Final Introduction

Your blog beautifully presents your work this quarter!  The use of font, color and formatting of your posts creates a very readable blog.  The organization is also well done. Here are some final comments.
Introduction
Good revisions to your introduction.  Let me comment on a few additional changes that need to be made:

I'm Carmen Wong. I really like Foothill online classes. This is the forth fourth or fifth online class that I've been taken at Foothill College, but this English online class is the my first. Most of the online classes that I had taken before were technical and programming classes.

I like taking online classes because I don't like to commute, especially during the rush hour. I also like the flexibility that I don't have to be in class at certain time. However, taking an online class requires a lot of self motivation and discipline. I think Etudes has done a great job in helping to help student students to keep track of schedule, deadline deadlines, and grades.

I had taken some ESL classes about fifteen years ago. I'm taking this class to refresh on my English grammar. From all the students' posts, it sounds like as though Miss Rita is a great ESL instructor.  I'm looking forward to learn learning a lot from this class and from every one.

Language Research

Based on my research, "concern about" means "worry about" like, I'm concerning concerned about my mother's health. "Concern with" means worry about an issue like, My biggest concern with the economy is the slowness of the house market.

Language Research

The verb concern can be followed by the prepositions with and about. Based on Longman dictionary, it defines "concern with/about" in one definition, to become involved in something because you are interested in it or because it worries you. The example sentence it gives for "concern with" is, He loved his wife and concerned himself with her needs and desires. The example sentence it gives for "concern about" is, He told them not to concern themselves about him."

Based on the the english-test.net's forum, http://www.english-test.net/forum/ftopic40513.html, "concern with" means involve with or on the topic of. "Concern about" means worry about. The sample usage sentence it gives is, the Department of Health is concerned with the welfare of the population and is concerned about the increase in the number of people smoking.

The English-test.net have a clearer definition between the two. From COCA, it provides these samples sentences: "The problem - the concern with global warming is the release of carbon dioxide, okay?" and "Other teachers enter into this work more slowly, often with great ambivalence and concern about its high level of demands."

Google titles also provide some example like, "Traffic safety is concern with new Fischer Crossings movie theater ..." and "Obama expresses concern about slowing economy - Yahoo! News".
Based on my research, "concern about" means "worry about" like, I'm concern about my mother's health. "Concern with" means worry about an issue like, I'm concern with the sluggish [sluggishness] of the economy.

*****

The word concern has many forms and uses. This assignment was to compare be concerned with and be concerned about. You have some examples of these phrases here from a website, but the examples from COCA are different.  One example from Google is not copied correctly:

• "Traffic safety is concern with new Fischer Crossings movie theater

You need the past participle form of concern in this sentence.
I think about should be used in this sentence:

• "Concern with" means worry about an issue like, I'm concern with the sluggish[sluggishness] of the economy.

Katie Couric Interview

Katie Couric began the interview with Howard Schultz, CEO of starbucks, by asking him why he chose the names for the different sizes of coffee. He said that he went to Italy and saw these names, and they just made sense to him. Katie then asked why he was closing so many stores and what when wrong. was it because the company was growing too big and too fast. He replied yes, and he said that the growth had covered some mistakes. Katie went on and asked whether he had a business plan in place for the recession. He said no. He didn't have a business plan for the recession because history had demonstrated to him that in the a downturn of the economy would not affect Starbucks. Katie ended the interview by asking whether he would lower the prices for the Starbucks coffees. He said no. He said he would not cut corners that would jeopardize the Starbucks experience that his customer enjoyed. He said he saw a immediate uptick in the amount number of people coming in Starbucks after the 911 9-11. He said because he thought people wanted that human connection.

Looking around at my friends and family, I see that many of them are loyal Starbucks customers. I think Mr. Schultz is right that his customers come into Starbucks for the experience and the atmosphere, not just the coffee. Yesterday I was meeting my brother and sisters at Starbucks for coffee. We were sitting at the booth taking for a couple of hours. Beside being Starbucks is our meeting place, Starbucks is the place where my older sister has to have a Starbucks coffee every morning before work, and she’s been hooked on Starbucks coffee for more then couple years. By looking at these loyal customers that I know, I don’t think Starbucks should make any change or cutting cost on the store front. Maybe slow down the growth and mantained the Starbucks coffee quality and atmosphere could avoid more closing of stores and cutting jobs.

*****

Nice job of reporting on the interview and commenting on it with your personal experiences!
Regarding the form of noun clauses, the verb in the noun clause is conventionally past if the original form was present and past perfect if the original was past.

• Katie Couric began the interview with Howard Schultz, CEO of starbucks, by asking him why he chose had chosen the names for the different sizes of coffee.

