Analysis of American History X Essay

In this assignment, I was challenged to find important historical and cultural connections of the film American History X and analyze the important rhetorical of my findings. I went about choosing American History X by placing a poll on Facebook listing out the films that I had any slight interest in considering for this assignment and American History X won by a landslide. I was actually somewhat disappointed, because I wanted to do The X-Files, but I chose to stick to my promise and go with whatever text won. I watched American History X some years after its release in 1998. Although, I know I must have watched it sometime after I got out of high school because at the time of its release I was 12 years old and with the amount of violence in that film I know I did not watch it with my parents. From the little memory I had of the film from the first time, I could only recall that American History X had a lot to do with white supremacy and racism, that Edward Norton played the lead ro le and that the kid who played in the first Terminator was his brother and was all grown up. I hesitated watching the film again for quite sometime because I knew I would need to dedicate a solid two hours of mental energy towards it. One could argue that I was merely just procrastinating; however, I benefitted from having done so because future class discussions provided a foundation for how I could study the film. After reading about and discussing in class the topic of approaching a text organically, I decided to implement that mentality and view the film as objectively as non-object individual can. It is difficult to say whether it was that approach that ultimately led to my findings in the film, or if I would have discovered them anyway since it was my second time viewing the film. Everyone can appreciate that after the second and third time of watching any film you begin to pick up on things you missed the first time. In either case, I found the movie to be incredibly eye opening and I enjoyed having to research the history surrounding the film and, ultimately, the state of the nation during what was my childhood. American History X is a film that depicts a traditional white family in the mid 1990s, but spot lights the two brothers’ journeys into maturity. The movie focuses on the older brother Derek, played by Edward Norton, and how Derek’s Neo-Nazi associations in his life greatly influence his younger brother Danny, played by Edward Furlong. Fueled by rage of his father’s death, the film opens with a scene of Derek brutally killing three young black men who were attempting to steal his father’s truck. Derek is then sent to prison for 3 years during which time his younger brother Danny begins to follow in Derek’s footsteps with the Neo-Nazi organization. The movie flips between black-and-white scenes of the past and color scenes of the present. The black-and-white flashbacks attempt to illuminate Danny’s perception of Derek’s past life while intermittently presenting how Derek overcame is his own hatred. The color scenes portray the present and highlight the effects the hatred has had on the entire family. Overall, the movie critiques on not only the effects of urban racism and bigotry, but a lso the how minds of young people are so impressionable. The film even succeeds in creating a sense of sympathy for characters that are typically hated, Neo-Nazi racist skinheads, and paints them not as foolish, uneducated racist bigots, but instead as misguided intelligent human beings. On the surface the film discusses racism, violence, and bigotry, but upon closer examination I found a deeper message within the film. Watching it a second time, I realized that this film is really emphasizing the lack of critical thinking skills in young people, particularly in teenagers and young adults and how impressionable their minds are. Then, upon further research related to those very topics it touches on in the film, I discovered that the entire movie itself actually harbors an obscure form of racism that was reflected in many movies throughout the 1990s. Needless to say, even in today’s society we deal with these same issues of racism and intolerance for other people’s beliefs. However, within the most recent years it has evolved to focus more on the gay, lesbian and transgender community. History certainly can be seen as repeating itself as many of the arguments that gays and lesbians make regarding their civil rights and discrimination almost mirror the same arguments made back in the 1960s during the civil right movement. Reverend Dr. Phil Snider made this connection so blatantly clear in his speech that went viral on YouTube that he gave before the Springfield City Council of Missouri just a few weeks ago. In his speech, Dr. Snider cleverly took quotes directly from speeches given by white preachers in favor of racial segregation in the 1950 and 1960s and merely substituted select words and inserted ‘gays and lesbians’ (â€Å"Preacher Phil Snider Gives Interesting Gay Rights Speech†). I think the twist of his speech highlights the main issues regarding any form of racism and discrimination and they most certainly could be applied to the issues of racism that America faced in the 1990s. The 1990s was saturated with debates over, court cases involving and numerous media outlets centering on the issues of racism and affirmative action. In May of 1992, Newsweek printed an article entitled â€Å"The Crossroads of Shattered Dreams† that summarized the conflicts of racism in the early 90s stating, â€Å"white[s] charge that affirmative action is unfair†¦blacks respond that it was unfair for them to be starved of opportunities by 300 years of slavery and discrimination.† That same year, the verdict of Rodney King’s case outraged the black community and sparked riots lasting six days with over 2,000 people injured and 55 people killed (â€Å"Riots Erupt in Los Angeles†). In March of 1996, the three white law school candidates charged that they were unfairly discriminated against and rejected for entrance into the school for less qualified minorities in the famous case Hopwood v. Texas Law School (â€Å"Hopwood v. University Texas Law School †). Just prior to the release of American History X in 1998, California enacted Proposition 209, which amended the state’s constitution to ban preferential treatment of any persons based on race or gender in public sector education, employment, and contracting (Parker). All of these enormously impactful events and numerous others shaped much of the discrimination that occurred in the 1990s. In fact, sociological research confirms â€Å"discrimination is more often the result of organizational practices that have unintentional effects† or predispositions â€Å"linked to social stereotypes and does not so much stem