Brandon Wright

WRT 205

Unit 3 Reflection

1. The title focuses the reader’s attention very well as it presents a big topic that is surrounded by controversy. The lede also does a good job getting the reader engaged. The lede is a basic overview of the topic by being creative and authoritative. It also provides the reader insight into the issue at hand. However, the lede does not give away too much information, but just enough to get the reader hooked into the article.

2. The introductory section of the article does a good job inviting the reader into the paper. The intro is very straightforward and has an urgent tone to it, which helps the reader understand the importance of the issue in today’s world, not in the future or in the past. It locates the problem by providing background information and statistics within he first paragraph to show the reader how big an issue this is, while also explaining to them what should be done to fix the issue.

3. The writer does a good job offering up strong ideas. For example, in the article, one of the main arguments is where the World Cup profits go and how that is affecting FIFA. I stated that argument then supported it by showing stats of where the money went and how much of it went to each nation. The reader would have no idea that a British territory the size of Houston are receiving the same amounts of money as the United States, and if that does not upset the reader, then what will?

4.I think I did a good job in the way I presented the topic and all the facts relating to it. FIFA and corruption was a very broad subject, so I had to narrow it down to specific issues within the organization, and I felt I did a good job with that. Also, the way I presented the evidence to back up my arguments was done well. I provided stats, quotes, and pictures/graphs in order to get my points across to the reader. Having all three of those is a great way to keep the reader engaged.

5. The writer did a good job recognizing what a New York Times Magazine audience entails and how it challenges the ideas that are overgeneralized. FIFA is a massive organization and not many people know the details about its corruption scandal and investigation. Many people know that FIFA is a corrupt organization, but that’s about it. The writer does a good job going into more detail while also developing strong points and sequences that keeps the reader focused and interested.

6. I feel that I did a tremendous job researching the controversy that is FIFA and its corruption scandal. I also did a good job persuading the audience about how urgent and badly an issue this is. I felt that the audience got a good understanding of this topic based on my article and an understanding of its importance.

7. The writer met research expectations of this assignment. I had six secondary resources that included newspaper articles and websites. I also included five pictures/graphs in order to help illustrate my points. Plus, I used one academic journal as well, therefore meeting the research expectations.

8. I did a good job integrating the secondary and primary sources to my text. By adding information and hyperlinks throughout my article, it gives the reader important information throughout the entire article, not just in the beginning or end. The way I spaced out the article is also a good reason how well I integrated my sources.

9. I think I did a good job persuading the audience to consider my claims based on the sources and facts used to back up my argument. With the combination of scholarly sources, pictures, and newspapers articles, the reader has a wide variety of information that helps cement the argument. I was also very effective in my use of the rhetorical tools (ethos, logos, pathos).

10. In order to keep the reader engaged, you have to strategically place pictures and hyperlinks throughout the article. I felt that I did a good job with this. I placed graphs and pictures at the ends of paragraphs to help back up what I wrote in said paragraph. The visuals are very helpful because it gives the readers a quick break while still learning more about the topic at hand.

 

11. I think I did a good job expanding from my original draft to the final product. The biggest thing my peers told me was to have a much more powerful conclusion, and I thought I did that well. Another thing was my subtopics were too condensed together and I needed to separate them better while being able to relate them all to my main argument, which I thought I was able to do better from my first draft to my final article.

 

12. The use of hyperlinks in the article is very effective based on what they are. Many of the hyperlinks are used from quotes said by people and used on subjects that the reader may not know much about. For example, Sepp Blatter, former FIFA President, has made numerous inappropriate statements during his tenure regarding female soccer and females in general. I touched on just a few of those statements, but the hyperlink attached to it goes to a website where you can see every inappropriate quote from Blatters time as President

 

13. The writer did a very nice job editing for grammar, style, and usage. The article is written very urgently because the issue needs to be fixed ASAP, and the reader needs to understand that. The writer’s attention to sentence level issues helps him establish much credibility on the issue at hand. He has a lot of facts to back up his claims, and knows the topic very well.

