited to only stating what the author did in their article and how it reflected the proper way to utilize proper tools when writing an editorial. On the other hand, when writing the rebuttal, I was actually able to give my own personal opinion and my own response on the issue while finding research that supported my thoughts. After getting suggestions, I found that I was able to utilize most of them in order to make my paper better such as turning to music discussion into a psychological aspect on the music restrictions. The problem that I had was turning the sleep away camp paragraph into something more than just disproving what she had to say based on personal experience and statistics. Finally, the last thing that I enjoyed about the rebuttal argument was how the topics were all interesting and while trying to pick one I did not get bored of reading the articles. Overall, I think the rebuttal argument is a fun and interesting way to get your opinion out and letting it be heard on a subject you feel strongly about.

Prewriting Essay 3

The topic I am considering doing my Rogerian argument on is the controversy of the BYU basketball player getting kicked off the team right before the NCAA basketball tournament. Brandon Davies, who was one of BYU's most promising players was kicked off the team for having premarital sex with a girl at the age of 19. According to the BYU honor code, and being that it is a very catholic school,  they forbid drinking or sex while attending the University or before marriage. I find this topic interesting because I am a big college basketball fan and I have a lot of opinions on the situation. I find it easy to say how they have the right to follow school policy if their rules are broken and that their school board has the power to make the decision that they choose. At the same time, I would bring up the fact that he was a very promising athlete and to ruin a boys possible athletic future career is not a fair punishment. Also, he showed a huge amount of remorse after his actions, which shows that he is taking responsibility as a man for what he has done. By bringing up all of these points and views, I think I will be able to write a successful Rogerian argument on why he should be allowed to continue playing, especially when their school has a chance to win a National Title. The only difficulty I see in writing this argument, is that I will have to find a scholarly and legitimate source on the topic and not just a bunch of opinions that other people have written. Scholarly sources that I am going to try and find are articles written by the Dean of the school, or even professors at the school that have been published in worthy news sources. If this topic gets too difficult to find a legitimate source, I will have to brainstorm and try to find another topic.

Tiger Mom Rebuttal Version 2.2

Dear Mrs. Chua,

            My name is Jake Eckhaus and I am a student at Ithaca College in upstate New York. I have recently read the article posted in the Wall Street Journal, “Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior”, and I must say I feel rather angered by the assumed parenting of Western and Chinese mothers. I don’t believe that you have the right to restrict your children to not playing any instrument other than the violin or piano in that it may harm their mental health and state of being. Another statement that I would completely like to disprove is how all Chinese girls cannot have boyfriends in high school and that they do not go to sleep away camp. Finally, it is no where near okay to tell your child that they are fat or that they are garbage in that it is psychologically damaging as well.

            In the article, you talk about how you would not let your children play any instrument other than the piano or violin (Chua pg.1). This is absolutely ridiculous and could cause your child to feel very timid and low in personal expression. Plenty of Chinese-American mothers allow their children to attend private guitar, trumpet, and even drum lessons, in which their children are free to release stress, anger, or emotion through their instrument. According to Elizabeth Scott, whose research has been checked by the Medical Review Board, it was found that, “ Music can also be used to bring a more positive state of mind helping depression and anxiety at bay, and can help keep creativity and optimism levels higher” (Scott par.4). This shows that any instrument that is found enjoyable can help children and the body develop in a healthy way. Although the piano and violin may be very soothing instruments, it should be up to the child on which sounding instrument they get the most enjoyment out of and take seriously. There is no evidence saying that drums or guitar lead to bad behavior and as research shows, any instrument can have a powerful effect over a child. It is obvious that not all Chinese mothers like yourself forbid musical freedom for their child. Music is a wonder of the world, and should not be hidden from a child if they would like to explore certain instruments.