You have to combine two noun clauses in the following sentence:

• Katie then asked why he was closing so many stores and what when wrong. was it and if it was because the company was growing had grown too big and too fast.

The highlighted phrase below is an adverbial phrase, which is a reduction of the adverbial clause:  When I look around at my friends and family.  The subject of the independent clause must be the same as the underlying subject of the adverbial phrase, which is I.  The second sentence is almost identical in structure with the correct subject in the independent clause.  This is the topic of our next module.

• Looking around at my friends and family, I see that many of them are loyal Starbucks customers.
• By looking at these loyal customers that I know, I don’t think Starbucks should make any change or cutting cost on the store front.

The modal should governs two verbs:  make and cut.  The nouns should be plural.

• I don’t think Starbucks should make any change or cutting cost on the store front.

The subjects of the verb should be in the gerund form:

• Maybe slow down the growth and mantained the Starbucks coffee quality and atmosphere could avoid more closing of stores and cutting jobs.

Two Teachers

The articles, "Suspended Teacher Defends Book Assignment" and "Museum Field Trip Deemed Too Revealing", are about two teachers being who were suspended for unjustified reasons. Connie Heermann was suspended for using a book which was that had been approved by 99% of her class students' parents the parents of the students in her class. Sydney McGee was suspended for taking her 89 fifth-grade class students touring on a field trip to the Dallas Museum of Art and received one parent’s complain of receiving the complaint of one parent that her child seeing had seen art depicting nudity art during the tour.

Connie Heermann, a high school teacher of Perry Meridan High School in Indianapolis, was suspended from teaching for assigning a book to her 11th-grade students without the approval of the district's curriculum director. The book, "The Freedom Writers Diary", is a collection of at-risk teenagers' essays which that contains swear words and sexual content. Heermann said, "she wanted to use the book because she thought it would inspire her students, many of whom are considered to be at-risk." Heermann stated that she had received permission from the parents of 149 out of 150 of her students students’ parents, and had received positive signs from her principal and the district's acting superintendent before passing out the book. She had sought approval from the district's curriculum director months before the school year began without reply. She believed the book's swear words and sexual content were one of the reasons of for her suspension. she suspected the other reason was that the administrators fear for their job lost were afraid of losing their jobs. She said, "Most of the administrators at central office fear for their jobs, They don't want to be responsible for anything because they are afraid the board will fire them."

Sydney McGee, a popular art teacher at Wilma Fisher Elementary School in Frisco, Texas, was suspended after taking her 89 fifth grade students touring the Dallas Museum of Art.  Ms. McGee was suspended after a child's parent complained about her child seeing nude art in the museum during the tour. The tour had been approved by the principal, and Ms McGee found nothing offensive after retracing her route in the museum. The principal and the superintendent of the Frisco Independent School District emailed parents saying that the suspension was for performance reason reasons of unsatisfactory performance. Rogge Dunn, Ms McGee's lawyer, said that her past job evaluation evaluations had been consistently superior until the museum trip and only turned negative afterward. Many parents and teachers had come to Ms McGee's defense.

I found the suspension of these two teachers were unreasonable and ridiculous . There is always some narrow minded and whiny people out there. Why jeopardise an opportunity for the 99% of the students to learn from others and see thing from a different angle? Why suspend good teachers who actually care about students?  I believe Ms. Heermann wants her students to learn from other at-risk teenagers, not the foul language nor the sex. People always says it is better to learn from other’s mistakes. Beside, these are 11th grade students. They are old enough to know what is right and wrong, good and bad. As of for Ms McGee, I believe she wants her students to be exposed to different kinds of art. Nudity is a form of art, especially during the ancient Greek. Why suspend teachers, just for some unreasonable and narrow minded people and reason, at the time when good teachers are most needed?

*****
Excellent job of summarizing the issues in these two cases and expressing your opinions about them.  I think one of the big problems is that the U.S. is a litigious society, and school districts can't afford to be sued, so even one parent can sabotage an entire school.
Great job of using adjective clauses.  Here is one place where an adjective clause is  needed:

• The articles, "Suspended Teacher Defends Book Assignment" and "Museum Field Trip Deemed Too Revealing", are about two teachers being who were suspended for unjustified reasons.

As the adjective clause serves an identifing rather than a descriptive function, the pronoun that must be used.

• Connie Heermann was suspended for using a book which was that had been approved by 99% of her class students' parents the parents of the students in her class.
• The book, "The Freedom Writers Diary", is a collection of at-risk teenagers' essays which that contains swear words and sexual content. 



