The Governments Control of Freedom essays

The Governments Control of Freedom essays People are always fighting against the government's control of freedom. What are they fighting for? Are they fighting for absolute freedom? What is absolute freedom? How much freedom do we have to sacrifice to keep our freedom protected? Is the freedom we One of the major reasons freedom is so desirable is because many of the limitations by the government on freedom are disallowing humans the right to have control over their bodies. Control of the human body is the only thing that people have power over. When the government can take away your choice to smoke, tell you when to wear a seatbelt, set laws to limit your right to do what you want to your body, or decide what constitutes a religion we should all be concerned! To preserve the Bill of Rights for ourselves, we must defend them for everybody. A large number of the prohibited freedoms are crimes where the criminal makes himself the victim. For example, the use of drugs, prostitution, suicide, vagrancy, possession of illegal substance, dodging the draft, entering the country illegally, and disregard for the age limits set on the purchase of pornographic materials. All of these crimes are punishable under the law. These crimes are set apart from most others because the person willingly chooses to victimize themselves. What people choose to do to themselves, in my opinion is the least of our worries as a country or a society. The last thing the government should have control over is what you choose to do to yourself. As long as you are not directly harming anyone else in the process, the government should not waste their time and money on something that is so trivial in comparison to crimes involving a victim. In general, people do not agree with the government controlling what they can and cannot do to ...

The History of Small Business in the United States

The History of Small Business in the United States Americans have always believed that they live in a land of opportunity, where anybody who has a good idea, determination, and a willingness to work hard can start a business and prosper. Its the manifestation of the belief in a persons ability to pull themselves up by their bootstraps and the accessibility of the American Dream. In practice, this belief in entrepreneurship has taken many forms over the course of history in the United States, from the self-employed individual to the global conglomerate. Small Business in 17th and 18th-Century America Small businesses have been an integral part of American life and the US economy since the time of the first colonial settlers.  In the 17th and 18th centuries, the public extolled the pioneer who overcame great hardships to carve a home and a way of life out of the American wilderness. During this period in American history, a majority of colonists were small farmers, making their lives on small family farms in rural areas.  Families tended to produce many of their own goods from food to soap to clothing.  Of the free, white men in the American colonies (who made up about one-third of the population), over 50% of them owned some land, though it was generally not much. The remaining colonist population  was made up of slaves and indentured servants.   Small Business in 19th-Century America Then, in 19th-century America, as small agricultural enterprises rapidly spread across the vast expanse of the American frontier, the homesteading farmer embodied many of the ideals of the economic individualist.  But as the nations population grew and cities assumed increased economic importance, the dream of being in business for oneself in America evolved to include small merchants, independent craftsmen, and self-reliant professionals. Small Business in 20th Century America   The 20th century, continuing a trend that began in the latter part of the 19th century, brought an enormous leap in the scale and complexity of economic activity. In many industries, small enterprises had trouble raising sufficient funds and operating on a scale large enough to produce most efficiently all of the goods demanded by an increasingly sophisticated and affluent population. In this environment, the modern corporation, often employing hundreds or even thousands of workers, assumed increased importance. Small Business in America Today Today, the American economy boasts a wide array of enterprises, ranging from one-person sole proprietorships to some of the worlds largest corporations. In 1995, there were 16.4 million non-farm, sole proprietorships, 1.6 million partnerships, and 4.5 million corporations in the United States - a total of 22.5 million independent enterprises.