from individual prejudices† (Tomaskovic-Devey). Nevertheless, the culmination of these types of incidents led to a demand for Hollywood to â€Å"headline positive characters of color† (Hughey 549). Producers and directors felt pressure to make-up for their own history of racist filmmaking and, consequently, this also gave rise to the development of a veiled type of racism within films referred to by Hughey himself as the â€Å"cinethetic racism†(550). Cinethetic racism in the 1990s was typically found in films that have a black character whose purpose in the film is to support the white protagonist. Typically this black character, coined the â€Å"magical Negro† by Hughey, was portrayed as the voice of reason, or having some other type wisdom, within the film and who selflessly helps the white character achieve his goals. â€Å"These films rest on friendly, helpful, bend-over-backwards black characters that do not seek to change their own impoverished status, but instead exhibit a primordial, hard-wired desire to use their magical power to correct the wrongs in a white world† (Hughey 556). The concept expressed in this quote is clearly evident in the film American History X during the many scenes of Derek in prison working in the laundry room with Lamont, a friendly black prisoner who attempts to befriend him. Eventually Derek is able let down his guard and the future interactions between them usually consist of Lamo nt humorously explaining how things work within the prison. There is one scene, however, that does somewhat contradict this concept of a â€Å"magical Negro† and, instead, causes Derek to experience a form of guilt. This contradiction is depicted in the scene of Lamont and Derek working in the laundry room and Derek very genuinely asks Lamont why he is in prison. Lamont explains how he was sentenced for assault on a police officer because he accidently dropped a TV on the officer’s foot that he was trying to steal. Derek initially resists and jokingly asks Lamont to tell the truth, but Lamont insists that he did not assault the police officer and only dropped the TV on the officer’s foot. This is the pivotal moment within the movie that shows Derek’s guilt and sympathy for the first time towards a black person. I think this is the most important scene throughout the entire film because it gives the audience exactly what they want: they want to see Derek experience this epiphany and for him to recognize how he has perpetuated discrimination against black people. But it does not take very long for the film to revert right back into the traditional cinethetic racist ways. In Derek’s last interaction with Lamont, the audience learns that during Derek’s stay within prison Lamont was protecting him from further beatings and rape after Derek chose to no longer affiliate with the Neo-Nazis within the prison. That scene ultimately preserves the concept of the â€Å"magical Negro† and that black people have this underlying desire to serve to the needs of white people. I liken this idea of cinethetic racism to what actors refer to the subtext of a script. Normally, the subtext refers to the underlying motives of a particular character, but this concept of cinethetic racism is like the â€Å"subtext† of an entire film. â€Å"Of greatest critical concern is how [magical Negro] films advantageously shore up white supremacist and normative orders while ostensibly posturing as an irreverent challenge to them† (Hughey 553). On the surface it appears to be a film that tries to defeat racism, but ironically there are hidden agendas that completely go against the moral of this story. Just as magical Negros are a disguised form of racism found in American films in the 1990s, there were also disguised forms of racism going on politically throughout the nation, more specifically in California. During the 1990s, racism and civil rights disputes were approaching the heights they reached in the civil rights era of the 1960s. However, after many decades of affirmative action policies attempting to right the wrongs minorities faced and with California experiencing an economic downturn, many whites became less tolerant of minorities receiving preferential treatment through affirmative action programs (Alvarez). Now the whites are claiming they were discriminated against in a form of â€Å"reverse discrimination.† What I find so interesting about the idea of â€Å"reverse discrimination† is that it implies that discrimination only naturally goes in one direction: whites against minorities. And, furthermore, that there will always be a certain level of racism, as if to suggest that there is a threshold for which it is acceptable, but also that it is the responsibility of the majority, white people, to keep it in check. Yet the moment any form of racism or discrimination is felt against whites, it is completely intolerable and demands political action. It was the supporters of Proposition 209 that argued that current affirmative action programs led public employers and universities to reject applicants because of their race, and that Proposition 209 would â€Å"return [us] to the fundamentals of our democracy,† as summarized in an article capturing the main arguments of Proposition 209 entitled â€Å"Prohibition Against Discrimination.† With in the same article it preached, â€Å"let us not perpetuate the myth that ‘minorities’ and women cannot compete without special preferences†¦vote for fairness not favoritism.† The fairness of Proposition 209 has been hotly debatably ever since it was enacted in 1997, but I think the dinner scene with Derek and his father in American History X most succinctly sums up the mindset of the many supporters of Proposition 209. The scene opens with a dinner table conversation between Derek and his father about the material he is learning for his English class. His father than expresses his distaste for such material with the following monologue: â€Å"All this stuff about making everything equal†¦ it’s not as easy as it looks†¦you gotta trade in great books for black books now? You gotta question these things Derek. We are not just talking about books here, we’re talking about my job. I got two blacks guys on my squad now that got their jobs over a couple of white guys who actually scored higher on the test. Does that make sense? They got their job because they were black not because they were the best? America’s about if you do your best you get the job†¦not this affirmative blacktion crap†¦.it’s nigger bullshit.