Televised Presidential Debate (10-3-12) Assignment

Televised Presidential Debate (10-3-12) - Assignment Example (2) About how many people attended the meeting? Describe the audience demographics. This event drew an immense number of audience members. Unlike a private event, this debate was aired live, on multiple networks, allowing for, easily, millions of viewers. The demographics of the audience of this event are as diverse as the country we live in. Americans of all genders, races, political parties, and ideologies were tuned in to view this debate. (3) What was the main topic of the meeting? The topic of the debate was announced as domestic policy. Lehrer explained that there would be, ideally, six segments of 15 minutes in length, with 2 minute responses from each candidate. Three segments would focus on the economy; one segment would be dedicated to healthcare, role of government, and the last on the meaning of â€Å"governing.† I choice this event, particularly, because of it is so very important. There are issues being discussed that are so incredibly relevant to the future of t his country that it is an event deserving of critical attention. This is, also, again, the first debate where these two candidates would be debating these issues face-to-face in an open forum. There are a lot of important questions that need asking, issues that need addressing, and answers that the voters deserve to hear. (4) Why did you choose this meeting, and what did you know about the topic before you attended? There is nothing more politically important in the United States of America than when we choose the leadership that we have. Where to cast your vote should never be a small issue and tends to involve many specific variables. Individuals must assess their political concerns; review the prospective candidates, their personal beliefs and views, and ever so much more, before they make their choice. It is all the harder today with the cut throat nature of the campaign tactics, being overused in this election, for Americans to make that choice clearly. The smear campaigns, ult imately, begin to feel like childhood name-calling. With the state that American is currently in, struggling through a continuing the unemployment crisis and continuing and increasing debt, this is hardly the time for games. Choosing the right candidate is extremely important, regardless of your political party. These are the reasons that I chose this particular event. (5) What were the four most interesting things you learned from the meeting? This debate was, in fact, quite interesting. However, the issue that I was most eager to hear addressed was concerning the unemployment crisis. Although, both, candidates have plans for the issue, Obama reiterated the same approaches that he has proposed throughout his Presidency. While Romney offered some fresh perspectives that, definitely different from Obama’s, had a lot of merit. The next topic of importance to me is the controversial healthcare reform, often called, â€Å"Obamacare.† Romney was able to communicate how, not only is â€Å"Obamacare† not the best solution for healthcare reform, as it takes the power from the patient and physician and places it into the hands of medical councils, but, also, how â€Å"Obamacare† directly contributes to the, aforementioned, unemployment crisis.("YouTube") There are many businesses, particularly small businesses, that are less likely to hire new staff members because of the insurance requirements that â€Å"

How Students and Teachers Can Avoid and Prevent Plagiarism Essay Example for Free

How Students and Teachers Can Avoid and Prevent Plagiarism Essay Plagiarism has been any and every writer’s concern, both in the scholarly and non scholarly sense. It is the dreaded term which implies various complications from those who choose to plagiarize, those plagiarized by accident, and those authors who are mere victims of such unfair treatment. From the students’ standpoint, great and keen consideration must be done in the process of how they choose to construct their ideas and write about a required topic. With the lenient accessibility of information within a click’s reach, plagiarism even gets more tempting. The Michigan Library Association (MLA) Forum (2008) adds â€Å"With the Internet offering students such a wealth of information at their fingertips, it is no surprise that one of the main reasons that they commit acts of plagiarism is simply due to how easy and convenient it has become† (n. p. ). Hence, students must understand the definitions and details of what plagiarism is and what to do and what not to do as a plagiaristic situation arises. Students always use plagiarism checker free. Students must maintain their academic responsibility as they fulfill the scholastic obligations. Students should be responsible in understanding and realizing other tools available to them as they fulfill certain literary requirements. The use of methods like proper paraphrasing, formal, and correct citing of references, being consistent to the requirements of a specific referencing style— plagiarism may be avoided given that all must be understood and well executed by the student. From the teachers’ standpoint, there are a series of issues which must be explained to the student. The clear discussion of what plagiarism is and the consequences it brings must be well and thoroughly comprehended by the students. Teachers should emphasis the valuable use and importance of the use of bibliography. As the Plagiarism. org (2008) writes: â€Å"Emphasize that the annotation has to be in their own voice and words, and should specifically discuss the relevance of the source to their research† (n. . ). Teachers should make themselves clear and specific in what they demand of their students. They should help exercise further the skills of their students such as by assigning the students to make a presentation which would enhance their research and idea conceptualization. It is also of beneficial importance for teachers to be creative in building their students’ skills in writing formal academic works.