Computer Incident Response Teams Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Computer Incident Response Teams - Essay Example Not only these companies would suffer from information damage, but also their clientele and reputation will nosedive in the industry. Computer Incident Response Teams (short-form 'CIRT') are special teams formed for the purpose of minimizing and controlling the impact of a security breach or other computer related emergency in the company (Brussin, Cobb, & Miora, 2003). CIRT is a also known as CERT (Computer Emergency Response Teams) and CSIRT (Computer Security Incident Response Teams) in some companies, however, they all attempt to provide security to the computer systems. It depends on the company policy as well as the riskiness of information leakage or damage. In companies who don't heavily rely on computer systems, a CIRT would not be of much use. However, now with most organizations keeping important information on computer systems, the need for having a CIRT is increasingly getting popular. With the increasing number of viruses, spywares, backdoors in the systems being detected, a CIRT is a necessity for an organization keeping competitive information on the computers. Like in all business strategies before implementing them a plan needs to be created that would guide the formation of a CIRT. This plan includes all the details about the CIRT and all the information that the security team would need to know. Furthermore, this plan should be feasible in all ways and must provide a competitive business advantage. The details of the plan are given below. (RHE, 2004) 4.1 Make a Policy First of all, a policy regarding the CIRT should be created. This would have standards, rules ad regulations and instructions as to what is to be done when the security is breached. This policy document should be given to all members of the company and must be followed exactly as mentioned in the policy. (Lucas & Moeller, 2003) 4.2 Form the Team Forming the Computer Incident Response Team is the most important part in this plan. Usually the team is formed on a voluntary basis. However there are certain characteristics that need to be there in a CIRT. First of all the members of the team must be extremely responsible. Since action is required to contain the emergency, the team members should also be quick to react. Another quality that the team should have is that its members must be loyal to the company and should be heroes in their own sense as their job is to save the company from a disaster. Only trustworthy people should be made a part of this team. (RHE, 2004) After these characteristics, the team should have technical expertise to understand and resolve the situation. The team usually comprises of system and network administrators as well as information security experts. The system administrators oversee the correct response to the threat and supply the required knowledge about system resources. The network administrators are responsible for routing the network traffic though other points while closing all activity in those routes where the security has been breached. Information security officers diagnose and analyze the problem and detect the point of intrusion to try to solve it. (RHE, 2004) The team should be kept in close coordination with each of its members at all times so that in case of an emergency all members would get notified immediately. It is ideal to keep

Blog - how pop culture can change language Essay

Blog - how pop culture can change language - Essay Example (Safire-blog p.355, Â ¶ 3) Blogging has added another space to the means of communication. In fact other Medias now perceive this new trend as a challenge against their business interests. In an article written in Wall street journal, Peggy Noonan explains blogging as a 24/7 opinion site which offers absolute freedom in expressing personal views, anytime anywhere in the world about anything. (Safire-blog p. 355, Â ¶ 1) Most of the other Medias of communication are not giving such freedom in expressing the personal views. Most of the medias will go through the articles and will do little bit censoring if required, before they approve it for publishing. Thus the article writer may not get absolute freedom in expressing their opinions about a topic in other forms of media compared to blogging. Moreover the blogger gets the freedom of publishing the article instantaneously once it is completed where as in other Medias, publishing of an article will take some time depends on how frequently the media engaged in pu blishing activities. For example, news papers normally will publish once in 24 hours whereas weeklies and monthlies will take much longer time for publication. The greatest concern about blogging has come from the traditional Medias. Because of the immense freedom associated with blogging in expressing and publishing personal opinions, the traditional media looks suspiciously at the growth of blogging. But most probably these concerns are meaningless since most of the people are well aware of the lack of authenticity of matters appear on blog sites. The reliability and validity of information appearing on blogs may not be as good as that appearing on traditional Medias. Personal opinions may not be correct always since it lacks supported evidences. (Safire-blog p.355, Â ¶ 4) In conclusion, blogging is one of the

