Office of Student Life

MEMO
To: Esiquio Uballe, Ed.D From: Elizabeth Loiler, Shalene Ward, Andrea Cruz Campos, Robert Salatto Subject: Magazine recommendation for the Office of Student Life waiting room. Date: 8 October 2013 try highlighting these titles and using a vertical white column The purpose of this memo is to present our impressions of the three magazines, and to offer our recommendation for the best choice. Summary We examined Time Magazine, The Atlantic, and National Geographic according to three main criteria that should offer the most universal appeal why universal? Whos visiting the office? that they should be non-polarizing, attractive and easy to read, and intellectually stimulating and came to the conclusion that the National Geographic best fits the offices needs. Discussion Our three main criteria for judging these magazines were that they should be non-polarizing, attractive and easy to read, and intellectually stimulating. Our most important criteria was that the magazine should be non-polarizing. When we say non-polarizing, what we mean is that students should be able to read it and find it minimally offensive. Politics are one of the topics that we were wary of because of this reasonthe large range of students that pass through this office (evidence? Details?) guarantees a diverse range of political opinions, and so conflict is almost inevitable. We wanted the magazines to be attractive and easy to read so that they might hold the interest of a wide audience. A very simple way to judge this is to look at the pictures. Are they colored? Plentiful? Attractive? Finally, we defined intellectually stimulating as appropriate for school and non-specific enough to cater to a wide range of majors. This is great! Still need to say how you know something about the readers, though. We found Time Magazine to be least suitable of all the choices. It was professional looking and thinner, which is less intimidating for a quick read, but the pictures were not plentiful and there was a large amount of ads. Furthermore, the writing is crammed together in a manner that makes it more difficult to read. For intellectual stimulation, we dont argue that it is not well written. However, it is not exactly non-specific. From their website we gathered that they focus on current events and world problems to an arguably depressing degree. Moreover, the problems are examined according to USA standards, a lack of diversity that does not match the diverse range of students who would be reading it (such a nice idea! Back it up with evidence). But the most important area that Time Magazine failed in was being non-polarizing. Both of the physical copies we looked were clearly politicalthe Sept. 23, 2013 issue looked at gun-control, an incredibly polarizing issue, and the Sept. 16, 2013 issue was largely about Vladmir Putin. The website showed slightly more variety, but still held focus on politics. The lack of diversity and

To: Esiquio Uballe, Ed.D From: Elizabeth Loiler, Shalene Ward, Andrea Cruz Campos, Robert Salatto Subject: Magazine recommendation for the Office of Student Life waiting room.

focus on politics meant that Time Magazine, despite its general good reputation, did not meet our standards for an appropriate waiting-room magazine. The Atlantic was a magazine we considered, but eventually dismissed for similar reasons as Time Magazine. There were a lot of good points to this magazine, especially in the area of intellectual stimulation(give specific example?). From the website we gathered that there is a large cross of topics offered, and we couldnt see any overwhelming bias that would lead to conflict. The best part of this magazine is the fictional story section. The Atlantic is historically famous for publishing great works of prose in their magazine, and it is a habit that continues today and made this magazine a serious contendera short story would definitely hold the interest of many students. However, it too failed in the area of non-polarizing topics. From the website we gathered that the main themes were politics, business, and similarly adult topics. When we examined the Sept. 2013 issue, the issues covered were murders, spies, and military, (good evidence) meaning that at least a few of the issues offered are largely political. We decided that although The Atlantic had a fictional story section, the lack of other interesting areas of reading and possible political articles meant that it did not meet our standards. Of all three magazines, we eventually decided on the National Geographic as the best option for the Office of Student Life waiting room. We decided that it makes an interesting read by showing environmental topicsranging from travel, to animals, natural sciences, and the environmentfrom all over the world. Although it does not have as large a range of topics as the other two magazines, National Geographic gives more cultural diversity (evidence). Moreover, given that the Office of Student Life frequently sees volunteer members (citation?), we felt that a focus on the environment would be appropriate for their kind of work and suitable for the tastes of anyone else. This magazine is the most attractive, giving lots of full color, large, and beautiful pictures alongside the articles, which we believed outweighed the slightly larger amount of ads within the magazine. While National Geographics pictures are not always censoredit is, for example, fairly common to see individuals naked from the waist upit is our argument that these photos are not likely to cause offense because they are not meant to titillate. Finally, it was the least polarizing of all the magazines. The magazines mission statement, as given on their website, is Inspiring people to care about the planet, a desire we thought few would take offense from. For these reasons the National Geographic best met our standards for the waiting room. Recommendation We recommend purchasing the National Geographic for your office waiting room. It is nonpolarizing, attractive, intellectually stimulating, and shows cultural diversity that should appeal to all manner of students visiting the Office of Student Life. If you have any questions about our selection process that is not answered here, please contact us by email.

To: Esiquio Uballe, Ed.D From: Elizabeth Loiler, Shalene Ward, Andrea Cruz Campos, Robert Salatto Subject: Magazine recommendation for the Office of Student Life waiting room.

Works Cited National Geographic. National Geographic Society, 1996-2013. Web. 3 October 2013. Time. Time Inc., 2013. Web. 3 October 2013. ---. 16 Sept. 2013. Print. ---. 23 Sept. 2013. Print. The Atlantic. The Atlantic Monthly Group, 2013. Web. 3 October 2013. ---. Sept. 2013. Print.

To: Esiquio Uballe, Ed.D From: Elizabeth Loiler, Shalene Ward, Andrea Cruz Campos, Robert Salatto Subject: Magazine recommendation for the Office of Student Life waiting room.

Memo Peer Review Sheet Criteria Addresses audience with an appropriate, clear, and succinct style. Attends to audiences needs and values. Uses conventional design of memos, including heading, statement of purpose, summary, discussion, and recommendation sections. Defines relevant criteria and provides specific details to support its endorsement or rejection of each magazine. Organizes results and paragraphs in a smooth, logical pattern. GRADE: 90 Address the postwrite question here: Comments Great style. Youre clearly thinking about the Deans needs here.

Great memo design.

Really impressive organization! You compare criteria in a balanced way and address a reasonable counterargument in every P! I also love that you defined your criteria so specifically. Only two things to add (one category): evidence supporting your claims about visitors to this office, and more specific evidence from the magazines themselves. For example, you could compare the actual ratios of picture/text in each magazine.