womenhod Gender in Joseph Conrads Heart of Darkness :: Heart Darkness essays

Gender in Heart of Darkness Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness colludes with Western patriarchal gender prescriptions. Women are ominously absent from the bulk of the narrative, and when they do make an appearance they are identified through the powerful narrative viewpoint of the character Marlow, who constructs them in terms of the values of the dominant ideologies of the British gentleman. The contrast between Kurtz's Intended and his Mistress reveals to the contemporary reader this undeniable Victorian provenance - women are effectively marginalised from power and silenced by the text's endorsement of British values. "The women", Marlow declares, "are out of it". Indeed, the five women of Heart of Darkness make only brief appearances and are given only a passing mention in Marlow's narrative. His aunt, given a cameo role in the text, is supremely naà ¯ve and "out of touch with truth"; she reminds him to "wear flannel" when he is about to "set off for the centre of the earth". The knitters of black wool in the Company headquarters are defined by classical mythology, taking on a symbolic significance by "guarding the door of Darkness"; they are not characters in their own right. Kurtz's mistress is identified as a product of the wilderness, "like the wilderness itself", and is described in terms of natural processes, a "fecund and mysterious life". Kurtz's Intended, by contrast, lives in a place of death rather than of life, darkness rather than lightness, delusion rather than reality. A feminist reading identifies that females are silenced and cast as cultural archetypes in Heart of Darkness. The juxtaposition of the Intended with Kurtz's mistress highlights the traits of the culturally constructed Victorian woman. She has assembled for herself a tomb of darkness, where everything personifies the sterile and lifeless existence of her kind. The Victorian woman was expected to adhere to high standards of behavioral decency and to subscribe to the Puritan ideals of sexual and emotional restraint. Kurtz's mistress throws these characteristics into focus because she is vibrant, vital, and lives out her sexual urges. The sexual language used to describe the mistress emphasises that she is a social 'other' and foregrounds the dichotomy between women of Europe and Africa. While the Intended embodies the characteristics of a Victorian woman, her behaviour is also enormously hypocritical. She remains alive only by deceiving herself; her condition, as C.B. Cox suggests, "symbolizes that of Western Europe".

Navigating Early Essay

* Summary: * After his mother’s death the young Jack Baker is uprooted from his home in Kansas and is placed in a boarding school in Maine. At the boarding school he feels lost and out of place. While trying to impress the boys and find a place in his school, he can’t help but be drawn to one of the misfits, Early Auden. Early is one of the strangest of boys, who reads the number pi as a story and collects clippings about the sightings of a great black bear in the nearby mountains. When Early decides to set out to find Pi and the black bear in his brother’s boat, the legendary â€Å"Fish†, Jack decides to join him. Through the course of their journey the boys begin to realize that Early’s story for Pi is starting to become reality as they come in contact with characters like pirates searching for treasure, a Norwegian still pining for his first love, and a 100 year old women still waiting for her son to come home. The irony of the story is that all 3 boys, Jac k, Early and Pi, lost their direction in life and through their journeys they find a way to navigate their way back. Why this book is a good choice for math? * The number PI is one of the most common constants in all of mathematics. It is an irrational number, which means that its value cannot be expressed exactly as a fraction (when the numerator and denominator are integers). Nobody knows its exact value, because no matter how many digits you calculate it to, the number never ends. In math it’s obvious that we use PI in calculations for finding the circumference of a circle and finding areas of circles, cylinders, cones, and spheres. What most people don’t know is that PI is also used to calculate numbers that are used in different jobs: for example electrical engineers used pi to solve problems for electrical applications, statisticians use pi to track population dynamics and biochemists see pi when trying to understand the structure/function of DNA. * In the novel, Navigating Early, Clare Vanderpool introduces the mystery  of PI in a fun creative way that has the reader egger to find the answer of PI. In the beginning, she has a Math teacher, Mr Blane, introduce his course by explaining the number PI as the Holy Grail of mathematics, in other words it is the mysterious number that has entranced mathematicians for milenia. â€Å"Why do I mention this today? Because this year, we are going to embark on a quest of our own to expand our minds, to challenge what we think we know, and push the boundaries of mathematics. If pi, the most venerable number, can be proven to end, what else are we blindly believing that might be put to the test?