Analysis of Hydrated copper sulphate Essay Example for Free

Analysis of Hydrated copper sulphate Essay Aim – To determine the molecular formula of hydrated copper sulfate. Requirements – Hydrous copper sulfate Electronic balance Evaporating dish Glass rod Tripod stand Bunsen burner Crucible Procedure – First I weighed 3g of hydrous copper sulfate on electronic balance and began heating it in an evaporating dish on top of a Bunsen burner. After the reaction was complete I measured the new weight to find a change in mass. Qualitative data – After the reaction was complete, the colour changed from blue to white due to a loss of water crystals. Faint green tinge became evident and fine white powder was formed from crystals. Continued heating led to formation of oliver green colour. Quantitative data – Original weight of hydrous copper sulfate – 3g Error in electronic balance  ± 0.001g (provided by the teacher) Data collection – Trial 1 1.96g Trial 2 1.87g Trial 3 1.94g Data Processing – To minimize the errors I conducted three trials and averaged the readings to find a more accurate answer. = 1.93 g  ± 0.001 Change in mass = (3  ± 0.001) – (1.93  ± 0.001) = 1.07  ± 0.002 The change in mass was due to the loss of water crystals. Water (H20) has a molar mass of 18g. Therefore the change in mass must be equal to the mass of water present in copper sulfate. No of moles of water evaporated = = 0.059  ± 0.002moles The molar mass of anhydrous copper sulfate is 159.6g. No of moles of = = 0.012  ± 0.001moles In the equation I took the no of moles of water as x because it is unknown. CuSO4.xH20 → CuSO4 + xH2O According to the equation the mole ratio between copper sulfate and water is 1: x. Therefore 1:x = 0.012  ± 0.001: 0.059  ± 0.002 x = = 4.9  ± 0.588 Conclusion – Hence the x value can be rounded off to 5 to get an integer answer. This means that in 1 molecule of hydrous copper sulfate there are 5 atoms of water present as crystals. The result is also equal to the literature value which was provided by the teacher and there seems to be no deviation because the answers are taken as integer and decimal points are excluded. The only systematic error present was in electronic balance. Moreover random error could have been caused during heating of the salt i.e. overheating or underheating. This error depends on the sight of colour change, therefore this is a very hard random error to eliminate. Evaluation – As the answer is taken as integer, there seems to be zero error however still a lot of errors are possible while conducting this experiment. During the heating of hydrous copper sulfate there maybe some water crystals still left due to inappropriate stirring and overheated or underheated salts could have also caused error. Main error which is inevitable is the hydration of crystals after being heated. The reaction is reversible and the after heating there could have been water vapour in the air which could have combined with the salt. Hence these can also lead to deviations in results. To improve upon these errors we must make sure that after the salt is heated, its weight must be measured immediately so that there is very less time gap between it. Furthermore proper stirring and care taken during heating can also minimize errors.

Christopher Marlowes Dr. Faustus - An Insatiable Desire for Knowledge,

Christopher Marlowe's Dr. Faustus - Corrupted by an Insatiable Desire for Knowledge, Wealth And Power The Renaissance period is characterized by a grand desire for acquisition of knowledge and a passion for emerging individuality.   "Scholars and educators   . . . began to emphasize the capacities of the human mind and the achievements of human culture, in contrast to the medieval emphasis on God and contempt for the things in this world" (Slights 129).   However, the whirlwind of change brought on by the budding ideas of Humanist thinkers was met with a cautious warning by one the greatest writers of the era.   Christopher Marlowe's Dr. Faustus acts as mask, containing and disguising the dramatist's criticisms of Renaissance thinking.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Christopher Marlowe's Dr. Faustus is, in many ways, reflective of humankind's struggle to balance new ideas with existing traditional thoughts as the world neared the 17th century.   At the time this play was written, "Elizabethans saw the world as a vast, unified, hierarchical order, or 'Great Chain of Being,' created by God" (139).   At the very depths of this hierarchy lay the innate objects and at the top sat God and the angels, with the plant and animal kingdoms falling somewhere in the middle.   Humans were believed to sit just above the animals, as they possessed souls and free will.   It is said that humans could develop and reside "a little lower than the angels" or degenerate and fall to the level of the animals (139).   Faustus is striving to rise towards the angels in his quest for human advancement, but ironically, he ends up plummeting to the depths of Hell.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The drama Dr. Faustus illustrates Marlowe's two main concerns for the human mind at the turn of the 17th ... ...twines the vast differences with prolific language and a shocking storyline.   The play's tragic conclusion marks Marlowe's detachment from the morale plays of his generation.   Its tragic conclusion leaves the Renaissance audience with a sense of despair, but also with a resolve to avoid the wicked desires embodied by Faustus. Works Cited Barnett, Sylvan, ed. Doctor Faustus / Christopher Marowe: edited and with an introd. by Sylvan Barnett. New York: New American Library, 1969. Etienne, Gilson. Reasons and Revelations in the Middle Ages. New York: New York, 1938. Marlowe, Christopher.   "Doctor Faustus."   The Genius of the Early English Theatre.   Sylvan Barnet, Morton Berman & William Burto, eds.   New York:   Meridian, 1990. 95-161. Slights, William. New Ways of Looking at the Renaissance. Binghamton, New York: Renaissance English Text Society, 1993.