            It is also crazy how you think that ALL Chinese parents do not allow their daughters to date in high school or for their children to not go to sleep away camp. Being a freshman in college, I personally have four years of high school experience. Attending high school for four years, I have seen multiple relationships between Chinese girls and boys along with, although maybe shocking to you, relationships with Chinese girls and western boys as well. To go into even more detail, a Chinese girl that I know named Jessica Lee has been dating her boyfriend since 9^th grade. I don’t know if this may be shocking to you or not, but that would mean Jessica has dated him through her ENTIRE high school experience. Also, I have attended sleep away camp from the ages of 10-12 and I had plenty of Chinese children in my group. Along with my personal experiences, according to Jon Malinowski from the American Camp Association, “ In terms of race and ethnicity, 75 percent of residential camp populations in 2006 were white, 10 percent were black, 7 percent were Hispanic, and 3 percent were Asian” (Malinowski par. 4). This statistic itself is enough to prove the “no” sleep away camp rule wrong. To add to that, this country is becoming more culturally accepting every year so I would not be surprised if the amount of Asian campers have gone up to about 10 percent by this year. Seeing these personal anecdotes and official facts, I think it is safe to say that some Chinese girls do in fact date in high school and that Chinese children are allowed to attend sleep away camp over the summer.

            The thing that I found the most repellent in your editorial is how you publically called your daughter garbage at a dinner party and how you think it is okay to tell your children that they are fat (Chua pg.2). You might think this will enter your child’s brain as hard but positive encouragement and it does not at all. If you were so caught up on your studies and knowledge about parenting, you would have realized that negative parenting could lead to child depression and cause aggravation. In an article called Harsh Parenting in Relation to Child Emotion Regulation and Aggression, the head of the department of education at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Lei Chang backs up this statement. He explains that, “The association between harsh parenting and child aggression depends on whether parental disciplinary actions are carried out in an emotionally controlled or an emotionally charged manner” (Chang par.2). Considering you have called your child a fatty and garbage in front of many people, I would like to assume you said it in an emotionally charged and negative manner. As we see from Professor Chang, that could easily lead to a direct cause in a child’s future aggression. Out of all of the remarks that were made in your article, publicly humiliating and putting down your child is by far the most surprising in my opinion. No child should have to endure the feeling of a parent letting everyone know around them that their child has disappointed them.

            In all, I think your editorial; Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior might be why many people stereotype that Chinese Mothers are crazy and strict. With mental health from musical freedom, guessing that all Chinese girls do not date in high school or go to sleep away camp, and negatively calling out your child in public, one can see that the way you parent your child isn’t the way every Chinese parent does. In fact, this might even prove that some Chinese parents raise their children like many Western parents do in today’s world. If your way of parenting work for your children, then continue to do as you do and I hope they grow up to be very successful and happy people. On the other hand, parents should be able to raise their kids in their own way, so for you to stereotype and assume how things should be done is a disrespectful blow to all parents who are different around the world.

Sincerely,

Jake Eckhaus.

WORKS CITED

Chang, Lei. "Harsh Parenting in Relation to Child Emotion Regulation and

     Aggression." Ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. J Fam Psychol, 17 Dec. 2011. Web. 1 Mar.

     2011. <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2754179/>.

Chua, A. (2011, January 8). Why Chinese mothers are superior. Retrieved March 4,

     2011, from http://online.wsj.com/article/

     SB10001424052748704111504576059713528698754.html

Malinowski, J. (2008, September). Site seeing: Selected findings from the site,

     Facilities, and program survey. Retrieved March 13, 2011, from Camping

     Magazine website: http://www.acacamps.org/campmag/issues/0809/malinowski

Scott, E. (2007, November 1). Music and your body: How music affects us and why

     Music therapy promotes health. Retrieved March 17, 2011, from

     http://stress.about.com/od/tensiontamers/a/music_therapy.htm

Reflection 2.1

The research process for this specific topic was actually very interesting. I am very into my topic, so looking up things to disprove what I don't agree with is very fun for me. I have currently found two secondary sources that provide support for some of the points I make. I was able to find an article about a psychology study showing how negative parenting words can harm their child psychologically in the future. I was also able to find an article that a women wrote specifically arguing against one of the points I disagreed with as well. The only thing I am confused about is whether or not a source is a scholarly if it is written by a professor yet found online. I will continue to look up more sources incase I find ones that make my argument stronger than the ones already used. I plan on using the library database as well in order to help my search go along more smoothly.

Tiger Mom Assumptions About Parenting Essay 2.1

3/2/2011

            Dear Mrs. Chua,

            My name is Jake Eckhaus and I am a student at Ithaca College in upstate New York. I have recently read your article, Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior, and I must say I feel rather angered by the assumed parenting of Western and Chinese mothers. I don’t believe that you have the right to generalize how it is alright for parents to have their children not play any instrument other than the violin or piano. Another statement that I would completely like to disprove is how all Chinese girls cannot have boyfriends in high school and that they do not go to sleep away camp. Finally, it is no where near okay to tell your child that they are fat or that they are garbage in that it is psychologically damaging.