Ban on Pet Sales

Summary of the article

The article "San Francisco Considers Banning of Pets Except Fish" by Carolyn Jones is about San Francisco's Commission of Animal Control and Welfare is proposing a law to ban selling companion animals at pet stores in San Francisco, including dogs, cats, hamsters, mice, rats, chinchillas, guinea pigs, birds, snakes, lizards and critters, except fish.

Commission Chairwoman Sally Stephens states (says) that many people buying (are buying) these small animals on impulse, and many of them end up at shelters and are being euthanized. That's what they want to prevent.

Per (According to) staff of shelters and rescue groups, the main issue is not cats and dogs. It is hamsters. Hamster is the No. 1 animal being euthanized at shelters. Many people buy hamsters on impulse because they are cute and cuddly, and not knowing hamsters are prone to biting, gnawing and racing on their exercised wheel at 2 a.m. in the morning. Shelter staffs are concerned many hamsters are being euthanized especially babies.

Many pet store owners argue that the proposal to ban pet stores from selling pets is ridiculous -- a pet store can't sell pets -- and it will hurt their businesses. 

The commission will listen to testimony from pet store owners and others before voting. Commissioner Philip Gerrie said they're still in the information-gathering phrase. The final decision will be on the Broad of Supervisor.

Summary of the First Response

Ken White, President of Peninsula Humane Society and SPCA, posted a response, titled “The no pets in Pet Store Proposal”, to the article saying that there is nothing silly or ridiculous about the proposal when it is concerning the suffering and death of animals. It is worth of a discussion.

He stated that even though the article saying that cats and dogs are not the issue, in fact it is. He said that on average San Francisco is adopting about 45-50% of sheltered dog and cats. The rest is are euthanized.

He also stated that some animals are being neglected while reside in the pet stores. Usually these animals are not selling for a profile, especially for the big stores. These animals are give aways, and the store owner will profit from the sales of tanks, cages, foods, books, etc. He believed it is good for the animals to ban selling of these animal in pet stores.

Summary of the second response

"Banning Pet Stores in SF: A Solution in Search of a Problem" by Michael Yaki, Attorney and Political Consultant, is a response to the proposal of banning animal sell in San Francisco. He believe the proposal is ridicuous and ill-thought. He said, "The impulse to care for another creature is not going to be bound by whether you can buy it in the city of Richmond or the Richmond District." He also claimed that the proposal is little hyprocrisy. If a commission is concern  with the welfare of animal, then why exclude fish and feeder animals like baby mice and crickets.

My Response

I find the proposal to ban the commercial selling of animal in San Francisco is ill-thought out. I share the same opinion with Mr. Yaki on that buying an animal on impulse is not bound by where someone can get it. If the intent of the proposal is to prevent people from buying on impulse, I don’t believe banning animal sell in pet store would prevent that. Nowadays, many people are buying on Craigslist.  Does it mean that these people are not buying on impulse? No. Is there a guarantee that these people won’t end up sending their pet from Craigslist to one of the shelter? No, I don’t think so. According to the article, the major reason many animals end up in shelter is that people don’t know what they’ve signed up for when they buy a pet. If that is the reason, wouldn’t be requiring the pet store owner and staff to be more explicitly explain and educate customers on  the animal behavior and required care more effective?

*****

Very nice job of summarizing all three articles and expressing your own opinion on the issue!  Also good job of using adverbial clauses and if-clauses in particular.  Since they were the focus of this week's work, I will comment on them first.
Adverbial Clauses

1.  He stated that even though the article saying says that cats and dogs are not the issue, in fact it is.

• The verb in the even though clause must be in the simple present form.

2.  He also stated that some animals are being neglected while reside in the pet stores.

• The verb in the while clause requires a subject: while they are in the pet stores. I would add that the verb reside makes it a more comfortable experience than I think it is for the animals.

3.  If a commission is concern  with the welfare of animal, then why exclude fish and feeder animals like baby mice and crickets.

• The form should be concerned here.  This is an adjective that comes from the past participle form of the verb concern.

3.  Ken White, President of Peninsula Humane Society and SPCA, posted a response, titled “The no pets in Pet Store Proposal”, to the article saying that there is nothing silly or ridiculous about the proposal when it is concerning the suffering and death of animals.

• The verb should be in the simple present:  concerns.

4.  If that is the reason, wouldn’t be requiring the pet store owner and staff to be more explicitly explain and educate customers on  the animal behavior and required care be more effective?

• This is a complicated sentence!  Basically the verb is require followed by an object (someone) followed by the infinitive (to do) something.

