Monthly Archives: April 2023

Major Project 4 – Research project

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Audrey Bachmann 

Professor Weaver 

English 1102 

April 18, 2023 

 

The Serviceman’s Readjustment Act of 1944, also known as the GI Bill, signed in 1944, still has its influence on America today. This helped veterans start a new life after World War II by providing them with the education and basic needs needed to build a life in America. This Bill affected millions of veterans around the United States and was an important factor in the availability of post-secondary education, no matter what direction veterans took.  

 

The G.I bill impacted American lives more than imagined. The GI Bill : The New Deal for Veterans by Glenn Altschuler and Stuart Blumin says, “formally known as the Serviceman’s Readjustment Act of 1944, it was far from an obvious, straightforward piece of legislation, but resulted from tense political maneuvering and complex negotiations.” The GI bill passing the legislature was more complex than just being able to enact it. It caused democrats and republicans to come together who have previously opposed Roosevelts “New Deal.” The returning soldiers were more supported than they have ever been and were getting the support they needed to build new lives in America. This bill provided veterans with job training, unemployment compensation, assistance in tuition, and housing loans.  

The BI Bill affected the whole family at home. In the book The GI Bill Boys : A Memoir by Stella Suberman, it accounts a personal anecdote of how the War, Great depression, and other major events during this period of time affected her family, friends, and herself. I focused on Chapter 12, which is all about how the GI bill affected the veterans she knew. Some of them were relatives, others just peers. When the news came out about this new document, the people all gathered together and read through this bill over and over again, showing its significance. The bill included everyone who participated in the military, which was very inclusive to everybody. “All enrollees got the same benefits, no matter their rank…the bill did not state who were not eligible but who were.” (The GI Bill, 179) The government officials who were in charge did a decent job at trying to include everyone to get good benefits from this, but it was not 100% inclusive. There was still discrimination against Jewish people and people of color, which was not supposed to be the case.  

Jack, who served four years in the military, got covered by the GI Bill for four years, which would cover his Ph.D. It would also cover the new people to college to get their undergraduate diploma, which was great. It seemed to cover everything, as the preparers knew the war took a lot of time apart from families. It also offered a home loan which was guaranteed with a zero down payment and a low interest rate. This was a really good deal for returning veterans as it offered so much.  

After the War, an estimated 15 million soldiers would be unemployed. Its official name was the Serviceman’s Readjustment Act, which was pushed through the congress. The National Archies, Servicemen’s Readjustment Act (1944), states “President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed it into law on June 22, 1944, just days after the D-day invasion of Normandy,” This was put into place quick, right after the scraps of World War II. This bill was proposed since before the war was over. The name “The GI Bill of Rights” is the public name for it, as it explains more of what it is in the title. The areas it focused on were hospitalization, business and home purchases, and education, which was its main focus. Around 8 million veterans received benefits to help with their education, around 2,300,000 attended a secondary institution, 3,500,000 received training for school, and 3,400,000 received training for jobs. Although this was not everyone who participated in the war, there were a decent amount of people who used the benefits of this bill. The degrees given to post-secondary institutions doubled between 1940 to 1950, and the percentage of Americans with advanced degrees rose from 4.6% to 25%, which is a drastic rise.  Not all veterans were able to use this bill to the best of their abilities, as Black vets were not often able to get loans from banks for mortgages in Black Neighborhoods, but also could not really buy homes in suburban white neighborhoods because of the discrimination they received. (Servicemen’s Readjustment Act, 1) 

Nowadays, the original GI Bill is not still around, but programs and deals used to benefit veterans stemmed from this bill. There is something called the Post-9/11 GI Bill, which is very similar to the old Servicemen’s Readjustment Act (The GI Bill of 1944). In the article, Post-9/11 GI Bill (Chapter 33) by Veterans Affairs explains the qualifications for this newer bill. To be eligible, veterans must meet at least one qualification. Some include serving 90 days (about 3 months) on active duty on or after September 11, 2001, receiving a Purple Heart on or after September 11, 2001, and were honorably discharged, or a dependent child using benefits transferred by a service member that is qualified. (Post-9/11 GI Bill, 1). Some benefits can include, “Tuition and fees…. Money for housing (if you’re in school more than half time) … Money for books and supplies… Money to help you move from a rural area to go to school.” (Post-9/11 GI Bill, 1). These benefits do expire though after a certain amount of time. If the service a veteran did, ended before January 1, 2013, the benefits will expire 15 years after their last separation date from the active service. If they ended after/on January 1, 2013, the benefits would not expire, due to the law called the “Forever GI Bill – Harry W. Colmery Veterans Educational Assistance Act.” (Post-9/11 GI Bill, 1) 