In the article, you talk about how no Chinese mother would let her child play any instrument other than the piano or violin (pg.1). This is absolutely ridiculous. Plenty of Chinese-American mothers allow their children to attend private guitar, trumpet, and even drum lessons. Although the piano and violin may be very soothing instruments, it should be up to the child on which sounding instrument they get the most enjoyment out of and take seriously. There is no evidence saying that drums or guitar lead to bad behavior and for all we know any instrument can have a powerful effect over a child.  On Cnngo.com there is an article called A “Tiger Mother” Rebuttal From Across the Ocean written by Samantha Lee, a Hong Kong journalist. In this article she states, “My mother is Chinese.  She was, by Chua’s standards, heathen in my upbringing, as she allowed me to interact with other children for fun and also let me play the clarinet.” (Par. 14) By Lee being allowed to play other instruments as a child, it is obvious that not all Chinese mothers like yourself forbid musical freedom for their child. Music is a wonder of the world, and should not be hidden from a child if they would like to explore certain instruments.

It is also crazy how you think that ALL Chinese parents do not allow their daughters to date in high school or for their children to not go to sleep away camp. Being a freshman in college, I personally have four years of high school experience. Attending high school for four years, I have seen multiple relationships between Chinese girls and boys along with, although maybe shocking to you, relationships with Chinese girls and western boys as well. To go into even more detail, a Chinese girl that I know named Jessica Lee has been dating her boyfriend since 9^th grade. I don’t know if your brain can handle this fact, but that would mean Jessica has dated him through her ENTIRE high school experience. Also, I attended sleep away camp from the ages of 10-12 and I had plenty of Chinese kids in my group. Seeing these personal anecdotes, I think it is safe to say that some Chinese girls do in fact date in high school and that Chinese children are allowed to attend sleep away camp over the summer.

 The thing that I found the most disgusting in your editorial is how you publically called your daughter garbage at a dinner party and how you think it is okay to tell your children that they are fat. (pg.2) You might think this will enter your child’s brain as hard but positive encouragement and it does not at all. If you were so caught up on your studies and knowledge about parenting, you would have realized that negative parenting can lead to child depression and cause aggravation. In an article called Harsh Parenting in Relation to Child Emotion Regulation and Aggression, the head of the department of education at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Lei Chang backs up this statement. He explains that, “The association between harsh parenting and child aggression depends on whether parental disciplinary actions are carried out in an emotionally controlled or an emotionally charged manner.” (par.2) Considering you have called your child a fatty and garbage in front of many people, I would like to assume you said it in an emotionally charged and negative manner. As we see from Professor Chang, that would lead to a direct cause in a child’s future aggression. Out of all outrageous remarks that were made in your article, publicly humiliating and putting down your child is by far the most disgusting in my opinion. No child should have to endure the feeling of a parent letting everyone know around them that their child has disappointed them.

 In all, I think your editorial called Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior might be why many people will consider you to be the reason many people stereotype that Chinese Mothers Are Crazy. With not letting your kids explore music freely, guessing that all Chinese girls do not date in high school, and negatively calling out your child in public, one can see that the way you parent your child isn’t the way every Chinese parent does. In fact, this might even prove that some Chinese parents raise their children like many Western parents do in today’s world. Parents should be able to raise their kids in their own way, so for you to stereotype and assume how things should be done is a disrespectful blow to all parents who are different around the world.

WORKS CITED

Chang, Lei. "Harsh Parenting in Relation to Child Emotion Regulation and

     Aggression." Ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. J Fam Psychol, 17 Dec. 2011. Web. 1 Mar.

     2011. <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2754179/>.

Leese, Samantha. "A 'Tiger Mother' Rebuttal from across the Ocean."

     Cnngo.com. N.p., 21 Jan. 2011. Web. 1 Mar. 2011.

     <http://www.cnngo.com/hong-kong/life/samantha-leese-138468>.

Documentation Quiz

1. MLA Format
2. In this system there are two parts which are in-text citations and Parenthetical Citations
3. For a Web Source you need: Author/Editor, the name of the database that you used, title of the project, the article or book used, the date of the revision, and any version numbers that are available to you.