† The way Mr. Blane introduces Pi in the start of his class is a great way to have students use their critical thinking skills as to what Pi really is and get them prepared to what they will encounter in the course. The book, Navigating Early is a great tool for any lesson to get the students excited to learn formulas that incorporate PI. It also teaches the students, to always keep going even when you feel like you want to give up. Inquiry Circle Design The book will be divided up into 6 sections. Section 1-3 students will use the role sheets. Each student will switch roles within each group every week. * Section 1: Pages 1-50 * Section 2:Pages 51-109 * Section 3:Pages 110-150 Section 4-6 Students will use the organizers. * Section 4:Pages 151-198 * Section 5:Pages 199-253 * Section 6:Pages 254-295 1 section per week, Meet once a week for 20 minutes. Monday| Tuesday| Wednesday| Thursday| Friday| | | | | Section 1| | | | | Section 2| | | | | Section 3| | | | | Section 4| | | | | Section 5| | | | | Section 6| What will occur in the meetings: * Go over role sheets * Discuss essential questions Materials: * Book * Role sheets Inquiry Circle Performance Task For Early, creating a story about the character Pi with the numbers of Pi helped him remember the numbers of Pi. For this assignment you are asked to create your own story to remember the first 15 digits of Pi. 1. You should first brainstorm ideas for your story. The best way to do this is to create a web of ideas. Start with your character, Pi, in the middle of your web and clockwise write ideas for your plot. Make sure you include the numbers of Pi for each idea. You can use either single digits or multiple digits. (NO MORE THAN 2 DIGITS GROUPED TOGETHER!!!) 2. Using your web you should create a rough draft using your ideas. You should double space your rough draft so you will have room for corrections. 3. After writing your draft, find a partner to correct your paper. Make sure when you are correcting your partner’s paper that you look for grammatical errors, digits of pi used correctly, and their ideas make sense. 4. Once corrections are made, type out your final draft with your name and title at the top. You final paper should be single space, sized 12 font, and in times news roman. Your paper should be AT LEAST one page! You can certainly write more pages, but again it has to be at least one page. Don’t forget to include all the digits and that your story makes sense. 5. Once you have created your story, fill out the H chart comparing and contrasting your story to Early’s story. When contrasting, think of the differences of the journeys, what did Pi encounter, and how Pi became a better man from his journey. When comparing the two journeys, think of the plot of the stories: Does Pi in Early’s story face the same problems in your story? For example: There once was a boy named Pi who had 3 older sisters, Alpha, Beta, and Omega. They all lived under 1 house and split the bills by 4’s. They were always happy living with each other until 1 day at school 5 boys we’re making fun of Pi. They bullied Pi saying because he didn’t have a father and lived with all girls he will never grow up to become a man. One boy piped up and said he killed and skinned 9 deer’s and 2 raccoons in the same night. â€Å"I’ll show you!† says Pi and leave that night to go into the woods. Pi has never hunted before but with a knife at hand he was willing to try. 6 birds overhead gave warning calls to the rest of the wildlife throughout the woods. Then behind a nearby tree 5 black bear cubs crawled to Pi. Pi laughed and played with the little cubs until suddenly 3 momma bears ran to attack Pi. Pi thought he was a goner until 5 grey adult wolves came and save Pi’s life. When Pi arrived home, he was bombarded by 9 of his friends and family asking about his journey in the woods. Pi has learned that being a man doesn’t mean going off and killing animals, It means having ethical principles and sticking by them, and protect your family. * The fifteen digits of Pi:3.1415 9265359 Organizer Word WizardThe words an author uses are important to the author’s craft. Your job is to be on the lookout for at least one word that has special meaning to the selection for today. Include the word, the page number, the definition, and the reason why you chose the word| Quotations Locate at least one quotation in the text you have read that would be beneficial for your group to discuss. You may look for quotations that are puzzling, interesting, powerful, funny, or those that contain literary devices. Include the quotation, the page, and your reason for choosing the quotation. | IllustratorGood readers make pictures in their minds as they read. This is a chance to share some of your own images and visions with the members of your group and use these images to participate in the conversation. Your picture can take a variety of forms but should represent your thinking. | Essential QuestionsEssential questions are critical to promoting deep and interesting conversations. Write at least one good, quality essential question that you can pose when talking with your group about the passage read.| Literature Circle Role Sheet Summarizer Name _____________________________ Circle _____________________________ Meeting Date _______________________ Reading Assignment ________________ Book ___________________________________________________________________ Summarizer: Your job is to prepare a brief summary of today’s reading. Your group discussion will start with your 1-2 minute statement that covers the key points, main highlights, and general idea of today’s reading assignment. Summary: ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Key Points: 1.