This brings me to the newest GI Bill, called the Forever GI Bill. This was signed by Donald Trump in 2017, and this bill officially called the Harry W. Colmery Veterans Educational Assistance Act, but the shorter name is the Forever GI Bill. The article, G.I. Bill – Definition, Forever GI Bill & Benefits states that, “The bill also helped build America’s Middle class, although it left many minority veterans behind… decades since President Roosevelt signed the first GI Bill, yet it continues to empower and enable veterans and their families to reach their goals.”  This bill contradicts the 15-year limitation put into place by the Post-9/11 GI Bill and the benefits veterans got from that older bill. This Bill provides more benefits, like inputs a rehabilitation program to students across the country, helps veterans with educational counseling, and offers veterans who lost eligibility under the Post-9/11 GI Bill program. (G.I. Bill – Definition, Forever GI Bill & Benefits) 

Even though the original GI Bill that was signed into law in 1944 expired in 1956, it influenced other Bills to take its place and prosper today to still help the service members of the country today. There are still benefits for veterans, which did not end in the 1950’s, and still provide useful resources to live a healthy and educational life.  

Sources Cited: 

Glenn Altschuler, Stuart Blumin. The GI Bill : The New Deal for Veterans. Oxford University Press; 2009. Accessed March 29, 2023. https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip,shib&db=nlebk&AN=273843&site=eds-live&scope=site 

Stella Suberman. The GI Bill Boys : A Memoir. Vol 1st ed. Univ Tennessee Press; 2012. Accessed March 29, 2023. https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip,shib&db=nlebk&AN=471648&site=eds-live&scope=site 

Post-9/11 GI Bill (Chapter 33) | Veterans Affairs. (2023, March 9). Veterans Affairs https://www.va.gov/education/about-gi-bill-benefits/post-9-11/ 

G.I. Bill – Definition, Forever GI Bill & Benefits. (2019, June 7). History.com. https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/gi-bill 

Servicemen’s Readjustment Act (1944). (2022, May 3). National Archives. https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/servicemens-readjustment-act 

Fisk University Project 3

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Mahasin Nasir

Dr. Weaver

English 1102 Section 328

March 30, 2022

 

Summary

Fisk University is the oldest Historically Black University in Nashville, Tennessee with an exceeding and authentic academic and social profile. A large part of the university’s profile is how they have maintained academic excellence since 1866 and its cultural significance with the upbringing of black leaders. Because this is a major part of their website, Fisk uses tone to draw in their ideal audience who want to continue the upbringing of black excellence and legacy. These students would know that their attendance at Fisk University would continue to allow greater experiences and opportunities for black students to add to the historical legacy and leading academic culture.

Analysis

The impact of history has provided Fisk with an abundance of information and detail to use when advertising their school to prospective students. This history engages their readers/students to want to learn more and contribute to the culture. Coincidently, the use of context from their upbringing is a large part of attracting their students. With this, the website has a specific tone to appeal to a narrow audience of students who would seem to be intrigued or related to the history of the university. Further, the ideal readers imagined should take pride in maintaining the social and academic view of young, black intellectuals and continuing to diversify their community. Readers are drawn in by the statement, “Here, we produce true leaders and scholars that are ready to change the world” (Fisk University Welcomes). This statement being on the opening page draws in those prospective students who are about making change and being welcomed into a new community.

Seemingly, Fisk’s website uses a very influential and hospitable tone to draw in its audience. This tone goes hand in hand with the context they give about the university. History plays a big role in the creation and accreditation of the university. To show this, the website includes history all throughout its about page with 9 different subcategories detailing how they came about and what they are thriving for. With a welcoming tone on the history page, the founders emphasized how the university “would be open to all, regardless of race, and that would measure itself by ‘the highest standards, not Negro education, but of American education’” (Fisk University History). The overall tone in the ending sentence in the section is used to show the readers how education is inclusive, and race has no effect on who can further their education. It uses common, and in some cases relatable, racial history to appeal to its readers with a sense of familiarity about how anyone can make a change in a community that was originally meant to be segregated. This idea is accentuated on the missions and values page. The acronym “D.E.T.A.I.L.S.” is used and under the “D,” the idea that “individual differences…aids us in building a collective wisdom that results in more powerful and relevant solutions to our challenges” (Mission & Values) is used to show the prospective students that Fisk is referencing their own history to further this embracing tone throughout their website. These features combined show the influence and continuities history has on Fisk. It does the job of appealing to students who find value in being change-makers and building on a legacy.

