Susan G Komen Scandal

Susan G Komen Scandal

In this research paper we will critique an article called Susan G Komen Scandal, written by Professor Noam Chomsky of MIT and four other articles on the same scandal by 4 big media players. In this article professor Noam Chomsky presents his views and different factors responsible for the Susan g Komen scandal.

Chomsky, who was born on December 7, 1928, grew up in Philadelphia, the city of his birth. He was educated in linguistics at the University of Pennsylvania, receiving an M.A. in 1951 and a Ph.D. in 1955. A committed Zionist, Chomsky considered settling in Israel during the late 1940s; but his academic mentor, Professor Zellig Harris, persuaded him to continue his linguistic studies in the United States (Gaddis, 2005).

Chomsky became assistant professor of linguistics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1955. His first book, Syntactic Structures, was published in 1957. A revision of his doctoral dissertation, Chomsky's book developed the concept of generative or transformational grammar. Language, according to Chomsky, is a basic human capacity; grammar, in his view, is the surface product of deeper, universal conceptual structures existing in the mind, which can use rules of logic and syntax to generate new thoughts and expressions. Chomsky's thesis challenged the dominant behaviorist school of linguistics, which viewed language entirely as a response to external stimuli. Arguing against this attitude Chomsky pointed out that children are able not only to repeat what they are taught but also to use words and grammatical rules in sentences they have never heard before (Chomsky, Barsamian, 2001).

n early 2011, congressional Republicans and Democrats squared off in negotiations over the federal budget, with a government shutdown looming if the two parties could not come to an agreement. Republicans sought extensive federal budget cuts while Democrats protested the direction and size of the spending decreases. In January, Representative Mike Pence (R, Indiana) introduced an amendment to the budget bill that blocked any federal funds from going to Planned Parenthood, a family planning group that operates internationally and runs more than 800 clinics across the U.S. dedicated to reproductive health nationwide (Johnson, Lambert, 2010).

Conservatives who lobbied for the Pence amendment said taxpayer funds should not go to an organization that performs abortions. Although abortions do constitute a portion of Planned Parenthood's services, which are funded both publicly and privately, the organization says 90% of its operations foster general reproductive health. Those operations include preventing unintended pregnancies by distributing birth control and educating the public about contraception, reducing the spread of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) through education, testing and treatment, and screening for cervical and other cancers. Planned Parenthood clinics also offer pregnancy tests, prenatal care and adoption referral services. Furthermore, Planned Parenthood sponsors the largest sex education program in the nation, educating 1.2 million adults and teenagers every year. More than 5 million men and women worldwide make use of Planned Parenthood's services each year (Grant, 1998).

In 2009, Planned Parenthood received about $363 million in government funding, which accounted ...