Response proposing leadership styles Essay

1. (TCO 3) Prepare a five to seven paragraph response proposing leadership styles you would recommend for the Denver Airport Project. Please choose a combination (two or three) of the eight leadership styles presented in the Thompson textbook (Chapter 11: Leadership: Managing the Paradox). Please note that you are to also use three other sources from the internet or the DeVry online library. All sources must be cited. (Points : 30) Based on the reading it is hard to give a single leadership style or even a combination of leadership styles because there are so many different levels of productions and management for this project. Each level of management will have their own required type of leadership and while some styles may overlap, there will be differences for each level. For a project this large you are more than likely to run in to just about every type of leadership style at some point. When we start at the top you see that there is a Collaborative Leadership between the City, Greiner Engineering, and Morrison-Knudsen Engineering. Collaborative leaderships work well but even with a collaborative leadership there needs to be an organizer that directs the flow of discussions and determines outcomes in the event of a stalemate. This is not discussed in the passage and it is not determined who has the final say. Typically this would be the city since they are the owners but in many cases it also depends on the how contracts are written. While in the long run the city can make the final decision depending on the way the contract is written the city may have to pay to make those decisions. Without more information on the contract with the city and the engineering firms we cannot confirm if it is a true collaborative leadership. But there are other aspects that are brought up that bring up more concerns with the management systems used. While it appears to would be a collaborative leadership it does not seem as if everyone is on board with the same ideas. By separating the design and the functionality we run into issues that were not properly discussed ahead of time. In this case a democratic leader would be helpful to facilitate discussions among the different groups. Furthermore when there is an issue over function verse design the democratic leader can help to facilitate a compromise that works  for everyone. It does not appear as if there is any leadership helping to give direction. As you read through the passage it appears that instead of a collaborative leadership we have a delegating leadership in which the city tells everyone what they are looking for and then leaves it up to them to take care of it from there. Based on the passage it almost seems at times that the city has a laissez-faire style w hich on allows for more problems to arise. These changes and issues only slow the design and in turn would slow construction. This is evident with how the baggage system was handled. First due to the lack of leadership in the planning phase the baggage system was started way too late in the project life cycle. This falls back on the fact there was not enough active leadership in the planning phase. This also falls on the fact the risk management did not seem to pick up on this either. While it falls on the leaders risk management on this project was broken down only slightly and in turn left a wide variety of situations and issues undiscussed. This goes back to active leadership in which there does not appear to be anyone going back an asking question and looking to the future to see what issues may come up. Too many people appeared too tied up with the here and now and nobody had the foresight to look ahead to see what issues were coming. I did find it interesting that risk analysis was only broken down into cost, human resources, and bad weather. While I would agree that these three areas are important and needed to be address, I am surprised the equipment and materials were not on the list. While the three listed are concerns for most projects, I cannot remember the last time I was on a project where equipment and material deliveries were not areas of concern to be addressed. I was even more surprised to see in the November 1994 passage that they went a while without a risk manager especially given all the issues they had already run into. Again I would say that there is a lack of leadership and the city needed to take a more active role but at the same time that leadership needs to be a cooperation with all the major players so that everyone can get on the same page and help each other to identify issues like the baggage before it became an issue. On a side note I would say that I do believe that they did well with their choice in regards their choice of leaders for the movement of equipment between airports as described in the Sept. 1993 section. Using a person with military leadership for this type of move is a wise choice in my opinion. Given the complexity and time restraints of this type of move there is not a lot of room for error. The military is good about training leader that are willing to take recommendations when there is time for it and will to make decisions when there is no time. In this case with the complexity it would have taken a team to come up with the plan but when the plan is over and the move starts you need people that can think quickly and adjust to unknown issues as they come up. There is often no time for discussions because in this case ever second wasted only causes more delays. But as I said in the beginning there are several different types of leadership styles that take place on a project like this. While I have discussed the upper areas a management there are several areas were team building, mentoring, and other leadership requirements are needed more. People often look at the top for how a project is managed but in this case how the contractor and leaders near the bottom manager there people is sometime more important. So while a cooperative group of leaders that were more active would have been ok for the top it would not have worked for many of the lower levels. Reference Thompson, Leigh L.. Making the Team: A Guide for Managers, 4th Edition. Pearson Learning Solutions. . Kerzner, Harold. (  © 2004). Advanced project management: best practices on implementation, second edition. [Books24x7 version] Available from http://common.books24x7.com.proxy.devry.edu/toc.aspx?bookid=17176. Nutt, Paul C.. (  © 2002). Why decisions fail: avoiding the blunders and traps that lead to debacles. [Books24x7 version] Available from http://common.books24x7.com.proxy.devry.edu/toc.aspx?bookid=42601. Forster, Nick. (  © 2005). Maximum performance: a practical guide to leading and managing people at work. [Books24x7 version] Available from http://common.books24x7.com.proxy.devry.edu/toc.aspx?bookid=22402. Denver International Airport Baggage H andling System – An illustration of ineffectual decision making . (2008). Calleam Consulting Ltd. from http://calleam.com/WTPF/wp-content/uploads/articles/DIABaggage.pdf

