http://hellogiggles.com/instagrams-pro-anorexia-controversy

I know this article is from last year, so it may not be as up to date, but I still feel that it is relevant and have personally noticed the existence of body issues encouragement on social media myself. This article shocked me though.

QUESTIONS: Was this shocking to you, or not? If yes, what hit you or effected you most in this article? If not, how have you noticed social media encouraging body insecurity? How do you believe we should tackle this "epidemic" as the writer calls it? Do you believe that blocking these hashtags will help the problem, or not?

http://www.theguardian.com/world/interactive/2013/nov/01/snowden-nsa-files-surveillance-revelations-decoded#section/1
I found this scrolling "interactive" article very interesting to read. I have found similar formats to an article before and personally find it very easy to read and captivating. Could we/should we replicate something like this for our online format? How much of a difference would it make?

http://www.theguardian.com/music/video/2013/nov/01/lorde-pure-heroine-video-review

do you think this format of an album review is effective? Why/why not? Could we replicate it in the Tam news? And lastly, what do you think the reach would be if we did a review like this on video versus the paper?

(First I would like to enclose that I also have heard that Boussina is somewhat cocky and annoying from several close Redwood friends, and didn't mind the angle they took- personally)
Professionally, I believe they abused their power as journalists. In my opinion, there are two situations that could've taken the same angle without being unprofessional: 1. if this was an opinion piece- it wasn't, and 2. if they had just used direct quotes of Boussina that coincidentally made him sound annoying. They could've easily approached the second option, but found it necessary to write their opinions in the article as well. I felt that the lines, "Boussina likes the spotlight," and "Boussina is the most prolific goal scorer in all of MCAL. And he knows it," were unnecessary. Boussina's quotes alone could have made him sound cocky in this article, without the Bark being acused of being offensive. So yes, in this situation I believe that the Bark abused it's power as a newspaper and in turn offended the subject.

I agree with the authors concept of the irrational amounts of homework among students in America. I also agree with the demand for statistics and facts backing up the feature. It would also be interesting to explore how heightened technology has increased homework load. For example, writing an essay conceptually takes much shorter now using computers than fifty years ago when students used typewriters, or sometimes, (god forbid!) hand wrote many drafts. How has this increased technology (excel, grapher, microsoft word, other interactive online education) changed the homework load? That would be interesting to explore- but maybe a whole other topic.

http://queerguesscode.wordpress.com/2013/03/22/un-memorizing-the-silence-is-sexy-date-script/

How do you think the "silent is sexy" model plays into rape culture? Do you agree that this "date script" creates female oppression? What was your initial reaction when the author accused "tell me when to stop" as being sexist? What is your idea of being respectful? Did this opinion piece change your views on how to approach sexual experiences?

(sorry lots of questions, but very interesting idea approached)