Blog #5 Framing

For my two articles, I chose two where they talked about how Ramzi Yousef, a terrorist who took part in the 1993 World Trade Center Bombing, wants to get out of solitary confinement and be with the other prisoners. The first article was from the Chicago Tribune and it was a long peace. They start the article by describing his prison life and the size of the cell he is living in. In the article, the writer uses sources such as a humanities professor about how solitary confinement could psychologically damage these prisoners. The framing used here was a bit of both "get him out of solitary confinement" vs "he should be locked in there for the rest of his life. The writer, Richard A. Serrano, carefully doesn't get on either side and plays it safe.

The other article was from the Huffington Post and this one was much shorter than the Chicago Tribune one. The article starts off with "First, Ramzi Yousef declared war on the United States government, vowing to wage jihad with bombs. Now, the convicted ringleader of the 1993 attack on the World Trade Center has taken his fight to the courtroom." This writer just hits it out of the gate and attacks him. The only source they got was something from CNN. The Framing here was on the side of "Lock him up" because of the way the writer starts off.

Out of these two articles, I prefer the Chicago Tribune one because it was detailed and it played on both sides. The framing works here because it makes you think rather than just hearing from one side. The other one was much shorter and really didn't get into a ton of detail. Framing allows us to analyze a important topic and have a debate about it. Here, we could if whether or not this man should be in confinement or not. 

Buying Things

As a film lover, I love to buy older films and the best place to get them at is Amazon. For example, I bought "The Searchers" and for $7, I got the movie, a comic book, a book on the production and photos of the set. A lot of DVDs I have you can no longer find in stores. I also get textbooks from there which I'll need for class.

For groceries, my Father does something radical: He gets meats at a butcher shop, fruits and vegetables at Marianos and everything else at Wal-Mart. He says he's trying to find the best deals and save money.

For clothing, I usually go to stores like Marshalls or Carsons to get woven shirts. I also like to get band shirts and shirts with characters like Superman or The Avengers and I usually shop where I can find. Rock America and Target are great places to find those kind of shirts. I have foot problems on my right foot after an accident in high school, I always buy and wear gym shoes. For that, I go to stores like Dicks or Kohls to find good sneakers that feel comfortable.

My Social Class

Looking back at my Familiy's social class, I'd say we fall in the Middle class. My Father came to America during the 70's from Mexico and lived in Chicago. He started out as a dishwasher and worked his way up to being a waiter, bartender and eventually, a Manager. My Mother came in the 80's with her sister from Colombia and lived out in the Northwest suburbs She only had a high school education and did not speak English well. Eventually, the two met and it was afterwards that my dad owned a restaurant in Palatine called El Toreo. I remember growing up, my family did not go hungry and I always had clothes, toys and a house of my own. I also have a little sister, siblings from my dad's previous marriage and a brother from my mom's side. When my Father's Niece came to the United States with her husband and family, my family let them stay in our place till they find a place. Cut to 2005 when my Father's business got caught in fire and for about three months, we were in a tight financial situation. After it was repaired, everything went back to normal. At the restaurant, my whole family was working there. My Father worked both in the front and back, my Mother and aunt worked in the front, my other brothers and sister were wait staff and I worked as a busboy. I made great money and one summer, I had a ton of money.

Then the economic crisis happened and soon, the restaurant saw fewer people each day. Eventually, my Father sold the restaurant in 2010 and gave it to my Aunt. My parents found themselves arguing with each other over money issues and for a short brief time period, my Father went to go live with his Uncle in Chicago. After about five months, my dad returned home and went to his main passion, fixing and installing equipment. Together with his first son and a friend, he started small business installing security cameras in places like Grocery stores, Apartment complexes, and other business's. I also came along and helped out a bit. Now, we find ourselves between Middle and Lower Middle class. Recently, I found a job all of my own as a tutor for an after school program and thanks to my Associates Degree, the pay is good.  

Exploring the site, it was interesting to see the classes and how they developed over the years. With the Income Mobility, it was scary to see the people who were at the top and how some fell to Middle or even Lower class. It was also happy to see people who started at the bottom rose and eventually, find their place in society. The components of class was a favorite of mine because you can choose the occupation and see their education and how much they earn and wealth.