Opinion Columns Research Articles

Presentation of one’s view in Japanese newspaper columns: Commentary strategies and sequencing

This article analyzes Japanese mass media text-specifically 38 examples of the newspaper opinion column Column, My View- taken from the Asahi Shinbun newspaper. The manner in which the writer presents his or her own view as it relates to the column's central message is examined by appealing to the concepts of commentary strategy. Discourse levels that this article focusses on include: (I) the location of the headline paraphrase, i.e., where the central message reflecting the writer's view and/or opinion appears within the column; (2) the characteristics of column-initial paragraphs, (3) the overall sequencing of commentary sentences in Column, My View; and (4) the sequencing of commentary sentences within each danraku paragraph. The preferred rhetorical style in Japanese newspaper texts places commentary sentences toward the conclusion in multiple levels of discourse. This article argues that such preference is enhanced, in part, by inclination toward the topic-comment information structure as well as an array of grammatical phenomena that are critically functional in the Japanese language

Media Discourse and Public Opinion on Nuclear Power: A Constructionist Approach

Media discourse and public opinion are treated as two parallel systems of constructing meaning. This paper explores their relationship by analyzing the discourse on nuclear power in four general audience media: television news coverage, newsmagazine accounts, editorial cartoons, and syndicated opinion columns. The analysis traces the careers of different interpretive packages on nuclear power from 1945 to the present. This media discourse, it is argued, is an essential context for understanding the formation of public opinion on nuclear power. More specifically, it helps to account for such survey results as the decline in support for nuclear power before Three Mile Island, a rebound after a burst of media publicity has died out, the gap between general support for nuclear power and support for a plant in one's own community, and the changed relationship of age to support for nuclear power from 1950 to the present.

Chemistry in the elementary school: Can we make it work?

In 1985 Henry Bent wrote a Provocative Opinion column for this Journal1 entitled Let's Keen Chemistrv Out of Kindergarten. After three years of reading and rereading his remarks, I think it is time to re-examine the issue of developing chemistry activities for the elementary school classroom. The problems and potential prohlems he describes to support his conclusion are valid, but the conclusion itself is not. Chemistry should not be taught at any level by row learning, with demonstrations that do not work, with dry texts, with an incomprehensible curriculum, and by teachers who cannot teach. A well-done elementary school curriculum might even help students to appreciate chemistrv in soiteof the oresence of these nitfalls in hieh ichooland c&eg&ecause will know there is more to ihe field than theorv and calculations. Bent's title should have been Let's ~ e e g c o l l e ~ e Chemistry Out of Kindergarten. What then must we do in the elementary school to help children discover that, in Bent's words, they have it in their bones to enjoy science. To answer this question, we must first decide what we hope to accomplish by introducing chemistry to elementary school students. Three goals predominated when elementary school educators wire asked their reasons for teaching science2, and these should form the core of any approach to elementary school chemistry.

Physics and history

I wish to respond to the article The history of physics' by Professor A J Meadows that appeared in the Opinion column of the August edition of Physics Bulletin (p273). I share wholeheartedly his concern that most of our students, and many of our physics teachers for that matter, have a most appalling ignorance of the subject.

Regulated research.

The SciencesVolume 19, Issue 7 p. 30-30 Regulated Research Louis Lasagna, Louis Lasagna Louis Lasagna is in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology of the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry. His opinion column, alerting readers to media reports on science, appears here as a regular feature of the magazine.Search for more papers by this author Louis Lasagna, Louis Lasagna Louis Lasagna is in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology of the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry. His opinion column, alerting readers to media reports on science, appears here as a regular feature of the magazine.Search for more papers by this author First published: September 1979 https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2326-1951.1979.tb01772.xCitations: 1 AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article.Citing Literature Volume19, Issue7September 1979Pages 30-30 RelatedInformation