† This dinner scene perfectly exemplifies the concept that 1) the moment whites feel they are being discriminated they instantly raise the red flag and 2) that â€Å"discrimination is more often the result of organizational practices that have unintentional effects [†¦] and does not so much stem from individual prejudices,† as I stated earlier. Another aspect that I find so interesting about American History X was how writer David McKenna was able to pull directly from real life situations to add dialogue into this screenplay. McKenna and Edward Norton actually rewrote a portion of the script quoting from Governor Pete Wilson’s speech advocating Proposition 209 in 1995 (Goldstein). More importantly, it was used in a scene where Derek is trying to energize a group of young skin heads before they vandalize a grocery store owned by minorities. I find it so ironic that the character of a racist Neo-Nazi was reciting actual words from a speech promoting the removal of affirmative actions polices that were, allegedly, intended to reduce discrimination and increase equality. When I discovered this tidbit of information I was completely blown away. I had no idea how closely this movie reflected real problems going on in society in the 1990s. McKenna’s use of Pete Wilson’s speech is clearly an example of art ref lecting reality, but Pete Wilson’s speech was not the only source from reality in which McKenna got his inspiration. McKenna grew up in Southern California, where the film story takes place, and personally witnessed bigotry and racism (Bruce). From his encounters and extensive research, McKenna decided that the point he tried â€Å"to make in the script is that a person is not born a racist†¦[McKenna] wanted an accurate portrayal of how good kids from good families can get so terribly lost† (Bruce). Personally, I think McKenna succeeded in having that be the main message of the film: the impressionability of a young mind and that all behaviors are learned. The film simultaneously follows Derek’s upbringing and how he becomes involved in the Neo-Nazi organization and how his involvement with that group greatly influenced his younger brother Danny. The dinner scene I detailed above is the key scene from McKenna’s screenplay that supports the idea that racism is a learned behavior stemmed from outside organizational practices. However, despite how well received the movie was and the numerous nominations Edward Norton received for his performance, that is not the original message the director intended. Tony Kaye was the director of American History X and, ironically, he also turned out to be a major competing persuasive force throughout the entire film making process. Kaye battled with directors, producers, writer David McKenna and Edward Norton himself claiming that New Line Cinema never allowed him to create his vision of the film going as far as to take out full page ads in trade magazines bashing the film and even requested to have his name removed from the film entirely and replaced with the pseudonym â€Å"Humpy Dumpty† (Goldstein). In a statement made shortly after the film’s release, Kaye contended that Edward Norton edited a majority of the film in order to increase his screen time in the film and that the producers did not allow Kaye an â€Å"opportunity to present a black voice to provide depth and balance to the film† and furthered that he wanted the film to be an â€Å"homage to free speech and responsibility† (Leinberger). I think the main reason why Kaye’s original vision never made it to the film was because it clashed so much with McKenna’s original message. McKenna wrote the film based off of his personal experience witnessing acts of racisms in Southern California in throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s. Whereas, Kaye is not only much older than McKenna, but grew up in United Kingdom and had only been living in the United states for a few years before he got involved in the film at all, and, therefore, did not quite have the same outlook for the script (Topel). It should also be noted that this was Kaye’s first feature film and his previous directing experience came from extensive work with TV commercials and music videos (Goldstein). And while McKenna himself may not have been directly involved during the filming process, as most writers are not, I think Edward Norton and the producers all believed in and followed McKenna’s vision because of how much it related to the struggles that America was facing at that time. This is not to suggest that Kaye’s vision for the film was wrong, but that producers have to consider what the audience wants and expects to see. From studying American History X, I have learned how racism evolved in a very peculiar fashion. As racism, specifically towards black people, became less and less accepted by whites over the last 150 years, certain segments of society seemed to find ways to continue a small, but undeniable level of racism since it was no longer socially acceptable among the general population to outwardly express it with for instance, lynching. Racism and discrimination has certainly come a long way over the last sixty years, but it has definitely not been eradicated. In fact, some would argue that now whites are beginning to experience a type of â€Å"reverse discrimination† due unforeseen effects from affirmative action programs. In regards to American films however, one would have to sit down personally with directors and producers of 1990s films to determine if they intentionally created these magical Negro characters in order to perpetuate racism. Aside from the fact that it is highly unlikely that anyone would ever openly admit to that, I personally think that cinethetic racism and the magical Negro were just an unintended consequence of a fad that was going on throughout Hollywood at the time, the fad being to have black people portray certain qualities of wisdom and â€Å"magical powers† within films. In either case, it is very curious that a movie such as America History X meets the qualifications for cinethetic racism. In my opinion, for a film that was intended to enlighten the audience of the problem of racism in America, yet ultimately perpetuated a veiled version of it, could no more flawlessly fit into this concept of cinethetic racism. Also, the argument of whether or not reality reflects art or if art reflects reality is just as frustrating to argue as whether the chicken or the egg came first. But in the case for this film, I would contend that American History X, art, is reflecting reality. In fact, the notion behind cinethetic racism and the magical Negro tie in so neatly with the arguments for Proposition 209 and Gov. Pete Wilson’s speech that it is just uncanny. With a closer look into both, one can see that each share their own masked form of racism veiled as though whites are helping minorities. Art was imitating the subversive racism that was occurring in r eality. As an actor myself, I think it is unfortunate for director Tony Kaye that, for whatever reason, he was not able to get his original vision of the film produced. I think because of the numerous racially historical events that were occurring the 1990s that producing a movie which centered on the freedom of speech around racism as Kaye originally intended, was the last thing any audience wanted to watch in a theatre. All in all, I think film did a fabulous job highlighting historical events and attitudes going on throughout society during the 1990s, despite the fact that the film may be perpetuating racism at a subversive level. Works Cited American History X. Dir. Tony Kaye. Perf. Edward Norton and Edward Furlong. New Line Cinemas, 1998. Film. Alvarez, R. Michael, and Lisa G. Bedolla. â€Å"The Revolution Against Affirmative Action in California: Racism, Economics, and Proposition 209.