Meaning of life †United Kingdom Essay

1. How does Pontiac understand the meaning of freedom? In his notion freedom meant getting rid of the English who had conquered the French and had gained more control over the Indians lands than ever. He believed they had to fight the English and pushed them out of their ancestors lands. As he said â€Å"Although you have conquered the French, you have not yet conquered us! We are not your slaves. These lake, these woods and mountains, were left to us by our ancestors. They are our inheritance; and we will part with them to none. 2. What elements of Indian life does Neolin criticize most strongly? He criticized Pontiac for using European technology, doing fur trade with the Whites, using their cloths and consuming alcohol instead of fighting against the English which he called them â€Å"the dogs who dressed red† and surrendering himself to them. He argued that he (Pontiac) should clothe himself in skins and use the bows and arrows and his tradition to fight back against their enemies. 3. How does this document relate to and inform the related part of the Chapter in the main text? This document discusses on how Pontiac started his journey to meet with Delaware religious prophet Neolin and on how Neolin guided Pontiac on how he should fight back in opposed to the English by getting back to his tradition that he inherited from his ancestors. 4. What impact did the primary source had on your understanding and beliefs? It was very interesting to see how much Indians cared about spiritual beliefs and how strong their viewpoint were when it comes to their traditional faith. Even though, the English had believed they were faithless and savages, but the truth was they were full of spiritual thoughts.

