Predictions about the Feburary 2013 State of the Union

To: Editor

From: Lawren Hightower

Date: 1-28-13

Subject: Predictions about what President Barak Obama will say in the state of the union address February 12, 2013

Scope: Compare and contrast previous state of the unions by President Obama and other presidents and discuss which ways I believe that President Obama will handle the state of the union speech that will be given on February 12, 2013.

Need: It is a significant event because it will be the first state of the union for President Obama during his second term as President of the United State of America and just his fourth overall as the president.

Methods/Sources: I will watch and record the State of the Union on CNN, after I watch it once I will watch it again to gauge crowd reactions and get a better understanding. I will use the databases provided at CNN.com and ABC news.com to provide additional analysis. I expect the president to address the financial state of the nation early on and throughout the speech. The state of the union will be just 2 weeks before congress is set to address the next set of economic deadlines. The financial state of our country has been a touchy issue since the president initially took office four years ago, so addressing the issue and providing the people with a plan as to how we will forward in the handling of this crisis will be important. Expect the president to address equal rights, one of president Obamas strongest qualities since being elected president is tackling these tough issues regarding same sex marriages and equal women’s rights, by addressing these issues the president will make sure to keep some of his biggest supporters happy. President Obama will no doubt defend his position and continue to defend his decisions to tax the wealthy more than the middle class, a decision that isn’t the most popular among the people.

Presentation: An op-ed column of about 800 words discussing the event. Sources will be sited. First paragraph would be about the topics he touched upon and in which order. The second paragraph will be if these are the issues that the president was expected to touch upon. The third paragraph will be about reactions and what the plan for the country is moving forward.

Follow up: A follow up could be if the President has followed through on his word, whether or not there has been circumstances that may have occurred that has altered the original plan of the president. Comparing and contrasting the Presidents first term through the first couple months to the Presidents first couple of months of his second term.

MLK shares his day with Barack Obama.

Martin Luther King Jr was the face of the civil rights movement, his energy and devotion for everyone in this nation to have equal rights was matched by very few. MLK day 2013 showed how much this country has come since the days of protesting and boycotting throughout the 1960's. Our 44th president of the United States of America, Barack Hussein Obama was inaugurated in Washington D.C. the same Washington D.C. that King gave his famous "I have a dream" speech in the summer of 1963.


Obama and King both share similar qualities, King fought for the rights of African Americans while Obama fights for the rights of women, and same sex couples. King and Obama have both won the Nobel peace prize. Obama and King both have "the gift of gab" which in layman's terms is an outstanding the ability to speak, both have used this gift to educate, convince and lead. King and Obama had to overcome odds, King dealt segregation and racism in the 60's while Obama defied odds to become the first President in U.S. history of African American decent, both men overcame these odds to sit in the positions of power that they each have respectively held.


CNN reported that a more than a million people attended the inauguration despite the fidget temperatures. The reported attendance for the 2009 presidential inauguration was a estimated 1.8 million people.Every elected president in United States history has an presidential inauguration, the first taking place on the balcony of Federal Hall in New York City, New York.  http://dc.about.com/od/specialevents/a/Inauguration.htm?r=twitter

We are watching history," Anderson Cooper, CNN correspondent said.

Respect is not earned its given, Obama and King used their talents and abilities to earn the respect of many people while helping to shape to our country. This is not a matter of opinion, its a fact that both men's legacy will forever be entrenched in the history books of our nation. Could it be that Obama is the face of a modern day civil rights movement with his support of equal rights for women and same sex marriages, the same position that King held during the civil rights movements of the 60's.

"King and Obama shared an important trait that allowed them to flourish: Both knew how to reach out and become acceptable to key elements of the white community so they could build multiracial coalitions to effect change. They also had to appeal to black constituencies while not offending whites," said  William Douglas and David Lightman:

MLK and Obama: a day of similarities | Nation | News from Fort Worth, Dallas, Arlington,...

The bible used at the inauguration to swear in President Obama is one that was once used by King, as well as one used by former President Abraham Lincoln. Who knows, one day maybe we will be celebrating BHO day, that's short for Barack Hussein Obama day.

Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/2013/01/20/4561812/mlk-and-obama-a-day-of-similarities.html#storylink=cpy

2013 NYT's Proposal for MLK/Inauguration Column

To: Editor

From: Lawren Hightower

Subject: MLK birthday/Presidential inauguration on the same day.

Scope: We will discuss the presidential inauguration being on Martin Luther King’s day and the significance of the event. We will compare the 2009 record-breaking inauguration to this year’s expectation during the anticipated frigid weather.

Need: It is a significant event in that the first president in United States history is to be sworn in on a day dedicated to one of the nations most successful and relentless civil rights leaders.

Methods/Sources: The reasoning behind the story is that everyone needs to understand the magnitude of the event that is set to take place that weekend. There are significant event that occur in a lifetime that people will forever remember where they were and what they were doing. Whether a person likes the president/MLK or even weather they don’t history will be made on this day and people should explained the significance. The cable television show “CNN presidential inauguration”. The History channel’s four-day special on Martin Luther King and the civil rights movement. Various newspapers may be used to supports opinions or add insight. USA today. Interviews from professors and students n their pinion about the two events falling on the same day. The New York Times database will be used to gather information as well.

Presentation: An op-ed column of about 1000 words discussing the event and the correlation between them. Sources sited. First paragraph would be about how far the nation has progressed, second paragraph would pertain to the correlation between the two and the amount of people expected to show up in regardless of the weather conditions. The third paragraph will be about the possibilities of our nation going forward in respect to diversity and the U.S. becoming a more accepting culture a whole.

Follow up: A follow up could be about the results of the turn out and whether the amount of people who show up to the inauguration could mean a rise in presidential support or a decline. This op-ed would also contain what the people would like to see from the president.

Assignment #2

The Nation Heads Back to School With New Worries About Safety: By. Mokoto Rich

In this article Rich touches on the safety of schools after the New Town school shootings. Rich angels the article in a way to for everyone to relate to but also mentions specific cities by name. There is plenty of attribution throughout the article, Rich touches bases with as many different people as possible to provide readers with different points of view to relate to. the article ends with a quote which is unorthodox but with this particular article it works. Several other journalist helped contribute to this article and they all received credit at the end of the article.

 Armstrong Admits Doping, and Says He Will Testify: By Juliet Macur 

This article reacts to the reports that Lance Armstrong will admit that he used PED's during his career. Macur does a good job of staying neutral throughout the story, nor accusing or defending Armstrong. Macur does a good job of getting insight from employes of the U.S. anti doping agency as well as employees of the Livestrong foundation Armstrong created.