† State Politics and Policy Quarterly 4.1 (2004): 1-17. Sage Publications, Inc. Web. 21 Oct. 2012. Bruce, David. â€Å"Racism in America=Hating Others.† American History X: A Hollywood Jesus Film Review. HollywoodJesus.com, n. d. Web. Web. 21 Oct. 2012. . Goldstein, Patrick. â€Å"Courting Trouble.† Edward Norton Information Page. N.p., 13 1998. Web. Web. 21 Oct. 2012. . â€Å"Hopwood v. University of Texas Law School†. Encyclopedia Britannica. Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica Inc., 2012. Web. 21 Oct. 2012 . Hughey, Matthew W. â€Å"White Redemption and Black Stereotypes in â€Å"Magical Negro† Films.† Social Problems 56.3 (2009): 543-77. www.jstor.org. University of California Press, 2009. Web. 21 Oct. 2012. . Leinberger, Gisela. â€Å"Film Director Tony Kaye Makes Statement at Berlin’s Brandenberg Gate; Director of ‘American History X’ Speaks to Film’s Issues.† PR News Wire. N.p., n. d. Web. Web. 21 Oct. 2012. . Parker, Beth H. â€Å"The Impact of Proposition 209 on Education, Employment and Contracting.† ERA: Prop 209 Impact. Equal Rights Advocates, n.d. Web. 22 Oct. 2012. . Preacher Phil Snider Gives Interesting Gay Rights Speech. Perf. Rev. Dr. Phil Snider. Www.YouTube.com. YouTube, 13 Aug. 2012. Web. 21 Oct. 2012. . â€Å"Prohibition Against Discrimination or Preferential Treatment by State and Other Public Entities. Initiative Constitutional Amendment..† California’s 1996 General Election Web Site! . N.p., n. d. Web. Web. 21 Oct. 2012. . â€Å"Riots erupt in Los Angeles.† 2012. The History Channel website. Oct 21 2012 . Tomaskovic-Devey, Donald, and Patricia Warren. â€Å"Explaining and Eliminating Racial Profiling.† Contexts. American Sociological Association, 2009. Web. 21 Oct. 2012. . Topel, Fred. â€Å"Interview with Lake of Fire Filmmaker Tony Kaye.† About.com Oct 21 2012. Whitaker, Mark. â€Å"A Crisis Of Shattered Dreams.† Newsweek. 5 1991: 1. Web. 19 Oct. 2012..

Essay of dream act Essay

Course Description: This course is an examination of the underlying theoretical principles of developmentally appropriate practices applied to programs, environments, emphasizing the key role of relationships, constructive adult-child interactions, and teaching strategies in supporting physical, social, creative and intellectual development for all children. This course includes a review of the historical roots of early childhood programs and the evolution of the professional practices promoting advocacy, ethics and professional identity. Course Objectives: upon successful completion of this course students will- a. Identify the historical roots of early childhood education. b. List different program types, delivery systems and licensing and regulation structures in early childhood settings. c. Demonstrate awareness of developmental ages and stages. d. Define developmentally, culturally and linguistically appropriate practice. e. Describe why access to play is important for all children and ways of using a play-based curriculum as a vehicle for developing skills, dispositions, and knowledge. f. Describe appropriate adaptations (programmatic, curricular and environmental strategies) needed to support children with diverse abilities and characteristics. g. Identify and compare effective policies, practices and environments in early childhood settings. h. Describe the characteristics of effective relationships and interactions between early childhood professionals, children, families and colleagues and examine the importance of collaboration. i. Describe the relationship of  observation, planning, implementation, and assessment in effective programming. j. Compare and contrast principles of positive guidance and identify strategies for different ages. k. Identify practices promoting positive classroom management, guidance, communication and problem-solving skills. l. Develop strategies to maintain communication and access with English language learning families and children. m. Demonstrate skills to maintain positive team relations. n. Explain child development as a profession, including ethics and professional organizations. o. Compare and contrast theoretical perspectives. p. Develop and articulate a professional philosophy. Student Learning Outcomes: 1. Examine the value of play as a vehicle for developing skills, knowledge, dispositions and strengthening relationships among young children. 2. Analyze the relationship between observation, planning, implementation and assessment in developing effective teaching strategies and positive learning and development. 3. Assess early childhood settings, curriculum and teaching strategies utilizing indicators of quality early childhood practice that support all children including those with diverse characteristics and their families. 4. Interpret best and promising teaching and care practices as defined within the field of early care and education including an historic overview, range of delivery systems, program philosophies and ethical standards. 5. Identify the underlying theoretical perspective in forming a professional philosophy. 6. Examine a variety of guidance and interaction strategies to increase children’s social competence and promote a caring classroom community. This Course Meets NAEYC Early Childhood Associate Degree Accreditation Standard 5: Becoming a Professional- Students prepared in associate degree programs identify and conduct themselves as members of the early childhood profession. They know and use ethical guidelines and other professional standards related to early childhood practice. They are continuous, collaborative learners who demonstrate knowledgeable, reflective, and critical perspectives on their work, making informed decisions that  integrate knowledge from a variety of sources. They are informed advocates for sound educational practices and policies. Attendance and Participation: Students are expected to attend all class meetings. As future ECE professionals, students must demonstrate the commitment to professional standards through good attendance and punctuality. Please arrive on time and do not leave early. It reflects badly on you and you will miss important class materials. Attendance and participation are vital