________________________________________________________________ 2.________________________________________________________________ 3.________________________________________________________________ 4.________________________________________________________________ 5.________________________________________________________________ Connections: Did today’s reading remind you of anything? Explain. ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ————————————————- ____________________________________________________________ Literature Circle Role Sheet Questioner/Discussion Director Name _____________________________ Circle _____________________________ Meeting Date _______________________ Reading Assignment ________________ Book ___________________________________________________________________ Questioner/Discussion Director: Your job is to develop a list of questions that your group might want to discuss about this part of the book. Don’t worry about the small details; your task is to help people talk over the big ideas in the reading and share their reactions. Usually the best discussion questions come from your own thoughts, feelings, and concerns as you read. You can list them below during or after your reading. You may also use some of the general questions below to develop topics to your group. Possible discussion questions or topics for today: 1.__________________________________________________________________ 2.__________________________________________________________________ 3.__________________________________________________________________ 4.__________________________________________________________________ 5.__________________________________________________________________ Tips: Consider †¢ A discussion of a work’s characters: are they realistic, symbolic, historically-based? †¢ What motivates the characters or leads them to make the choices they do? †¢ An in-depth discussion of the work’s events †¢ A discussion of any confusing passage or event †¢ Literature Circle Roles Connector Name _____________________________ Circle _____________________________ Meeting Date _______________________ Reading Assignment ________________ Book ___________________________________________________________________ Connector: Your job is to find connections between the book and you, and between the book and the wider world. Consider the list below when you make your connections. †¢ Your own past experiences †¢ Happenings at school or in the community †¢ Stories in the news †¢ Similar events at other times and places †¢ Other people or problems that you are reminded of †¢ Between this book and other writings on the same topic or by the same author Some connections I made between this reading and my own experiences, the wider world, and other texts or authors: Literature Circle Roles Illustrator Name _____________________________ Circle _____________________________ Meeting Date _______________________ Reading Assignment ________________ Book ___________________________________________________________________ Illustrator: Good readers make pictures in their minds as they read. This is a chance to share some of your own images and visions. Draw some kind of picture related to the reading you have just done. It can be a sketch, cartoon, diagram, flowchart, or stick-figure scene. You can draw a picture of something that happened in your book, or something that the reading reminded you of, or a picture that conveys any idea or feeling you got from the reading. Any kind of drawing or graphic is okay – you can even label things with words if that helps. Make your drawing(s) on any remaining space on this side and on the other side of this sheet. If you use a separate sheet of paper, be sure to staple it to this role sheet. Presentation Plan: Whenever it fits in the conversa tion, show your drawing to your group. You don’t have to explain it immediately. You can let people speculate what your picture means, so they can connect your drawing to their own ideas about the reading. After everyone has had a say, you can always have the last word: tell them what your picture means, refer to the parts in the text that you

After a century of criminological theory, why does crime still exist Essay

After more than a century of criminological theory, a central question remains: why does crime still exist? To answer this question one must first come to a clear definition as to what crime actually means. In essence crime can be considered a social concept; a specific word attributes an individual to a particularly undesirable group. This allocations is based upon an event; some sort of wrong-doing or deviance from the norm which results in social, physical, mental, property or financial harm. The fact is, there is no singular definition to crime- there are multiple views and opinions yet none stands as a concrete definition. From a formally legal perspective, crime can be defined as by the state; that is if a specific act is defined by criminal law and is subject to punishment than it can be considered a crime. Conversely from a labelling perspective, crime can only