Current Connection: 3.2

In an ancient article by James K. Gentry and Raquel Meyer Alexander, journalists for The New York Times, entitled “Pay for Women’s Basketball Coaches Lags Far Behind That of Men’s Coaches,” Gentry and Alexander notifies the change in the coaches’ salaries over the years, reasons why the men get paid more than the women, and how the women possibly “get cheated” in their pay compared to the men.

Embedded in the text, Gentry and Alexander wrote, “…the median salary for [men] coaches [during 2010] was $329,300, nearly twice that of [women] coaches… who had a median of $171,600.  Over the past four years, the median pay of men’s… increased by 40 percent compared with the 28 percent [of women’s]…”  The clarity of this quote creates confusion because if the men are getting paid twice as much than the women, why is the percent of increase fairly higher for men than women?  Men are already getting paid more than women, so why should their salary increase be higher?

Pat Summitt and the Lady Volunteers

In reference to the article, Gentry and Alexander noted, “… the vast majority of women’s programs at large universities are not successful financially, while men’s basketball teams are…”  Their minds processing alike, people would rather watch men play basketball than women.  Everybody is aware about that fact!  In this predicament, the quote essentially states that any circumstance involving women will not be worth what men do.

Equally important, Gentry and Alexander declared, “…contracts are often structured so [men] coaches perform more additional duties beyond simply coaching.”  Seriously, what more do the men have to do to get paid two times more than the women?  Even though the quote goes on to say that “the men are required to make 20 appearances a year at alumni events, while the [women are] required to make 15,” the five-appearance difference should not require an immense pay for the men, exemplifying how the women are robbed financially.

Individually, I express a relationship with the article because the men basketball coaches at the junior high theoretically get paid more than the women for the same reasons the article mentioned: they coach football (an additional duty) and they are simply men.  In support of a text, I can allude this passage to an episode of SportsCenter I watched that discussed the salary cap of male and female coaches in the NBA, WNBA, and NCAA.  In a worldwide perspective, no matter if the profession is teaching or medicine, the pay is proportionally the same for men to women, even though doctors get paid much more than teachers.

In summary, women typically cannot make more money than men do.  As sad as this epidemic is, I only see one way that women can make more money: wait patiently until a global raise showers down from the heavens.

• Absolute Phrase
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Work Cited

Gentry, James K., and Raquel M. Alexander. "Pay for Women’s Basketball Coaches Lags Far                    Behind That of Men’s Coaches." The New York Times. 6 Apr. 2012. Web. 14 Jan. 2014.

Current Connection: 3.1

In an ancient article by David Woods, a columnist for The Indianapolis Star, entitled “Equal Pay? Not on the Basketball Court,” David Woods reports the feelings of Tamika Catchings, Harvey Catchings, and Kelly Krauskopf on salary caps for the NBA compared to the WNBA.

Kevin Garnett

Shown in the article, Tamika Catchings quoted, “it honestly hasn't been brought to my attention, but it's a true statement…”  In reference, Tamika Catchings, arguably one of the best woman to play the game of basketball, spoke her mind when she stated that the salaries for the WNBA need to rise, presenting the idea on how WNBA players do not stack as much as NBA players because if the highest-paid WNBA basketball player is somewhat complaining about the pay, then there definitely needs to be a change.  Her statistics compared with Kevin Garnett, a highly-paid NBA player, Tamika exhibits more honors and credentials, yet she is not even near the salary of Kevin Garnett.

In the passage, Harvey Catchings, the father of Tamika Catchings, implied that the WNBA “would have been unimaginable 20 years ago…” unlike the “[unimaginable] NBA salaries…”  In brief, he basically specified that NBA salaries are too much and WNBA salaries are too little.  His poor basketball skills still good enough to make an exceptional living, Harvey Catchings, a former NBA player himself, despised the fact that he got paid twice as much than his superstar daughter.

Tamika Catchings

Evidently, Kelly Krauskopf, the C.O.O. of the Indiana Fever, the team Tamika Catchings plays on, mentioned, “…a pretty darn good living [for a four-month season]…”  Opposing the views of Tamika and Harvey Catchings, Kelly Krauskopf considered that compared to an ordinary household, the pay for WNBA players suits a comfortable living.  Krauskopf also inferred that since the development of the league was an elongated period after the development of the NBA, the pay should logically be lower.