World War I - Battle of Caporetto on the Italian Front

World War I - Battle of Caporetto on the Italian Front Battle of Caporetto - Conflict Dates: The Battle of Caporetto was fought October 24-November 19, 1917, during World War I (1914-1918). Armies Commanders Italians General Luigi CadornaGeneral Luigi Capello15 divisions, 2213 guns Central Powers General Otto von BelowGeneral Svetozar Boroevic25 divisions, 2,200 guns Battle of Caporetto - Background: With the conclusion of the Eleventh Battle of Isonzo in September 1917, Austro-Hungarian forces were nearing the point of collapse in the area around Gorizia. Faced with this crisis, Emperor Charles I sought aid from his German allies. Though the Germans felt that the war would be won on the Western Front, they agreed to provide troops and support for a limited offensive designed to throw the Italians back across the Isonzo River and, if possible, past the Tagliamento River. For this purpose, the composite Austro-German Fourteenth Army was formed under the command of General Otto von Below. Battle of Caporetto - Preparations: In September, the Italian commander-in-chief, General Luigi Cadorna, became aware that an enemy offensive was in the offing. As a result, he ordered the commanders of the Second and Third Armies, Generals Luigi Capello and Emmanuel Philibert, to begin preparing defenses in depth to meet any attack. Having issued these orders, Cadorna failed to see that they were obeyed and instead began an inspection tour of other fronts which lasted until October 19. On the Second Army front, Capello did little as he preferred to plan for an offensive in the Tolmino area. Further weakening Cadornas situation was an insistence on keeping the bulk of the two armies troops on the east bank of the Isonzo despite the fact that the enemy still held crossings to the north. As a result, these troops were in prime position to be cut off by an Austro-German attack down the Isonzo Valley. In addition, the Italian reserves on the west bank were placed too far to the rear to rapidly aid the front lines. For the upcoming offensive, Below intended to launch the main assault with the Fourteenth Army from a salient near Tolmino. This was to be supported by secondary attacks to the north and south, as well as by an offensive near the coast by General Svetozar Boroevics Second Army. The assault was to be preceded by a heavy artillery bombardment as well as the use of poison gas and smoke. Also, Below intended to employ a substantial number of storm troopers which were to use infiltration tactics to pierce the Italian lines. With planning complete, Below began shifting his troops into place. This done, the offensive commenced with the opening bombardment which began before dawn on October 24. Battle of Caporetto - The Italians Routed: Caught by complete surprise, Capellos men suffered badly from the shelling and gas attacks. Advancing between Tolmino and Plezzo, Belows troops were able to quickly shatter the Italian lines and began driving west. Bypassing Italian strong points, the Fourteenth Army advanced over 15 miles by nightfall. Surrounded and isolated, the Italian posts in its rear were reduced in the coming days. Elsewhere, the Italian lines held and were able to turn back Belows secondary attacks, while the Third Army held Boroevic in check (Map). Despite these minor successes, Belows advance threatened the flanks of the Italian troops to the north and south. Alerted to the enemy breakthrough, Italian morale elsewhere on the front began to plummet. Though Capello recommended a withdrawal to the Tagliamento on the 24th, Cadorna refused and worked to rescue the situation. It was not until a few days later, with Italian troops in full retreat that Cadorna was forced to accept that a movement to the Tagliamento was inevitable. At this point, vital time had been lost and Austro-Germans forces were in close pursuit. On October 30, Cadorna ordered his men to cross the river and establish a new defensive line. This effort took four days and was quickly thwarted when German troops established a bridgehead over the river on November 2. By this point, the stunning success of Belows offensive began to hinder operations as the Austro-German supply lines were unable to keep up with the speed of the advance. With the enemy slowing, Cadorna ordered a further retreat to the Piave River on November 4. Though large numbers of Italian troops had been captured in the fighting, the bulk of his troops from the Isonzo region were able to form a strong line behind the river by November 10. A deep, wide river, the Piave finally brought the Austro-German advance to an end. Lacking the supplies or equipment for an attack across the river, they elected to dig in. Battle of Caporetto - Aftermath: The fighting at the Battle of Caporetto cost the Italians around 10,000 killed, 20,000 wounded, and 275,000 captured. Austro-German casualties numbered around 20,000. One of the few clear victories of World War I, Caporetto saw the Austro-German forces advance around 80 miles and reach a position from which they could strike at Venice. In the wake of the defeat, Cadorna was removed as chief of staff and replaced with General Armando Diaz. With their allys forces badly wounded, the British and French sent five and six divisions respectively to bolster the Piave River line. Austro-German attempts to cross the Piave that fall were turned back as were attacks against Monte Grappa. Though a massive defeat, Caporetto rallied the Italian nation behind the war effort. Within a few months the losses of material had been replaced and the army quickly recovered its strength through the winter of 1917/1918. Selected Sources First World War: Battle of CaporettoHistory of War: Battle of Caporetto