In comparison with the history of the growth of Fisk, the history of music in Nashville displays a strong impact on the ideal community of students that the university advertises to. Historical artists like Etta James and James Brown recorded some of their biggest hits in Nashville. Considering that Nashville has a lot of musical significance and is home to the Ryman Auditorium, known for its raw auditory capability, Fisk embraces that history and attracts their ideal students as they promote their Fisk Jubilee Singers. There was a performance at the Ryman Auditorium for the 150thanniversary of the jubilee singers. They are promoted throughout the history page and even have their own page under the campus life category. Rising musicians who are potentially interested in the university can see the impact Nashville has had on music and how Fisk is maintaining that impact on their website. To further show this, under the Fisk Jubilee singers tab, their Grammy for “Best Roots Gospel Album” (Fisk Jubilee Singers) is the leading cover of the page. By including these small, yet significant, details, the website encloses its ideal prospective students and emphasizes their impact on today’s culture and history.

Another way the website imagines its ideal readers is by weighing the many interests students may have when starting college. College is a learning experience and students want the best outcome to be able to pursue their top interests. To acknowledge this idea about prospective students, the website advertises a dual degree program in collaboration with Case Western Reserve University and Vanderbilt University (Fisk Dual Degree Programs). By endorsing such a program, Fisk’s website engages their ideal students through lightly addressing the fact that some students come into college with more than one compacted interest. Fisk being aware of this shows prospective students that the university is encouraging them to take on all their interests and explore the opportunities and programs that they have to offer.

Response:      

While exploring the Fisk University website and analyzing the rhetorical strategies used, I would say that I would attend this university. I value history and how it has an impact on the future and Fisk prioritizes that throughout its website with its own history. With the South being a very influential region in the U.S., I have no doubt that I could create, change, and influence history in the future by attending Fisk. Being that the university is also an HBCU, I would have a sense of belonging knowing that I am surrounded by people who look like me and not too far from my home in Georgia. My greatest admiration about Fisk’s website is the inclusion of the student-to-teacher ratio. As someone who tends to ask questions about the things I’m most interested in, the low student-to-teacher ratio makes me feel comfortable asking those questions and engaging more in my studies. Knowing that this university has the #1 Academic Stewardship Award, I would feel more than likely to be successful in my future endeavors. Embracing all of these details, Fisk has drawn me in through their rhetorical strategies and I would undoubtedly attend this university.

Sites: Fisk University. https://www.fisk.edu. Nashville, Tennessee. 

Brandeis University SAR MP3

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Summary 

Brandeis University is a Liberal Arts college that finds value in challenging what you know and expanding your knowledge and how you think about majors and desired classes. This University is for students who want to challenge their thinking, find rigor in education as a means to challenge themselves, and don’t follow society’s trends of what’s acceptable—going back to when the University was initially founded in 1948 by the Jewish community in support of their pursuit for higher education, in a time where that was heavily discouraged for this group of people. When the University opened it also welcomed women, another group ostracized and not considered fit to attend universities. From the beginning, Brandeis’s mission has been about inclusion and forming a community of challenged thinkers where they have the space to “answer questions and have your questions answered.” (BU1), Through the analysis of Brandeis University’s website using the ideal reader and purpose analysis techniques, a perfect candidate for Brandeis will be represented, a student looking to expand their thought bubble and look beyond society’s perspective of acceptable and unacceptable. 

 

Analysis

At Brandeis University, they are building a community of forward thinkers who challenge schools of thought and belief. “A Brandeis education is a vigorous exploration in critical analysis, creativity, and self-expression.” (BU1) Throughout the academics page of the website, the University shows how it’s looking for creative thinkers who don’t want just a textbook secondary education, but a place in which they can further question what they know and learn what they do not. Academically you have to be willing to work hard as a student at Brandeis because education and the fostering of learning are held at an extremely high value, unlike other universities where you are there just to get a degree. 