exist if a particular event has resulted in a social response. It is this social response which instigates the criminal label and thus if there is no label, there is no crime. The ambiguity in the definition of crime alone provides grounds for its continuous existence. After all it seems only logical that we cannot rid of something that is not universally agreed upon. In attempts to unveil the cloak of criminality, various theories have been put forward which seek to clarify what is unclear. Of particular interest is the classical approach to crime and the idea of positivism and individualist behaviour. The classical theory of criminality locates the source of criminality within the individual and describes it as a rational choice (Gottfredson and Hirschi 1990). Positivism on the other hand emphasises causation and determinism, it focuses on both the external and internal factors which drive individual behaviour (Gottfredson and Hirschi 1990). Both of these theories hold opposing views about the causations of crime however they both seek to give reason to the existence of criminal behaviour. By focusing on these theories we may receive some clarity as to why crime still exists. Classical Theory: According to the classical theory criminality is seen to be derived from the individual and their ability to reason. This theory encapsulates crime as a matter of choice and intent on the part of the offender. Due to crime being represented as a choice of the offender, responsibility for that crime is thus attributed solely to the individual. Classical theory views all individuals as having equal opportunity to reason and be rational thus making us accountable for our actions. The basis of such a view stems from the assumption that there is general consensus among members of society; individuals surrender particular rights to state in exchange for its protection thus forming a social contract. Because we are all viewed as having equal opportunity to reason, the classical view holds that any rules or laws developed by consensus should be viewed as reasonable and binding to all; this is the social contract. The classical theory thereby defines criminality as someone who acts irrationally or makes a bad choice which violates the social contract. The two leading figures behind the development of the classical theory are Cesare Beccaria and Jeremy Bentham. According to Beccaria (1764) and Bentham (1970) the basis of all social action should be viewed as the utilitarian concept which results in the greatest happiness for the greatest number of people in society. Beccaria stated that crime should be considered as an injury to society as a whole and as such punishment should be used as a deterrent. This concept alone is the core is the core policy classical theory adopts when responding to crime; deterrence. Punishment is in essence the force which maintains the existence of a social contract between the state and individual (Carlsmith and Darley 2002). Classical theory states that all crimes should be associated with some sort of punishment. However the purpose of this punishment within the law is to deter individuals and not to seek vengeance. Deterrence should be directed at both the individual (direct deterrence) and at society as a whole (general deterrence). As such punishment should fit the crime but still outweigh the attraction of individual(s) to commit that crime [Beccaria (1764) and Bentham (1970)]. The Persistence of crime: To answer the question as to why classical theory has failed to rid society of crime we must further examine the work of Jeremy Bentham. According to Bentham (1970) â€Å"Nature has placed mankind under the governance of two sovereign masters; pain and pleasure. Bentham outlines how all human behaviour can be linked to a self-interested pursuit of pleasure adaversion of pain. Thus according to this crime can be considered as behaviours seeking to satisfy some underlying universal desires. In that sense people can be seen as rational when they commit crimes and when they do not. Furthermore it implies that people act first in the interest of the self and are free to choose a course of action, be it legal or illegal. Thus classical theory hasn’t failed to rid society of crime because it never attempted to do so; the theory merely accepts the fact that crime will co-exist alongside free-will and as such classicism seeks to minimise it. According to Blumstein, Cohen, and Nagin (1978) a review of seminal studies conducted from 1960-1970 depicted that certainty of punishment and severity of punishment correlated highly with lower levels of crime. Furthermore Shepherd (2002) demonstrated that cross-sectional studies and surveys support the previous findings in that perceived certainty of punishment has a strong inverted association with criminal offending. Strengths and Weaknesses: The strongest point classicism holds is its emphasis on equality. In the eyes of the law classicism enforces that everyone be viewed and treated the same. Whilst in theory this notion may seem appealing as it rids the legal system of bias judgements such as lifting the laws for the rich, it also has a dark side. Classicism ignores the specificity of the defendant. Some people such as mentally ill or children are clearly not rational yet classicism overlooks this. Classicism incorrectly assumes that people are equal