How Conservatives Would Reform Education

How Conservatives Would Reform Education The biggest obstacle to education reform is the existence of teachers unions. Unions act to protect the interests of teachers at any cost, even at the expense of students. Unions often work to minimize teacher accountability, protect low-quality teachers, and support the unsustainable expansion of retirement and health benefits. Labor unions once played a crucial role in ensuring fairness in the workplace. Unions were initially formed to protect workers against brutal employers who abused laborers, refused adequate breaks and time off, and did not ensure safe working conditions. Labor unions were never really intended for government workers or employees. For the most part, private labor union membership continues to fall as right-to-work reforms grow in strength in many states. When it comes to public sector unions, and specifically teachers unions, conservatives favor putting students needs first once again and ending the union-dominated culture that has prevented educational reforms in public education. As American students continue to lag in key areas and drop-out rates in major cities remain at unacceptable levels, it’s clear that the policies of the past have failed. Teachers have long enjoyed being portrayed as overworked and underpaid public servants who only go into the teaching field â€Å"for the children.† While that may have once been very true, union dominance has changed the this and, perhaps, the chief motivation for entering the profession. Unions have little to do with helping children. When teacher’s strike, it usually hurts the children they claim to have entered the profession for. Teachers arent in education for the money, they will tell us. In reality, unionized teachers typically strike for pay, preventing accountability, and enhancing already generous (and publicly paid) benefits. Support Merit Pay and Promote Standards Conservatives support ending the union-dominated contracts that oppose merit pay and advancement and places longevity of teaching over the quality of teaching. Conservatives support a merit-based system for public school teachers, and holding teachers accountable has been one of the most difficult things to do. Unions oppose most measures to determine whether teachers are effective and work to make it impossible to get rid of those who are not. Education is one of the few fields where a lack of results has no consequences, and length of teaching is of greater importance than the quality of teaching. In general, conservatives would support a bottom-up approach, and these standards would be local and statewide based. Applying the concepts of  federalism should apply to education, just as it should for most government-related agencies. Local school districts should have the greatest power to determine effective and acceptable standards without interference from the heavy hand of either a large bureaucratic federal government or unions. Common Core is designed to be a national standards program but is disguised as a voluntary program. Support School Choice Not surprisingly, the biggest obstacle in enacting favorable school-choice legislation has been the opposition of well-funded labor unions. Polls have consistently shown that parents and communities overwhelmingly support school choice. Parents should have the ability to select the school that is the best fit for their child. Unfortunately, protecting the jobs and salaries of government teachers - no matter how ineffective they may be - is the main goal of unions. Unions rightly fear that an open and competitive atmosphere would deplete the ranks of people who would voluntarily send their children to public schools, thus reducing the need for public teachers, and the need for unions themselves. Recent History: The 2012 Chicago Teachers Union Strike In 2012, the Chicago Teachers Union went on strike over pay and accountability. As they forced the cancellation of classes for hundreds of thousands of students – leaving families in a bind – they took to the streets carrying signs about how the strike was for the sake of the kids. While this was untrue, continuing the myth of the abused, underpaid public school teacher is of utmost importance. Hiding behind children is an unique advantage teachers have over other â€Å"public servants† like DMV processors or meter maids. (Imagine the amount of sympathy the drivers license clerk would get over a strike about increasing pay and benefits).​ With an average salary of $76,000, the typical Chicago teacher makes more money than roughly 3/4 of the country. Citing such teacher benefits as weekends off, nights off, long summers, and extended holidays are usually met with cries of â€Å"burnout.† Most jobs have a pretty big degree of burnout and teachers aren’t the only ones who get tired of their jobs and leave for something else. But teachers are special. They work with children. This supposedly makes teachers free from criticism. The major problem with the unions is that it becomes hard to find out who teaches for the children and who is there for the high-end government benefits. Unions have ensured teachers are among the most well-compensated, vacationed, and job-protected workforces in the country, all without true concern for what best helps students.