What is the Brandeis population actually like outside of academic boundaries? In the second sentence of the About page, they paint a picture of what they are looking for: “There is no other place like Brandeis. As a medium-sized private research university with global reach.” By starting the first paragraph of the page in what Brandeis is and who they are as a university, you are clued into what Brandeis demographic is as a student body. Starting with the primary identifiers for the student population at Brandeis, through a perceived mission statement, letting us know three prominent identifiers of what a Brandeis student is. Firstly they say, ‘there is no place like Brandeis,’ showing that these students defy the normal bounds of what is perceived as higher education. The next part of their opening stance is ‘private research universities’ showing that a typical student has the means to pay for a private university education. The last part of the statement is that it is a ‘university with global reach.’ They state this throughout the website, but it is genuinely reinforced with their statement on ‘global reach,’ letting you know that this University has a diverse population of students and is socially conscious on a global scale.

Brandeis’s academic page is constructed in a way that creates a calling for students they are looking for while managing to not outwardly show what they don’t want in a student. “A Brandeis education is a vigorous exploration in critical analysis, creativity, and self-expression.” (link) The blanket statement of what a Brandeis education is leaves no room to question what being a student at Brandeis is like; making it clear within the first few sentences of their academic page. Immediately stating how a Brandeis education is ‘vigorous exploration in critical analysis.’ Using vigorous to show the difficulty level of their curriculum while hinting at it being self-led through the words ‘exploration.’ The strength of starting with exactly what they are looking for shows how this is a selective university with high academic standards for its students. 

After giving an overall summary of what academics means to Brandeis, they have pop-ups that take you to each of their different colleges that show how many majors each school has. Brandeis initially indicates that because they deal primarily in Liberal Arts, their options in Schools are mostly Schools of Arts and Sciences. Though this is true, the University ensures that they have a wide variety of majors and minors within the undergraduate school and a variety of masters and doctoral programs in the Graduate school. They also use signifying sentences in the blurb, such as, “Almost half our students double major and some even minor in a third discipline” (BU1). The language in the blurbs tells you how high of a degree you can achieve and often what a Brandeis student does to reiterate the idea of increased rigor and high achieving among Brandeis students. Brandeis wants to inform you that throughout the pages; they are a University of rigor and diversity.

 

Response

In life, I want to pursue pediatric psychology, and I enjoy challenging myself academically. I also surround myself with people who like to be challenged and work hard. One of my key characteristics is being socially aware. I believe in civil rights, women’s rights, and equity for all. Due to my stances and academic self, I would want to go to Brandeis. A very equitable University that also intends to challenge students alike. Earlier in the year, we read an Interview, “To This Scholar, For-Profit Colleges Are Lower Ed,” conducted by Anya Kamenetz with sociologist Tressie Colton. In this interview, Tressie Colton spoke on ‘The Education Gospel,’ invented by Economist W. Norton Grubb and Marvin Lazerson. They say, “The Education Gospel is about the faith we have in education and what a significant role that faith plays in what we call our opportunity structure… we trust education will have a positive effect on our lives and society.” (Kamentez, 1) Through my analysis of Brandeis, I believe they reflect the education gospel’s positive effects. Brandeis provides a place of higher education where education is prioritized. All in all, I would attend Brandeis University. 

 

Work cited

Brandeis University. Retrieved March, 15, 2023

https://www.brandeis.edu/ 

Sacred Heart University

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Summary

The Sacred Heart University is looking for highly motivated students that can be molded into the successful adult that they aspire to be. SHU is known for providing students with nurturing environment to imagine, create and appreciate. The ideal student should attend this university to inhabit an outstanding amount of core values and commitment. The college’s website confirms this by using Pathos and Case studies as their rhetorical strategies.

Analysis                     

Sacred Heart University was founded by Reverend Walter W. Curtis. Sacred heart University has been recognized to be governed and administered by laity and is deeply rotted on Catholic intellectual tradition and the liberal arts (SHU 3). There are quite a few ways Scared Heart University attracts their ideal student, and one of them was using pathos, to keep reader attention with using emotion. When visiting the home page, it initially showed me a montage of students being involved in showing school spirit. The montage had a pause button on the left corner so you could pause it to see current student’s involvement. The background on the home page stood out with a question that stated, “Where Will Your Heart Take You”? (SHU 1)

 

The next slide on the home page montage was SHU basketball team dancing with the entire team showing so many emotions during a game, along with representing school spirit. Slides on home page also showed Students that were reciting a play in an auditorium. The home page alone showed how the author used pathos as a Rhetorical Style. Pathos is when the author uses emotions to persuade a reader, & in fact the author did just that to grab & keep reader attention. They know Students will come to the home page of SHU and immediately get emotional invested into reader more of what SHU has to offer. Roaming the home page will have the ideal student asking themselves do they really have what it takes to succeed academically?