in terms of life chances and it does little to address the causations of crime. Thus although the deterrence policy adopted by classicism has been proven to work, the theory refuses to acknowledge external factors which may influence crime. Even though classical systems of crime are still used today, such theoretical models became largely unfavourable in the mid-19th century when a new paradigm of human behaviour became dominant (Tibbets 2012). This view became known as school of positivism. Positivism: Positivism was first proposed by Auguste Comte (1968) – his theory sought to quantify, classify and acknowledge humanities individual differences when dealing with criminal acts. The core concept underlying positivism is that individual behaviour is shaped by both external and internal factors. The focus of positivism is of the individual and not the crime. Conversely to classicism, positivism asserts that individuals vary and that no two people are alike. As a result rehabilitation is core policy positivism adopts when dealing with criminality. Positivists emphasize that attention should be drawn to the offender and the offender’s characteristics as opposed to the criminal act itself. Furthermore punishment is not viewed as means to a valid solution in resolving crime. Offenders should receive treatment and this treatment should be individualised to fit the unique characteristics of the offender. Defining Crime: Similarly to classicism, positivism agrees that there is a moral consensus which exists in society in relation to what constitutes deviant and normal behaviour. However the differences arise when examining what drives criminal activity. Specifically positivists attribute three strands which underlie criminal activity: biological factors, psychological factors and biosocial factors. Biological Factors: Cesare Lambroso (1968) was the first to put forward the idea that criminals may differ from normal individuals. He did this through his idea of atavism; criminals could be identified from a physical stigma which portrayed them as primitive. Although this is quite obviously wrong he did set in motion the idea that biological makeup may influence criminality. Fishbein (1990) suggested the idea that a person may be born criminal due to genetic dispositions. Similarly Fishbein (1990) and Anderson (2007) emphasise that biological factors are crucial in determining individual behaviour but also that the environment may largely affect these factors. In other words criminals can be seen as the product the environment they are exposed to. Good support for both of these ideas can be seen in substance abuse crimes such as alcohol fuelled violence and high crime rates in specific geographic areas. Psychological Factors: Psychological positivism focus’s internally on the personality types and typologies which compose individuals. Gibbons (1977) exemplifies that looking at psychology behind deviant behaviour involves exploring the unconscientious mind and the way it shapes our experiences. Biosocial Approach: Biosocial positivism refers to the acceptance of both biological and psychological factors influencing behaviour as opposed to making a distinction between the two. From this point of view behaviour can be seen as the product of nature vs. nurture, Eysneck (1984) suggested the idea that behaviour can be explained by the combination of biological and environmental influences. Strengths and weaknesses: A strong point of the positivist approach is that it transcends the notion that people are always and indefinitely in control of their actions. Furthermore it acknowledges the existence of individual difference and emphasises the need for individualised treatment. A problem with the theory is that large amount of power is placed at the mercy of selective experts whose perceptions of intervention may vary greatly. An example of this arises when attempting early intervention with those who are predisposed to crime. If intervention should take place before deviance the questions which arise are; how early should we do this? Who is to do it? And should we trust them? Dyzenhaus (2004) exemplifies this by drawing on positivism as a political tradition which rejects the connection between common law and morality. He states that when positivist judges are forced to operate with the parameters of common law they are forced to constrain themselves and as such impair their judgement. Why does crime still exist? Positivists emphasise the role of external and individual forces in shaping our behaviour. In essence the positivist perspective argues that individuals are not actually in control of their behaviour but rather at the mercy of the various biological and or psychological determinants influencing them. Thus positivism cannot rid society of crime because it acknowledges that we are vulnerable individuals who cannot necessarily control our actions or our fate. Conclusion: Positivism rears the source of criminality within the idea that people are basically self-seeking. Positivism places its focus on the importance of external and internal determinants of crime and criminality. Both theories provide plausible explanations for crime but none are able to readily remove it from society. This is primarily due to the fact that these theories are mere attempts to understand and define crime as opposed to resolving it.