Your first sentence was a good effort to include the essential information in one sentence.  You needed to use a noun instead of a clause, though:  proposal instead of is proposing...

The article "San Francisco Considers Banning of Pets Except Fish" by Carolyn Jones is about the proposal of San Francisco's Commission of Animal Control and Welfare is proposing a law to ban selling the sale of companion animals at pet stores in San Francisco, including dogs, cats, hamsters, mice, rats, chinchillas, guinea pigs, birds, snakes, lizards and critters, except fish. 

The sale of pets in pet stores

• I don’t believe banning animal sell in pet store would prevent that.

This activity is referred to as sales as opposed to selling. Note also that in generalizations the plural form is commonly used.
Passive reminder:  Usually these animals are not selling being sold for a profile, especially for the big stores.

Introduce an Interesting Website

Google Document, https://docs.google.com, includes a suite of applications which would be useful for your daily use. It is very similar to Microsoft Office 2010. Within this site, you can create a document, a spreadsheet, a presentation, and a form.

Google Document is similar to Microsoft Word. You can format the headers and text with different sizes and fonts or use the predefined styles for headers and text. You can insert web format pictures. You can create table of content for your document. You can share your document with your friends and limit them to read only or allow them to make modification¹ to it. This feature is very useful when you work² on a project with multiple³ people and⁴ every one⁵ can contribute to it at the same time.

Google Spreadsheet is similar to Microsoft Excel. Google Spreadsheet works well with Google Form. You can create a form to collect information from the users, and the data you collected⁶ is tracked in Google Spreadsheet. Similar to Microsoft, you can create spreadsheet formula to tally up the data  in different ways and create different graphs. Same as⁷ Google Document, you can also share spreadsheet with other people and allow them to either view it and/or modify it.

Google Presentation is similar to Microsoft Powerpoint, an application to create presentation¹. Like Microsoft Powerpoint, you can format the presentation and text in any way you want, or you can use one of the templates. You can insert pictures and videos in the presentation, and you can also add speaker's note¹ to each slice⁸, to remind yourself what you need to cover on that particular slice. You can share your presentation to⁹ other people for review, comment and contribute to the presentation.

There are some huge benefits of using Google Docs for your personal, school, or professional works. It is free, and you can access it any where in this world as long as you have Internet access. Your work is saved in Google infrastructure which is available 24X7. Unlike Microsoft, you need tohave Microsoft Office installed on your computer in order to use it; needless to say, your work is saved on your own computer¹⁰. If you want to share and cooperate with other people, you need to put your document on a central place where everyone have¹¹ access to it. Every one who wants to access your document need¹² to have a copy of Microsoft Office installed on his computer which cost¹³ about $500 for Microsoft Office 2010 professional version and $150 for the student version.

*****

Have you used Google Document?  Does it take long to learn to use it? This is a good description of it.
Notes
1.  These nouns need to be in the plural form.
2.  This should be in the present progressive.  This is a specific present:  are working
3.  many
4.  I think you are giving the reason the feature is useful, so the subordinating conjunction because should be used.
5.  Everyone is one word.
6.  Simple present here.
7.  Like
8.  slide
9.  with (after the verb share)
10.  The sentences below are confusing. In what way is Google unlike Microsoft?  It appears from the sentence below, that to use Google, you need to have Microsoft Office installed on your computer in order to use it.  I think you mean that you don't need to have anything installed to use the Google infrastructure.  Why is it "needless to say" that your work is saved on your computer?

• Your work is saved in Google infrastructure which is available 24X7. Unlike Microsoft, you need to have Microsoft Office installed on your computer in order to use it; needless to say, your work is saved on your own computer.

11.  Everyone is singular.
12.  Subject/verb agreement
13.  Subject/verb agreement

Introduction

Hello all,

I'm Carmen Wong. I really like Foothill online classes. This is the forth or fifth online class that I've taken at foothill, but English online class is the first time. Most of the online classes that I took before were technical and programming classes.

I like taking online class because I don't like commute especially during rush hour. I also like the flexibility that I don't have to be in class at certain hour. However, taking online class requires a lot of self motivation and discipline. However, I think Etudes has done a great job helping student to keep track of schedule, deadline, and grades.

I had taken some ESL classes about fifteen years ago. I'm taking this class to refresh on my English Grammar. From all students' posts, looks like Miss Rita is a great ESL instructor.  I'm looking forward to learn a lot from the class and from every one.

Thanks,
~Carmen  

*****

Hi Carmen,
Not having to commute is definitely a benefit of taking an online class!  However, as you point out, you have to be self-disciplined and motivated to learn.  Coming back after fifteen years indicates your motivation.
Welcome back!
Rita Wong