No Place Like Home

The SciencesVolume 19, Issue 6 p. 30-30 No Place Like Home Louis Lasagna, Louis Lasagna Louis Lasagna is in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology of the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry. His opinion column, alerting readers to media reports on science, appears here as a regular feature of the magazine.Search for more papers by this author Louis Lasagna, Louis Lasagna Louis Lasagna is in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology of the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry. His opinion column, alerting readers to media reports on science, appears here as a regular feature of the magazine.Search for more papers by this author First published: July‐August 1979 https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2326-1951.1979.tb01759.x AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article. Volume19, Issue6July‐August 1979Pages 30-30 RelatedInformation

Reader's Guide

The SciencesVolume 19, Issue 4 p. 29-30 Reader's Guide Scientific Jet Set Louis Lasagna, Louis Lasagna Louts Lasagna is in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology of the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry. His opinion column, alerting readers to media reports on science, appears here as a regular feature of the magazine.Search for more papers by this author Louis Lasagna, Louis Lasagna Louts Lasagna is in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology of the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry. His opinion column, alerting readers to media reports on science, appears here as a regular feature of the magazine.Search for more papers by this author First published: April 1979 https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2326-1951.1979.tb01733.xCitations: 1 AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article.Citing Literature Volume19, Issue4April 1979Pages 29-30 RelatedInformation

Judicial Policy: Change Over Time

My interest in understanding why courts change their policy output over time led me to a particular concept-public opinion; a particular method-path analysis; and a representative model simplified from reality to a few linkages. For this purpose I used Vietnam mistake polls from 1965 to 1973 and the universe of draft cases decided between 1967 and 1975, aggregated by nation, region, and state, in longitudinal analyses (Cook, 1977).1 Public opinion proved to be a powerful predictor of change in judicial policy over time. Kritzer (1974, 1978) tries to explain variation among individual sentences by entering many systemic and case level variables into a regression equation, without respect to the time dimension. His data base is a nonrandom sample of draft resister cases, 7.7 percent of the universe. No single indicator of environment including state opinion explained much variation in individual sentences in his cross-sectional analyses (1978, Tables 2,4). I replicated the cross-sectional analysis with the universe of cases within each year and reported that public opinion across states does not correlate with aggregated district sentences (1977, p. 571, fn. 1), the same result that Kritzer shows in Table lb.2 My contention that the over time relationship between public opinion and court output is strong is fully supported by his replications on Tables la and 3 (national opinion column). Among the simple correlations which I report (1977, Table 2) are .957 between national opinion and sentencing; .942 between Eastern opinion and output; and .896 between New Jersey opinion and output.3 When the over time analysis also includes

READER'S GUIDE

The SciencesVolume 18, Issue 9 p. 33-33 READER'S GUIDE Louis Lasagna, Louis Lasagna Louis Lasagna is in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology of the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry. His opinion column appears here regularly.Search for more papers by this author Louis Lasagna, Louis Lasagna Louis Lasagna is in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology of the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry. His opinion column appears here regularly.Search for more papers by this author First published: November 1978 https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2326-1951.1978.tb01287.x AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article. Volume18, Issue9November 1978Pages 33-33 RelatedInformation

Opinion

The Editor has asked me to write a short personal opinion column to start a series designed to stimulate readers' views. We feel that the expression of one man's views about matters of public concern may spark off reactions from others. So if you read what follows you are invited to write in and say what you think.

Research in paradisia

The plight of the third world scientist was vividly described by Professor Ziman some months ago in the opinion column (Physics Bulletin May 1973 p274). Now a new link with third world scientists is being forged by a new international organization.

Reporting on Rape

The last twelve months have seen an unprecedented surge in press coverage of rape - be it opinion articles, columns or front page stories. Normally, rape stories appear regularly on the crime pages of both government-controlled and opposition newspapers, be they leftist or Tslamist oriented. But two events brought rape to the forefront this year - a fatwa or religious opinion on the rights of rape victims made last November and the revision of the penal code dealing with rape in April 1998.