to success in this, or any other college-level course. Students may not make up in-class activities, nor may they complete those activities early. Journal writing is completed and in-class points are recorded at different times throughout the class session. If you are unable to attend the full class session regularly, you should arrange to take another section of this class. It is always the student’s responsibility to acquire class materials for any missed class time. DO NOT phone or email the instructor for missed class materials. Towards this end, students are encouraged to obtain a â€Å"phone or email buddy†, get the number or email address of a classmate and agree to share information when one or the other is absent. This instructor makes use of BlackBoard. All assignments and handouts are available via our course shell and some assignments may be submitted in BlackBoard as well. Students who miss the first class without notifying the instructor will be dropped. Excessive absences (more than 2) may result in the student being dropped from the class. However, students should not assume that poor attendance will automatically result in a Withdrawal. It is the student’s responsibility to contact Enrollment Services and the instructor to arrange to drop a course. Students learn best when they feel comfortable and â€Å"safe† . To this end, each student will be expected to come to class prepared, to be courteous of fellow classmates, and to actively participate in the learning process. This means that you will have read the material in preparation for discussion in class and will bring questions and comments about assignments to class. Students who are active learners do best in all academic arenas and are best prepared to teach young children how to be active learners. If any student has a problem, question, concern, and/or special learning need, it is expected that these will be discussed, in private, with the instructor. Note: This college abides by Section 504 of the Rehabilitation  Act of 1973 that stipulates that no student shall be denied the benefits of an education â€Å"solely by reason of a handicap†. If you have a documented disability, which limits a major life activity that may have some impact on your work in this class and for which you may require accommodation, please discuss that with your instructor during the first two weeks of class. In addition, please seek the support of the Disabled Students Programs and Services at 773-2535 –so that appropriate accommodations may be arranged. Classroom Routines and Expectations: Each day class will follow the same routine with some variations for special class trips or projects. When you enter the classroom, please check in with the instructor. Pick up your folder and remove any graded work. Keep your folder with you until the end of the class session. Place any work to be graded in the folder and return it to the instructor prior to leaving. We will have a short â€Å"meeting† to clarify the class objectives and tasks for the day. After meeting students will have one to one and a half hours of self-directed work time. During this time students may complete chapter reading, work on individual papers or projects, work on group papers or projects (quietly so that those working on individual projects are not disturbed). During the self-directed portion of class, each student will meet with the instructor for 5-10 minutes. This is the time to address questions, concerns, or problems that you are not comfortable discussing in the large class. During the class schedule there will be tasks set up for each group/individual to complete. All tasks must be completed each class session for full points. Prior to leaving for the day, there will be a large group discussion and time for questions at the end of class each day. Turn in your folder with any work to be graded prior to leaving for the day. Assignments and Grades: Assignment Points Possible Total Points Earned Chapter Reflections Observations 7 @ 10 points each 5 @ 10 points each 70 50 Historical Project 1 2 10 points 10 Philosophy Statement Portfolio In Class Work 1 @ 10 points 1 @ 10 points 10 @ 5 points each 10 10 50 Grade Scale: 200-180=A 179-160= B 159-140=C 139-120=D 119-0=F Instructor Expectations: One of the goals of this class is to prepare students to be successful professionals. Part of having a successful image is the ability to produce neat, legible, coherent, grammatically correct, and thorough written materials. To allow anything less is to improperly prepare students for their upcoming careers. Note: It will be impossible for students to earn an â€Å"A† on any work not demonstrating college-level writing standards, regardless of the quality of the content. (See attached sheet for clarification of college level writing standards.) The instructor will spend time and energy in class working on papers, PowerPoint, and presentations so that you can turn in your best work. Student Responsibilities: It is recommended that students make copies of all assignments before they are turned in and that each graded assignment be retained after it has been returned. (It is rare that assignments get lost or grades incorrectly recorded, but this practice will assure grade accuracy). Students need to keep track of their grades/progress to ensure accuracy. Grades are posted in Blackboard and student must track grades as they are earned. If you observe an error, bring it to the instructor as soon as possible. Bring the graded paper to the instructor; grades are not changed upon your word alone. Students are welcome to meet privately with the instructor to discuss their progress. Student Handbook and other important information: The Student Conduct Standards for student behavior are outlined in the college catalog. All students are expected to know and adhere to the conduct standards. Students who are disruptive to the instructor or other students, insubordinate, demeaning or threatening through verbal or physical means will be expelled from class and the instructor will institute college disciplinary action against such students. Be Courteous: Turn off cell phones while in class. Do not take calls or text. It is distracting to other students and to you! If there is an emergency so dire that you must be on-call, please put your phone on vibrate and leave the room to take a call. Do not engage in side discussions during class. It is likewise distracting to those around you. For the optimal grade, focus your time and energy on the classroom experience. Final Note: Although your instructor is sympathetic to the difficulties that students who are also parents encounter as they try to juggle the dual responsibilities that they shoulder, it is against COD policy to allow students to bring minor children to class (unless that child is enrolled in the