They know that the students want to be involved in extracurricular activities would strengthen students’ confidence and academics. Under the Undergraduate page, another montage was present & later noticing a student writing “Gave me home away from home” (SHU 3) The purpose here was give students a sense of comfortability before even initially applying to the school. This ensures that SHU provides a unique diversity community that is willing to provide all students with a family-oriented experience.

In their Mission tab SHU states that it is open and welcoming to all kinds of families. “The University embraces a vision for social justice and educated students mind, body and spirit to prepare them personally and professionally to make a difference in the global community (SHU 3). The author purpose for mentioning this was to persuade the reader that SHU cares about their wellbeing and life after college. This is to confirm to students that SHU care about them, which is why pathos is such an important factor to author and the reader. It gives students the sense of security they made need to make that decision to apply to SHU.

When students do to apply on the admission tabs & Undergraduate they would find facts and statistics where SHU boast about being the Top 10 Best College Campuses on the East Coast which was reported by the College Magazine. The page also states that “100% of students in the class of 2020 are successfully employed or attending graduate school” (SHU 4) This university not only makes it clear that they are 100% involved in each student success but SHU is has been recognized of being one the nation’s best universities. Previous students revisit SHU to provide the website with case studies to inform the world of how far they have come after graduating SHU.

 

Furthermore, on the college website it thoroughly shows proof that attending SHU school is more than effective. Case studies gives up-close evidence that more than likely have the potential to influence or change the way the reader could digest information. On the Undergraduate Admissions page a student by name Tom Lawless of Class 2021 argues that “Scared Heart admissions staff makes it their mission to ensure your satisfaction and success from the moment you arrive on campus, proving that you are not a number, but part of the Pioneer Family” (SHU 4). SHU made his feel comfortable to the point he considered the university as his second home. When alumni come to back to their home to visit SHU it shows evidence that the universities gave students a family-oriented environment that they come back to leave feedback. If graduates of SHU have interest in active engagement of alumni, clearly SHU meant a lot them when they were there.

SHU alumni page has been provided with the latest Alumni Engagement where an SHU student by the name of Kenneth McDougal wrote an article about how life sprouted after graduating. McDougal majored in global studies with concentration in the Middle East and he minored in political science and criminal justice. McDougal is highly grateful for SHU from the athletic environment, from coaches and professors creating a community for him to blossom in. McDougal stated that his professors challenged him although he got a great education at the result. McDougal argues that “I owe a lot to Scared Heart.” (SHU 4)

The author used case studies from alumni students to help upcoming students to have something to look forward to after graduating from SHU. Case studies will help upcoming students consider SHU as a great school to eventually apply to. Pathos was also used in the alumni case studies because the students gave their honestly opinion on SHU, and they gave information about life after college. SHU case studies are a plus for school’s website because upcoming students would want to read about the outcomes of previous students. SHU ensured that they gave enough information to persuade readers that they can provide students with everything they need to stay committed and flourish after graduating from SHU.

 

Response

This university made an outstanding effort to persuade me into attending this institution.  My first value I have gained in writing class is learning is “growth”, “patience” and “openness”. The alumni page from SHU allowed me witness different students with different degree but has the same amount of success. Their testimony reassured me that if I do plan to attend this school, I know that the risk will be as big as the reward after graduating. This university gives students a variety of options on campus but is known for liberal arts. I see myself having a successful outcome while attending this intuition. I want to be 100% involved with my academics and make time for some extracurricular activities while on campus as well. I would like to display openness knowing that this university is a Catholic school with guidelines I am not used to. Having openness will allow me to see things from a different perspective, and being open enough to accept the help that will be provided or needed.  As I mentioned “patience” earlier; those are one the things that has been an effortlessly learning curb for me, although I often enjoy the reward. Personal growth and patience have similarity to each other, and you can’t have one without the other. Sacred Heart University exhibits a family oriented that would help with my openness and it would give me a sense of independents. I want to attend this school to grasp new ways of learning fundamentals and to bring out the absolute best in me. SHU website helped me consider this school later in the future.      

 

 

Work Cited:

Scared Heart University. SH. Retrieved March 27, 2023 from  https://www.sacredheart.edu/ “Admission & Aid” & Alumni