Factoid #5

My fact: New research out of Sweden finds that prolonged use of technology, particularly within an hour before bed, throws off the sleep cycle and circadian rhythms of young people and can lead to symptoms of depression. 

P.C., F.A.C.S., David Volpi, M.D.,. "Heavy Technology Use Linked to Fatigue, Stress and Depression in Young Adults." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 02 Aug. 2012. Web. 26 Sept. 2013.

The Third of the Fabled Factoid Fridays

The fact: There are roughly 320,000 seriously mentally ill people in prisons and jails this year and there are only about 100,000 beds for psychiatric patients in hospitals and mental institutions. Which means there are almost 3 times as many people with serious mental disorders in prisons as there are in proper health care facilities.

Pan, Deanna. "TIMELINE: Deinstitutionalization And Its Consequences." Mother Jones. Mother Jones, 29 Apr. 2013. Web. 19 Sept. 2013.

Column #3

Why Syria’s images of suffering haven’t moved us

In this week's column, Kennicott ironically uses pathos to show his reader's how ineffective the current appeal to pathos, through horrifying images, is. He begins his argument with intense imagery, painting a picture of horror like the rest of the media is currently. His sentences are often very short for emphasis. It is brilliant the way he reconstructs an example of the portrayal of Syria with his own words, but he proves that it still has the same effect. His tone is very cynical and almost disappointed that Americans are so unmoved by these atrocities. He builds up his column with a distinctive periodic structure; not revealing his specific exigence until the very last sentence. Kennicott states many pieces of historical evidence for possible reasons for this, but his point remains unchanged: Americans are impacted very little by the appalling photo-journalistic images coming out of Syria. Even oral representations of them, as in Obama's speech, are dismally (as a side note - I ADORE the adjective dismal...) underwhelming to the public. So far, out of all of his columns that I've read to date, Kennicott's exigence and restraints for this subject are most clear. He seeks to inform the public about the slow pollution of media images that has changes our perception of the world and it's moral codes. His audience is completely, blind to this, and as the consumers of this information, are actually the source of the problem he is addressing. Once again, his column is stunning. Moving. And almost startlingly effective at bringing together so many different elements to construct an argument about and societal issue or event.

Kennicott, Philip. "Why Syria’s Images of Suffering Haven’t Moved Us." Washington Post. The Washington Post, 13 Sept. 2013. Web. 18 Sept. 2013.

Column Analysis Número Dos

National Gallery’s ‘Tell It With Pride’ looks at black Union soldiers

Kennicott once against wrote a superb piece seamlessly combining elements of history, pop culture, art, and politics into a column that doesn't just address one event, but contextualizes it within an intelligent setting. In this post he seeks to educate his readers about the multifaceted issues surrounding this latest show at the National Gallery featuring photographs and sculptures of the black soldiers in the Civil War. His biggest constraint is his reader's lack of knowledge the specific art pieces he's addressing and the historical context in which they were created, but through patient explanation his point is effectively made. The way he organizes his column, effortlessly flowing between presenting facts, potential reactions to those, and examples to related to this issue creates this 3-D sense of conversation, rather than lecture. He ranges between almost clinically presenting his evidence and casually adding comments on it. He employs imagery to present his readers with a mental image they too can study as his analyzes it. Once again, he penned a brilliant article that encompassed a large volume of topics and ideas but still was easily understandable.

First Factoid Friday (isn't that nifty alliteration)

My fact: 1 in every 17 Americans lives with a mental illness and 1 in every 4 adults lives with a serious mental illness. Adding up to almost 57.7 million Americans with some sort of mental illness every year. The economic costs of untreated mental illness cost the US over 100 billion dollars each year.

National Alliance on Mental Illness


NAMI | About Mental Illness. (n.d.). NAMI: National Alliance on Mental Illness - Mental Health Support, Education and Advocacy. Retrieved September 6, 2013, from http://www.nami.org/template.cfm?section=about_mental_illness

Controversial Topic Choice (finally)

After much wailing and gnashing of teeth I begrudgingly decided on a singular topic; the societal stigma associated with and the repercussions of (monetarily, public safety, social welfare) mental illnesses e.g. depression, anxiety, dementia, PTSD, schizophrenia. I realize that this is a massive issue, that I cannot possibly canvas all of, but I chose it for also the same reason; I will definitely not get tired of it and there are so many facets to it that I will be able to discover something completely new every week.

What the Hell is St. Louis Thinking

I was definitely intrigued with this project. I think as a general rule, our society currently has this obsession with the past, highlighted by the "hipster culture" with typewriters and record players etc. so I think his idea is particularly relevant right now. And the fact that people can't delete pmakes the responses more genuine and more thought out beforehand. It's an interesting concept, trying to characterize a city by the thoughts of its inhabitants. It would have been nice if they had presented some of what had been written, I'm curious to see how people responded.

Column Analysis

50 years after MLK, Obama delivers predictable rhetoric amid historic backdrop

In this article Kennicott analyzes Obama's speech which memorializes MLK's "I Have a Dream" speech given 50 years previous. Kennicott's specific exigence is the need to create an intelligent and accessible analysis of an event in the current world and its relevancy to the past. His constraints consist of the lack of specific knowledge about MLK's speech in his audience. Kennicott's final call to action ends up echoing Obama's sentiment about the shared commonality of the American people and their collective goals. Kennicott's voice is very matter-of-fact and in some places, blunt; but this creates a greater sense of credibility - that he is synthesising facts and presenting an analysis in which his personal bias is minimal. Kennicott opens and closes the article by drawing the parallels of structure and rhetorical method between Obama's commemorative speech and MLK's original. Kennicott's message is effective, in my opinion, particularly due to his honesty. He points out that it is not Obama's best speech, but at the end of the article, by ending with Obama's own remarks, he seems to concede to the effectiveness of Obama's speech.

Columnist Choice

Kennicott, Philip. "Critic’s Notebook: Homophobia’s Politicization Reflects Sad State of Russian Cultural Politics." Washington Post. The Washington Post, 30 Aug. 2013. Web. 1 Sept. 2013.

The general topic of Kennicott's columns are centered around the arts and culture. I was drawn to his column by the way he incorporates so many different topics; the arts, politics, and societal issues into articles that seem not to fit into any one category. I hadn't had any previous experience with this author. I spent a very long time sorting through many different columns, both online and in print, and was pretty dissatisfied with most of them. I was also hesitant to choose one from the list that was provided because I didn't want to end with a repeat of the same author someone else had. But in the end I figured that an award winning author was probably the best way to go and someone writing about the arts and culture interested me.