FIFA and the Corruption Scandal

The Federation Internationale de Football Association, more commonly known as FIFA, is the governing body of world football, or as Americans put it, soccer. FIFA was founded in 1904 to oversee international competition among football leagues in Belgium, France, Germany, and many other European nations. They are responsible for the organization of all the major international tournaments, including the World Cup. Over the past 25 years, FIFA has become a corrupt and arrogant organization and it needs to stop. FIFA is ruining the great sport of football and it is time to start over.

One of the big question marks regarding FIFA is profits, considering that FIFA is a not for profit organization. According to FIFA’s website, “FIFA is an association of associations with a non-commercial, not for profit purpose that uses significant funds in the pursuit of its statutory objectives, which include developing the game of football around the world, organizing its own international competitions, and drawing up regulations for association football while ensuring their enforcement.” Well, that answers that question. But what does FIFA do with the profits from major tournaments like the European Championships and the World Cup? Well FIFA answered that as well. “In short, all 209 member associations will benefit in equal measure. In fact, FIFA spends $550,000 USD on worldwide football development – every single day. What is more, we also spend nearly $2 million USD on organizing international competitions – every single day.” An investigation by ESPN took a closer look at the 209 members of FIFA and the profits they received from the World Cup and found some interesting statistics. FIFA did distribute the profits from the World Cup equally to all 209 members, no matter the size or population, but some members are not actually countries, even though the World Cup only has 32 teams (countries) in it. “Liechtenstein (Pop. 37,000+) gets as much money from Germany (Pop. 80 million+), Andorra (Pop. 79,000+) gets as much money as Spain (Pop. 46 million+), and Montserrat (Pop. 5,000+) gets as much money as the United States (Pop. 320 million+).” Just to clear things up, Montserrat is not even a country, but a Caribbean island British territory located near the Dominican Republic.

Comedian John Oliver summed up FIFA’s distribution of profits perfectly when he said “America, a country with over 320 million people, gets just as much [money] as an island with a headcount matching that of a slightly overbooked Caribbean cruise.” The reason behind all this madness is because of one man and a ton of money.

Sepp Blatter was the President of FIFA from 1998 to 2015. Under his rule, FIFA increased a football presence and sought expansion in Africa and Asia. He has also overseen a huge influx in revenues generated by the World Cup. However, he has been questioned about the collapse of the marketing company International Sport and Leisure and has been linked to allegations of corruption in the bidding processes for the awarding of FIFA tournaments. During his tenure, Blatter has made inappropriate and sexist remarks about women’s football and has constantly gotten away with it. When he was asked how FIFA could improve the women’s game, he said this:

“Let the women play in more feminine clothes like they do in volleyball. They could, for example, have tighter shorts. Female players are pretty, if you excuse me for saying so, and they already have some different rules to men – such as playing with a lighter ball. That decision was taken to create a more female aesthetic, so why not do it in fashion?” –Sepp Blatter

What CEO would be able to get away with saying those things about women and still have a job? Sepp Blatter was an exception since that remark was made all the way back in 2004! He was scrutinized by the United States and many European nations but was loved by the small nations because of the profits they were making. Sepp Blatter was so popular by the smaller nations that he ran unopposed in the 2011 FIFA Presidential Election. So what finally cost him his job? The United States, along with Swiss authorities, opened a full-scale federal investigation into FIFA and raided many FIFA offices to try and find evidence of corruption and bribery. On December 3, 2015, the investigation paid off, as Swiss authorities arrested sixteen people and were sent to the United States where they were all indicted on corruption charges. Sepp Blatter tendered his resignation, but FIFA’s own ethics committee had had enough of Blatter and subsequently banned him from football for eight years. Blatter’s right hand man Michel Platini, also received an eight-year ban from football. In the past few months, at least twenty more high ranking FIFA executive have been indicted by the United States and are all facing extradition to the US to stand trial for their past actions. This is a big step for world football as the investigation has jump-started a much-needed reform in FIFA, but will it be enough to change everything?