course). Please make arrangements for back-up child care for the â€Å"last minute emergencies† that are bound to occur. Thank you. Early Childhood Education Obligation of Confidentiality As a student in the Early Childhood Education program, I, ________________________ Agree to respect and maintain the commitment to children, families, colleagues, and community as set forth in the National Association for the Education of Young Children’s (NAEYC) Code of Ethical Conduct. AS a major component of this commitment I agree to respect the right to privacy of children, their families, ECE colleagues, and programs by not disclosing any knowledge, records, or other confidential information to anyone. This means that I will not discuss, repeat, or share information about children, families, colleagues, and programs outside of class or directed assignments. I may share information that is pertinent to classroom discussions regarding quality programming, as long as all identities (individual and program) are protected. I will abide by this obligation of confidentiality and recognize that unauthorized release of confidential information may make me subject to a civil actio n under the provisions of the Welfare and Institutions Code. Signed:_______________________________________ Date:_________________________________________ College Level Writing Standards As you complete your work, review the following questions: Presentation: Is your paper typed (12 pt. font), double-spaced, and have 1† margins? Do you include a properly formatted cover sheet? Does your paper use Times New Roman, Arial, or other standard font? Ink color is black. Grading Rubric is attached. Writing: Is your paper well organized? Does your response have a clear plan? Is it developed logically? Is there an introduction and a conclusion? Are the paragraphs linked with transitional devices? Are the paragraphs organized? Do they contain topic sentences? Is the material in each paragraph relevant to the topic sentence? Have you checked the mechanics of your writing? Are the responses free of spelling errors? Does the punctuation help with clarity of thought? Is capitalization used correctly? Are the responses free of sentence errors? Are the responses free of subject-verb agreement errors? Other: Is the vocabulary you have used college-level? (Hint: it probably is if it reflects the vocabulary used by the instructor and/or the text) Are the words used accurately? Are the sentences varied in length and type? Content: Are there original insights provided? Are course concepts applied well? Have you provided evidence to support your conclusions? (In other words, have you demonstrated that you understand the course material and that you are able to effectively apply it to the â€Å"real world†.) Criteria: Format The student has properly formatted the paper with a cover sheet, Times New Roman, Arial, or other appropriate font. Ink color is black. Student used approved APA format and paper conforms to the minimal essentials of Standard American English grammar, word choice, spelling, and punctuation. 25% Comments: Criteria: Purpose/Audience The student has clearly delineated the purpose and audience for the paper by means of a clear focus. Student has created an adequate focus for the paper that is managed and developed appropriately for the assignment. Statement of purpose and subtopics are clearly organized to create a smooth presentation. Judgments and assertions are substantiated with evidence drawn from research. 25% Comments: Criteria: Argument/Analysis/Thesis Student demonstrates analytical skills by adequately expanding on the topic. Paper is neither too short, nor too long for the assignment The paper focuses on the presentation by means of a clear statement of purpose and logically organized subtopic paragraphs. The writer substantiates judgments and assertions with specific illustrations, facts, and evidence drawn from research appropriate to the assignment and to the discipline. 25% Comments: Criteria: Scholarship The writer has added to the on-going discussion of the topic with his or her own critical analysis, rather than simply repeating what others have said through quotation stacking, paraphrasing, or summaries. The writer draws upon research when necessary to support critical analysis or assertions made and properly acknowledges the work of others by using proper APA documentation format. 25% Comments: Criteria: Extra Credit Points (no more than 10 % of total grade) Student has provided at least one carefully proofread and documented draft. Documentation is an attached form from the Writing Center, completed at least 24 hours prior to due date. Points Earned: Comments: Final Comments: Grade: Calendar and Due Dates: ECE 001 Section 2210 EVC Date: Topic In Class Work Assignments Due Weekend Homework Week One 08/26- Welcome 08/26- Review Syllabus, Complete Station to Station Activity 08/26-Station to Station Card. Get text if you don’t already have it. Read chapter one, The Teacher by 09/09. Week Two 09/09- The Teacher 09/09- Review Chapter One: The Teacher 09/09-Chapter One Reflection Read Chapter Two by 09/16 Week Three 09/16- The Field 09/16-Careers and Programs. Licensing and Standards 09/16-Chapter Two Reflection Read Chapter Three prior to 09/23 Week Four 09/23-History and Models 09/23- History and Educational Models, in class work. In Class work only Read Chapter Eight and review the Observation Packet. Make appointments for four observations. Week Five 09/30-McCarthy Center Observation Meet at Palm Desert Campus by 1:00 pm. Room West Annex 1. Observation at McCarthy Center. Schedule of Observations. Complete Observation Essay and Packet, Due 10/07. Read Chapter Four and Five by 10/07. Week Six 10/08-Observing And Assessing 10/10-Child Development 10/07-Observing and Playing – Make a child 10/10-Chapter Four Reflection Read Chapter Six and complete reflection. Week Seven 10/14-Guidance 10/14-Guidance PPT 10/14-Chapter Six Reflection Read Chapter Seven. Week Eight 10/21- Health and Safety 10/21-Is this place clean and safe? 10/21-Observation #2 packet and summary Read Chapter Nine and Complete Reflection Week Nine 10/28-Play!! 10/28-The importance of Play to Healthy Development and Learning 10/28-Chapter Nine Reflection Read Chapter Ten and Eleven Week Ten 11/04-Curriculum Planning 11/04-Curriculum Planning, Curriculum Models and DAP 11/04-Observation #3 packet and summary Read Chapter Twelve and complete Reflection Week Eleven 11/18-Inclusion and Universal Design 11/18- Inclusion of all children Universal Design for Learning 11/18- Chapter Twelve Reflection Read Chapter Thirteen and complete Reflection Week Twelve 11/25- Working with Families In class work only 11/18-Observation #4 packet and summary Chapter Thirteen Reflection Read Chapter Fourteen and begin Philosophy Statement and Education Plan Week Thirteen 12/02-Becoming a Professional 11/25- Philosophies and Education Plans Drafts of Philosophy Statements and Education Plans Complete Philosophy Statement; be sure it reflects your best work. Week Fourteen 12/09-Review of Important Class points 12/09-Becoming a Professional. Complete final work in class. 12/09- Philosophy Statement Complete Observation #5 and Education Plan/Portfolio Week Fifteen 12/16- Final – Wrapping it up. 12/16- What we learned in this class. Present education plan 12/16-Observation #5 packet and summary. Education Plan and Portfolio