Youth Offending Essay Literature review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Youth Offending Essay - Literature review Example Social exclusion refers to the lack of acceptance, belonging and recognition of an individual or a community by others despite the fact that they may be neighbours in a city or a country (Friedman, 1993). Studies have shown that Black and Ethnic Minority (BEM) youths are the most affected by social exclusion in Wales and England. Interestingly, socially exclude youth are often found to be socially and economically vulnerable and have higher risks of living diminished lives in the eyes of the advantaged as well as in their own eyes (Applebaum et al., 2010). The social and economic changes in the free-market economies have been cited as the main causes of social exclusion of minority youths, more so in the Western countries. In addition, weaknesses and inequalities in government service provision have made socially excluded people rather vulnerable in many ways (Coker, 2003). For instance, in England and Wales, the socioeconomically deprived and socially exclude ethnic minority youths have been found to be at higher risks of being crime victims or offenders given their propensity towards committing crimes (CRC, 2008a). This paper thus explores the reasons youths from ethnic minority groups are over-represented in the criminal justice system of Wales and England and the possible approaches with which this trend may be addressed. The Criminal Justice System and Black Minority Youths Perhaps one of the most regrettable and enduring characteristic of the criminal justice systems is racial profiling and stereotyping of youths from minority ethnic groups (CRC, 2008b). Fortunately, there has been a considerable increase in the galvanisation of the link between minority ethnic groups and crime (University of Georgia, 2006). In worse cases, there have been so much racial stereotyping and crime profiling that black youths are referred to as ‘criminal predators’ (Silver, 1994). According to the Youth Justice Board (YJB), which reported that 1,822 young offender s were in custody in the 2010/2011 period, it is this profiling of minority youths that has subtly justified the over-representation of youths from minority ethnic groups and races in the criminal justice systems (BBC, 2011). Out of this population, minority ethnic youths constituted 39%, a 6% increase over the 2009/2010 period. However, the general figures of youth offenders dropped from 1977 of the 2009/2010 period (BBC, 2011). The Guardian also reported similar trends in both Wales and England, reporting that young black men accounted for nearly 40% of the population of youth jails in the two countries. Comparing the 2006 and the 2009/2010 period, the joint report with the Youth Justice Board (YJB) indicated an increase from 23% to 39% by young black youth composition (The Guardian, 2011). This over-representation is not only evident at the trial stages/courts but also in the correctional facilities such as prisons. Although, an unofficial policy, the tendency to racially and eth nically profile minority youths is so rampant that criminal justice practitioners openly practice it. Certain elements have been identified to be core to the culture of racial profiling and the emergence and practice of minority youth typification in the criminal justice system (Walker, 1977). While the number of minority youths incarcerated in the UK and Wales in the last three decades increased, the number of incarcerated white/majority has considerably gone down. Since historical times, youths from minority groups have consistently been over-represented at all the stages in the criminal justice system in the UK and Wales, the senior and the juvenile justice systems (Walker, 1992). In fact, this