If you given a map and were asked to find Qatar, most of you would have no idea. Qatar is a small nation located in between Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf and has a population of about 2 Million people. It is also hosting the World Cup in 2022. That is correct, a country in the Middle East, whose population is the size of Houston, Texas, will be hosting the worlds biggest sporting event in the summer of 2022.

Right after Qatar was announced as the host for the event, corruption allegations started getting thrown around left and right. Qatar, would be the first Arab nation to host the World Cup, but has never had a team qualify for it. At the same time, the United States finished second in the voting, which made them even more upset at FIFA than they already were. Awarding a summer event to a country in the desert seems like an awful idea. Well, at least was the case, until FIFA decided to change things up.

“FIFA’s executive committee has decided that the 2022 World Cup final will be held on Dec. 18, world football’s organizing body confirmed on Thursday. The climax of the winter World Cup will take place a week before Christmas. The final, set for a Sunday, is also Qatar’s National Day, a celebration of independence. The 2022 World Cup is to be played in the winter to avoid the fierce heat of June and July, and it will be a shortened tournament over 28 days instead of the usual 32.”   –ESPNFC

FIFA decided to change the 2022 World Cup to winter because the average temperature in Qatar in June is 120°F. By changing the World Cup to the winter months, clubs leagues will have to stop their seasons for a full month because their players will be player for their respective countries in the World Cup. Big leagues like England’s Premier League, home of Manchester United and Spain’s La Liga, home of Real Madrid and FC Barcelona, will have to take a break from their season in order to accommodate this ludicrous idea. Imagine the uproar if the NBA season took a month sabbatical in December so its players could play in the Olympics. The same reaction needs to happen with the changing of the World Cup. The World Cup is a summer event and has to stay that way. If a country cannot host the event in the summer months, then it should not be allowed to host the World Cup.

The World Cup is the most sought after event in the world, and numerous countries have bribed FIFA officials in order to secure the rights to host it. According to FIFA, the benefits of hosting the World Cup include, A catalyst for new and improved facilities to support the development of the game at all levels, increased number of and higher quality football development programs for both the elite game, talent identification and grassroots, an increased cooperation and goodwill between the various stakeholders – the member association, the government and other bid stakeholders such as the bid host cities, commercial partners, the media and the community at large, and a whole list of others. Because of these reasons, countries want the best odds to host the World Cup; therefore they bribe FIFA officials in order to gain their vote. In 1998, Morocco gave out $10 Million worth of bribes in order to secure votes from FIFA executives, and still lost out to France. Germany secured their World Cup bid in 2006 when they spread $8 Million to numerous FIFA officials while South Africa gave FIFA President Sepp Blatter and members of his cabinet excess of $10 Million in order to host the 2010 World Cup. The 2018 World Cup is being held in Russia, and while FIFA has stated that bribery was involved in the voting process, they announced that they would not vote again.

Gianni Infantino was elected President in February of this year, marking the beginning of a new era in FIFA. He was elected President easily and was backed by the United States, England, France, and many other European nations. He was elected for a three-year term and is a big believer in reforming FIFA. He helped write a 200-page reform package and plans on implementing it over the next year. He seems like the right man to turn FIFA around, but when we take a closer look, things do not seem as great. When 11 million documents were leaked in the “Panama Papers” a few weeks ago, Infantino’s name was mentioned. It states that Infantino sold television rights for the 2006 UEFA Champions League to a third party before they sold them away for nearly three times the original price. The agreement for the television rights was signed off by Infantino, who the director of UEFA at the time. It only gets worse for the current FIFA President as he recently added Philippe Blatter to FIFA executive committee, the most powerful committee in all of soccer. Philippe is the nephew of former President Sepp Blatter.

Just when we think FIFA is beginning to change and clean up, it takes a step backward into the past. The past year has been a disaster for FIFA, as many high-ranking executives have been arrested and thrown out of world football for years. While all of that is good, there is still an underlying issue; the structure of FIFA has to change. Corruption and bribery is going to continue unless the entire organization starts over. The 2026 World Cup vote, which is coming up in two years time, is going to be the first big step towards FIFA’s new future. The United States is the favorite to host the event, and if they lose out to Morocco or Azerbaijan, then we will know that FIFA has not changed a bit. It is time to start over FIFA, stop ruining the great game we all love!

