Too Cool For Shul: New Age of Judaism

Andrew Thompson does a great job in going in-depth about the new age of Jews in the City of Philadelphia. The article does get a little confusing though, with the uncommon Jewish terms and names. The Lubavitch community in Philadelphia is growing because it is welcoming Jews who want to come back to the religion at their own pace. They are not shunned as they would be by the Orthodox Jews, and rather do not look down upon those who go out and party or indulge in their vices.
Thompson does a good job at explaining all about this new movement. He must have been to several events of the community and shared several meals with the followers. He went to one of their religious services, held many interviews and followed some people around during their daily routines to get the personal touch for the story.
For the story idea, maybe he came across the Jews playing music in the street or was invited for a meal with them. He must have had to get to know some people pretty well to get the story because he writes about some as if they have accepted him. A good interesting story that makes this sect of Jews very similar to the Jesuits of the Catholic tradition.

UNC’s Forgotten Minority

In the article UNC’s Forgotten Minority, the writer makes a good attempt at trying to find an interesting story. The story would be interesting for those on UNC’s campus and those who have some affiliation with the school.
Since I do not have any affiliation with the school, it was not of particular interest to me, but I did appreciate the story because it showed a minority to common to many other schools. It is also a minority not many would think of or take notice to care about. For North Carolina, this is an important minority. Since North Carolina is big on crops and agriculture, it is important that the sons and daughters of the farmers get educated to lead the way for the agricultural economy in the changing world to make sure it succeeds in the future.
MacLaggan’s attempt to show how these students do not fit into the life of the campus is not a good avenue to take the article down because you could ask a random freshman at any college or university if they fit in and they will most likely say they do not feel they fit in. It takes time for students to feel a part of their college community, especially if they are from a small town, or classify themselves, or are classified as a minority.
In general, this story sounds like most stories about college students, they come in as nervous freshman, they learn a lot about themselves and different cultures they weren’t exposed to before, and then they go off to serve the world as a newly shaped person open to new ideas and people. The article needs more recent graduates who were considered minorities by the article. The one man from 1967 doesn’t cut it. It could also use some more student perspective about what they think of the minority students in their classes, or if they even notice the minority students.

Death With Dignity

Everyone dies, but should it be up to us to decide when?

In the introduction to the Panel Discussion it was said that the topic of Physician-assisted suicide was a very emotional subject, those in attendance Wednesday evening at Campion Student Center quickly took notice.

“I thought it was going to be a slugfest between the Senator and Socrates,” said Christian Cerra, ’12. Socrates is in reference to ethicist Ted Furton, whose demeanor led many to recollect on their days of philosophy class, often resulting in students pondering life’s greatest questions such as why does the clock move slower when we watch it.

Pa. State Senator Daylin Leach was invited to discuss his recently introduced bill 404, “Death With Dignity.” The bill is plagiarized off Oregon’s bill of Physician assisted suicide, only differing in that one must seek hospice care as well. Daylin’s newsletter can be found here explaining his bill to his constituents.

”The patient is given poison, not medicine, intended to kill, which goes against the whole idea of medicine,” stated Furton, who also said that those who wish to end their lives by Physician assisted suicide were “control freaks” and “cowards.”

Tears and anger accompanied the question and answer session following the panelists’ talk. Some spoke out of anger for comments made, others have not forgotten witnessing the suffering and death of loved ones, an outcome that could change for some families if this bill were enacted.

The “Death With Dignity” is a worldwide movement dedicated to making end of life decisions between families and doctors.