Articles Analysis

Tom Keane Jr. has has gotten many of his works published, here are the interpretations of his more known articles .

Commuter Rail's False Promise

In this particular article, Tom Keane first describes our idea of the commuter rail. He briefly discusses how important the commuter rail is to the masses as opposed to automobiles. He then proceeds to analyze why the areas around commuter rails aren't prime real estate. Keane later concludes that even though the commuter rail is a fundamental part of public transportation, the areas around this urban mecca are developed like any other part of town. In order for places near the commuter rail to become densely populated with commuters, the commuters must find jobs accessible through the aforementioned rail. The average time a person spends at a job, Keane points out, is only four years and as it takes decades to pay off the mortgage of a house, it's not likely too many people will crowd around the nearest T stop.  

The whole issue to begin with is car pollution and how public transportation is a way to conserve gasses. However as more and more people begin to rely on cars to get to and from work, commuter rails have lost their efficiency. Keane speaks out and entreats Bostonians to carpool, buy hybrid cars, raise fuel standards, force congestors in traffic to pay a toll, and widen highway roads. He concludes that the commuter rail is no longer what everyone uses to get places, but if we're not going to use it, he shows us better, safer ways to travel. He believes not only in the equality of rights, but the united effort to stop pollution. Thomas Keane Jr. believes that we have an obligation to our fellow citizens of the world to clean up the mess we've made and to make every possible contribution in the war against pollution. He calls on us to think before we put our future generations at risk.     

The Kindness of Taxpayers

In this article, Tom Keane points out the complicated relationship between charities and our government. He skims over the background information. Keane explains that most nonprofit organizations need federal funding in order to carry out their mission. However, when is the charity funding, funding the charities too much? Often times, he discusses, in order to win funding, charities change their purposes. This is where he draws the line. Our charities, he advocates, are there to help our communities and are funded through the goodness of our hearts. Once politics or even religion is involved, things begin to wander astray. There isn't any problem with our government donating to our charities; but they are donating our hard-earned tax dollars to coerce nonprofit organizations to follow their political agenda. There is no longer any meaning in the term "good Samaritan". There is only the price for political funding.

In order to prevent this from corrupting our charities, Keane states that all we can do is do our best to be more informed. It is a very troubling issue and very few people are aware of it. The only way to end this bribing system is to first become aware that there is a problem. Once that is established, we the people are armed with all the information we need to ensure a better, brighter Boston. Our charities are part of our society at its best- don't let them comprise their integrity to the rest of the community. Thomas Keane Jr. supplicates that we the people are the masters of our fates.  

 

Stay Out of their Closets

In this article, Tom Keane discusses the City Council’s effort to bring law and order into classrooms, namely through enforcing a uniform. While the City Council considers this a serious issue, Keane does not.

Clothing has always been a way for one to express themselves: one’s interests, one’s clique, one’s way of viewing the world and how one wants to be viewed. While some students are wearing a limited amount of clothing and not dressing appropriately, Keane believes that this isn’t what the City Council is thinking of. He believes that the City Council is hounding down on schoolchildren’s uniforms because they can.

Keane interviewed a numerous amount of officials who run schools, and many of them snorted at the idea. They say the troubles with obeying the dress code is rare and easy to handle. Some state that it’s not a problem at all, and Mrs. Kelley, Headmaster of Boston Latin School, simply says, “students should dress appropriately for the business of education”.

School dress is not an issue, Keane says; rather, it is a way for the City Council to say that they’re doing something.