 

 

Brandon Wright
Amy Barone-Phillips
Writing 205
29 February 2016

Your Food:
What the Labels Don’t Say

Food, something humans consume in order to support the body. Historically, humans hunted and gathered, or farmed food in order to stay alive. Today, with the advances in technology and continuous increase of the world’s population, the food is supplied to us by the big bad food industry. The food industry is a very dangerous place. Much like every other business, big corporations are in charge, and that is not always a good thing. We are blinded by the lies told to us by food corporations and that needs to stop. It is time everyone knows the truth about the food industry. Food safety is a big issue and it is not regulated as well as it should be.

Organic Foods

One of the fastest growing markets in the food industry is the organic market. We have been sold on this idea that organic foods are the greatest thing in the world. We have been told that they are less fattening, provide more nutrients, and taste better than nonorganic products. Well how much good do organic foods really do for us? Organic Illusions, by Blake Hurst discusses the overhyped value of organic foods. “A recent study by a group of scientists at Stanford University found that the nutritional benefits of organic food have, to say the least, been oversold. Apres moi, le deluge. A furor has erupted.” We cannot be blinded by the big corporations and their motives. The truth is, organic foods are more expensive than conventional foods. As Hurst goes on to say, “Despite the growth in organic food sales, they only constitute 4 percent of the dollar value of all foods sold; and since organic foods often cost twice what conventionally grown foods do, the quantity of organic sales constitutes considerably less than 4 percent of the total market.” As we can see, we are paying way more than we should be for organic foods when we compare it to the overall market. Even more startling, we may be paying more money to actually get sick. “The Stanford study found that organic foods were considerably less likely than conventional foods to have pesticide residues, although organic foods were higher in E. coli.” Yes, organic food may not have as many pesticide residues as conventional food, but diseases like E. Coli are more abundant in these foods. Why should we be paying twice as much for food that is not 100% safe to eat? Organic foods are not what they are made out to be, and we need to think long and hard before we buy them.

Safety First?

We assume that packaged food is always safe to eat, but that is not a good assumption. Marion Nestle is a Professor of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health at New York University, and in her article Resisting Food Safety, she states “Safety is relative. The most authoritative estimate of the yearly number of cases of foodborne disease in the United States defies belief: 76 million illnesses, 325,000 hospitalizations, 5,000 deaths… Such numbers undoubtedly underestimate the extent of the problem.” About 25% of the entire US population will get sick from food this year. That is one in every four people. So we get sick from something that we depend on to survive? That should not happen. Obviously some of these reasons have to do with allergies and other external sources, but 76 million is way too many. We are so surprised when one gets food poisoning of some other illness from food because we do not see it as a common occurrence. We are clearly wrong about how rare foodborne illnesses are. Nestle later goes on to say “Centralized food production has created even more favorable conditions for dissemination of bacteria, protozoa, and viruses. We call these organisms by collective terms: microbes, microorganisms, or ‘bugs.’ If harmful, they are pathogens. Many pathogens infect animals we use for food without causing any visible signs of illness.” If we are not concerned about food illnesses yet, then when will we? Since food production happens in mass quantity, bacteria and other viruses are more prone to be attached to the food. In Food Inc., an Academy Award-Nominated documentary film that examines corporate farming in the United States, Eric Schlosser, an American journalist and author known for his investigative journalism, states that “Now our food is coming from enormous assembly lines where the animals and the workers are being abused.  And the food has become much more dangerous in ways that are being deliberately hidden from us.” Still don’t believe that food safety is not a concern? Let us ask Carole Morison, a former contract poultry farmer who raised chickens for international corporations for over two decades and appeared in Food Inc. According to Morison, “The companies don’t want farmers talking. They don’t want this story told.” Carole Morison was silenced by multimillion-dollar food corporations about the conditions of the chickens she was raising on her farms. The chicken coops were not big enough for the amount of chickens she had, which caused numerous problems. The chickens lived in an enclosed coop with hundreds of each other and barely could move around. Many of these chickens had bacterial infections and other diseases due to the filthy conditions, but that did not stop the corporations from packaging them and selling them to the people. We are under this spell that corporations are looking out for the consumer at all times. They want us all to think that is the truth. That couldn’t be any further from the truth. Food safety is not being regulated well enough, and that is no longer a myth, it is a fact.