Analytical Jurisprudence Essay

Analytical jurisprudence is a method of legal study that concentrates on the logical structure of law, the meanings and uses of its concepts, and the formal terms and the modes of its operation. It draws on the resources of modern analytical philosophy to try to understand the nature of law. It is not concerned with the past stages of its evolution or its goodness or badness. Law exist as it is, regardless of good or bad, past or future. â€Å"a law, which actually exist, is a law, though we happen to dislike it, or though it vary from the text, by which we appropriate our approbation and disapprobation† Analytical jurisprudence is a legal theory that draws on the resources of modern analytical philosophy to try to understand the nature of law. Analytical jurisprudence is not to be mistaken for legal formalism (the idea that legal reasoning is or can be modelled as a mechanical, algorithmic process). Indeed, it was the analytical jurists who first pointed out that legal formal ism is fundamentally mistaken as a theory of law. Analytic, or ‘clarificatory’ jurisprudence uses a neutral point of view and descriptive language when referring to the aspects of legal systems. This was a philosophical development that rejected natural law’s fusing of what law is and what it ought to be. David Hume famously argued in A Treatise of Human Nature that people invariably slip between describing that the world is a certain way to saying therefore we ought to conclude on a particular course of action. But as a matter of pure logic, one cannot conclude that we ought to do something merely because something is the case. So analysing and clarifying the way the world is must be treated as a strictly separate question to normative and evaluative ought questions. The most important questions of analytic jurisprudence are: â€Å"What are laws?†; â€Å"What is the law?†; â€Å"What is the relationship between law and power/sociology?†; and, â€Å"What is the relationship between law and morality? Analytical School has got different names: * Positive School – because it focused on â€Å"positivism† (latin) which means â€Å"as it is†. * English School – because this school was dominant in England. * Austinian School – because it was de facto founded by John Austin. Jeremy Bentham- Originator of Analytical School One of the earliest legal positivists was Jeremy Bentham. Bentham was anearly and staunch supporter of the utilitarian concept (along with Hume), an avid prison reformer, advocate for democracy, and strongly atheist. Bentham’s views about law and jurisprudence were popularized by his student, John Austin In 18th century England law was not organised , but it was present in a very haphazard way as a result of customs and morals or thoughts, there was no absolute guiding principle behind law. It was said that law had grown in England rather than being made. Justice is nothing but social happiness guaranteed by social order and protecting certain interests which are socially recognised and worthy of being protected. This idea led to the foundation of analytical school. Jeremy Bentham is the real founder father of the English School of Jurisprudence but the real and full credit has never been paid to this Jurist because of his indolence in not getting his works published in spite of his whole life has been devoted to legal writing. Bentham was really a realist in temper and in his approach to Jurisprudence are two important aspects namely 1. The Analytical tool of law; and  2. The Utility tool of law John Austin took from Jeremy Bentham the analytical tool but rejected the utility tool as a one that beyond the realm of Jurisprudence proper. Austin’s utilitarian answer to â€Å"what is law?† was that law is â€Å"commands, backed by threat of sanctions, from a sovereign, to whom people have a habit of obedience. The major premise of analytical school is to deal with law as it exists in the present form. It seeks to analyse the first principle of law as they exist in the given legal system. The exponents of analytical school of jurisprudence consider that the most important aspect of law is its relation to the state. They treat law as a command emanating from the sovereign, namely, the State. This school is, therefore, also called the imperative school. The advocates of this school are neither concerned with the past of law nor with the future of it, but they continue themselves to  the study of law as it actually exists i.e. positus. Characteristics of Analytical School of Jurisprudence: As stated earlier, Bentham’s concept of law is imperative one i.e. law is an assemble of signs, declaration of volition conceived or adopted by sovereign in a state. He believed that every law may be considered in the light of eight different aspects. 1) Sources – law as the will of sovereign. 2) Subject – may be person or thing. 3) Objects – act, forbearance or situations. 4) Extent – law covers a portion of land on which acts have been done. 5) Aspects – may be directive or sanctional. 6) Force. 7) State 8) Expression. Criticism: Customs ignored – analytical school regard only the command of sovereign and ignores the history of the evolution of law thus ignoring the important role of custom. It only takes customs as to me mere source of law. No place for judge made law –judge made law is the important factors of law in the modern world but the analytical school completely ignores the value of precedents. Command over-emphasised –the modern progressive law is nothing but the general will of people whereas the analytical school over emphasise the command of sovereign giving a dictator viewpoint. International law is mere morality –one more point is, that analytical school thinks that international law is mere morality due to the lack of sanction and enforcing capacity. No legal system exist in vacuum and hence can not be fully understood by focusing on law itself. Modern trends also suggest that bending of socio economic factors is also a part of jurisprudence. The school whereas, do es not take into account the legal change. It takes for granted the perfection of legal system and proceeds to explain its fundamentals, however change in the important factor in all aspects of life.