Personally, I can create a connection to this article because I have more credentials and experience than my coworkers that were hired after me; however, my coworkers generate more money than I do.  In relation to another text, this article most generally resembles writings involving males and females because of bias situations and stereotypes.  Globally, men truly get paid more than women even if they hold the same profession as women.

All in all, many societies impact the roles of males and females.  In this situation, men will always come out on top if the matter is about money.

• Absolute Phrase
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• Participle

Work Cited

Woods, David. "Equal Pay? Not on the Basketball Court." USA Today. 19 May 2012. Web. 12 Jan.      2014.

BR#1: A Time to Love: Stories from the Old Testaments - Walter Dean and Christopher Myers

“Together with his younger son Christopher Myers’ strikingly original artwork – employing a different medium for each story – and his older son Chaplain, Captain. Michael Dean Myers’ insightful preface, this abundant family collaboration breathes fresh life into these timeless stories and is a gift to families of all faiths.”  With this quote acknowledging the genius of the novel A Time to Love: Stories from the Old Testaments, Walter Dean and Christopher Myers, father and son of one another, exhibits the true meaning of love throughout the six monumental stories of the Bible in the novel.

In general, what can I say about this book? The novel's theme viewed how I received a different perspective of all six stories portrayed and I connected the six different stories with the meaning of love.  “And it came to pass afterward, that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah… (Judges 16:4) Where you live, I will live.  Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God… (Ruth 1:16)  Compared to the story of Ruth and Naomi, one of the stories in A Time to Love: Stories from the Old Testaments, Samson and Delilah grew to love each other while Ruth and Naomi, daughter and mother-in-law of one another, already had love for each other, exemplifying why the quote from Ruth demonstrated the reaction of what one will do to their loved one.  As these stories completely differ in context, the main theme presented in both stories simply expresses love.  “…for because thou hast done this thing and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son… (Genesis 22:16) …and when he seeth the blood against the lintel and on the two side post, the Lord will pass over the door and will not permit the destroyer to come into your houses to smite you. (Exodus 12:23)  As of these two stories, Zillah and Lot, daughter and father of one another, and Aser and Gamiel, best friends of one another, display love within their stories.  In addition to the stories of Samson and Delilah with Ruth and Naomi, these two stories contrast because of the relationship between the characters, yet the stories all attach with the link of love.  This literature perfectly proves the discrepancies of each story and similarities of love.

Considerably, how does this novel exhilarate me?  The father and son’s style affected my reading of the novel because they illustrated the novel with modern day pictures, although the stories in the novel took place in the biblical era.  On page 18 of A Time to Love: Stories from the Old Testaments, Christopher Myers, the illustrator of the novel, presented a picture of a woman trimming a man’s dreadlocks.  If one pictures Delilah cutting Samson’s hair, one might picture a Renaissance painting of a pleasant woman preparing to snip off a masculine man’s hair.  Since this novel was published in 2003, an extensive time before the biblical era, one will need a more present-day image of Delilah cutting Samson’s hair, exhibiting what Christopher Myers did in the novel.  On page 89 of A Time to Love: Stories from the Old Testaments, Christopher Myers snapped a photo of a standing woman speaking to a sitting, attentive woman.  Even though illustrations in a novel typically show drawings, Christopher Myers decided to bestow his idea of Zillah talking to her mother in a photograph.  This idea that he had of taking a snapshot best portrayed the situation in the story of Zillah and Lot.  His mixture of drawings and photographs attracted my attention of how Christopher Myers desires to express his thoughts in the novel.

Personally, as a lovable human-being, I can relate to this novel because of all the love infused in the literature.  In text, I can compare this novel to Romeo and Juliet because both of these stories ultimately define love between each of the main characters.  Globally, love is the emotion we as people contain with our friends, family, spouse, etc.  Gender roles reflect some of the stories in the novel in a positive way because instead of showing the male and female discrepancies and stereotypes, the novel portrayed the power of love between males and females and how wonderful love is for them.  In the final analysis, Theodore Dreiser states how “[we should] believe in the compelling power of love… [we] do not [have to] understand it. [We should] believe it to be the most fragrant blossom of all this thorny existence.”

In conclusion, I recommend this novel to anybody and everybody, especially the people who enjoy the beautiful stories of the Bible and the stories of love.  Since this novel enhances the way I should, would, and could love, I truly assure that A Time to Love: Stories from the Old Testaments is not only a charming novel, but the literature is also a virtuous lesson of how to love in life.