The Government

While big corporations are at fault for many of the food safety issues, the real culprit is the Federal Government. The Federal Government has ties to the to all the big food corporations and that is not good. Consumer Reports: You are what they eat looks into the Government and how they are turning a blind eye to food safety. They investigated the issue of safety and here is what they found. “Our investigation raises concerns that the federal government isn’t doing enough to protect the feed supply and that as a result, the food we eat may not be as safe as it could be: Regulatory loopholes could allow mad cow infection, if present, to make its way to cattle feed; drugs used in chickens could raise human exposure to arsenic or antibiotic-resistant bacteria: farmed fish could harbor PCBs and dioxins.” Loopholes in the federal government will get eaten up by big food corporations and will use those loopholes to gain advantages. Loopholes are every lawyers dream and big corporations have plenty of lawyers. The fact is; these companies can get away with this as long as the loopholes continue to exist. The big winner in all this is Monsanto, America’s most hated corporation, who has a long history of corruption. Here are just a few examples of Monsanto squeezing their way into powerful positions in the US Government, courtesy of Seattle Organic Restaurants. “In 2001, Anne Veneman (who was on Board of Directors of one of Monsanto’s biotech subsidiary called Calgene) was appointed as head of USDA in charge of regulating genetically modified organisms… In 2001, Linda Fisher who previously was Monsanto’s VP of Government Affairs was appointed as Deputy Administrator of Environmental Protection Agency… In 2002, George Poste (the former Monsanto’s animal specialist) was appointed as head of bioterrorism division of Homeland Security… In 2008, Obama despite his promises to label GMO foods appointed Michael Taylor, (Monsanto’s former attorney and VP) as Deputy Commissioner of FDA. He also gave his blessing to soda companies to continue the use of aborted babies as flavor enhancer in sodas and soft drinks.” As we can clearly see, Monsanto has very powerful friends in the three most significant agencies relating to food safety, the FDA, USDA, and EPA. If this is not corruption at its finest, then what is? We cannot sit around and watch as food corporations take over Government agencies, we must take action in order to protect ourselves from a food crisis.

Conclusion

The food industry is a very dangerous market to get involved in. Farmers have the toughest jobs in the US because they have to work long and hard hours everyday, get paid very little for their work, and are forced to keep silent about the conditions the animals goes through before being turned into food. Organic foods are not as healthy as we are told, safety in the workplace is nonexistent, and the Government is just as involved in the corruption as the big businesses are. These issues were swept under the rug for a long time, but now we all must know the truth. The food industry has been lying to us all. Food safety is a big issue and it is not regulated as well as it should be and it starts at the top, and we the people must fix the problem by having our voices be heard. For if not, nothing will change, and food safety will never get any better.

 

References:

Food, Inc. Directed by Robert Kenner. Food, Inc. Accessed February 28, 2016. http://www.takepart.com/foodinc.

Nestle, Marion. Politics of Foodborne Illness.

“Organic Illusions – AEI.” AEI. Accessed February 28, 2016. https://www.aei.org/publication/organic-illusions/.

“Political Corruption of Monsanto and Its Influence.” Political Corruption of Monsanto and Its Influence. Web. 28 Feb. 2016.

“You Are What They Eat.” Consumer Reports. January 2005. Accessed February 28, 2016.

The writer’s project to me is the central focus or idea that a writer is trying to make a point about. While doing this, the writer wants to inform the audience of his/her about the ideas and how they are important. I was able to identify the texts “project” by reading each one and figuring out what there messages was to the reader and what they wanted me to take away from it. That is what I tried to do for my own “project,” get my point across and make sure the readers comes away for it with a good understanding of what is being discussed.