Socrates Trial and Death Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Socrates Trial and Death - Essay Example In this paper, investigation will be done on some events leading to his trial and death. The discussion will be based on a martyr and an anti-democratic interpretation. The dialog on apology starts on a rather ironical manner. It is not an apology in the real sense but a conversation between Socrates and the jury during his trial. He had been blamed of not recognizing the gods recognized by the state, in addition to invention of new deities and corruption of the youths of Athens. In this scenario, he sacrifices himself to be tried for the sake of the State of Athens, which he believes is rotten with bad practices of worshiped unworthy gods. In his trial, he pays less respect to the formalities of a court, and goes to an extent of proclaiming that since he is inexperienced with the law courts, he will speak in a manner accustomed to him. He promises to speak with total honesty and directness. In an attempt to prove his innocence, he claims that he is the wisest man, after which he recognizes his ignorance and corrects himself by stating that he knows nothing. He is ready to take any verdict, believing that it will seal his fate as the person who tri ed to question and correct the seemingly wise men. The youths consider him a hero who deserves nothing else but the authority to continue with his role of correcting the state. His accusers, Meletus and the other people he embarrassed, treated him with hatred and anger. They are determined to see him silenced forever. In his dialog with Meletus, he tries to embarrass him. Socrates feels very important and likens himself to a gadfly which stings the lazy horse, the Athenian state. His death would be a sacrifice just like a martyr who dies to save the rest of the humankind. He threatens the state that in case it sentences him to death; it will fall into a deep sleep. The death penalty seals his fate, despite his request to pay a fine instead. Just like a martyr, he fearlessly agrees

Art Summary Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Art Summary - Essay Example Rather, masculinity is not only displayed through the physical body, but also through the mind and how people conduct themselves nobly (Dyer, 148). The change of interest in body building from solely African Americans to whites made a big impact in the showbiz sector. The rise in many white males who were actively involved in the body building was appealing and led to several analyses of the ‘whiteness’ masculinity. Currently, body building has been portrayed as an art that white men ought to go through to have the ultimate figure. Body building involves several sacrifices, and it has been portrayed similarly to crucifixion (Dyer, 84). Lifting weights is a painful task that the participants endure substantial pain and suffering so as to attain the supreme body shape. Richard Dyer, in his book, discusses the white culture and its effect in history, films, literature and other areas. In this book, dyer writes of the importance of black culture in relation to that of the white one. Dyer brings out the difference in cultures from the black race and the white race and how the media portrays it. The symbolism of how the two cultures are dependent on each other is quite amazing. The example of how a black lighting is used to bring out the whiteness, for example of a blonde and how a white dress in a wedding brings out the glow in a black lady, shows the interracial relationships that can be achieved (Dyer, 104). In this chapter, a lot has been about the representation of the different races on camera, especially the problems that are encountered during filming of the black race, and the necessary steps taken to counter the problems. Several artists were given an assignment to define masculinity, and the results given were more confusing than defining. However, these artists had a common sentiment of masculinity in sports. The images shown by the artists refute the black and white depiction of masculinity and

Healthcare research report---Analysis Plan Paper

Healthcare report---Analysis Plan - Research Paper Example Graphical techniques to be used under this analysis are boxplots and histograms which will assist in identification of outliers that maybe included or omitted in the data. Numerical techniques to be used include frequencies and percentages shall be used to plot the data distribution. 2. Descriptive Analysis. This type of analysis will show how the data looks like and the relationship between different variables in the data set. It will be used to present the quantitative aspect of the data in a simpler and a manageable form. Majorly, this technique will provide a summary of the entire data and it shall be approached from a univariate perspective. Univariate Analysis will involve a deeper examination across the variables in the data; one at a time. Under this analysis, the distribution, central tendency and dispersion of variables will be considered. a. Distribution. This is a summary of frequency of all the observations in a variable. Thus, each observation will be listed alongside the number people in every category so as to present a chart of the frequency distribution. Additionally, a histogram will be plotted to show a visual distribution. b. Central tendency. This section of analysis will consider the mean, mode and median for every variable. The mean will be used to describe the average value of observations in each variable. The median shall be used to estimate the middle value in every variable whereas the mode will show the most occurring value or observation in each variable. c. Dispersion. This is the spread of values around the mean, mode and median. Range and standard deviation shall be used under this category. The range will show the gap that exists between the maximum and the minimum values in every variable. Additionally, the standard deviation will show the average distance of all the data points

What difficulties might international non-native students have in Essay

What difficulties might international non-native students have in studying in an English Academic Culture at Undergraduate level How could these students best deal with such potential challenges - Essay Example As an example, Chinese students have a high respect for their teachers. They are not to question them or in other ways antagonize them because the teacher is the ultimate authority (Flowerdew and Miller 1996). This can be a problem for teachers in the West if they do not know this about Chinese people. This can also be a problem for the Chinese student in the Western classroom because when the teacher asks them to answer a question in class, it can be difficult and sometimes frustrating for the student and the teacher. Another challenge that non-native speakers can have is understanding their textbooks. In many situations, Western textbooks are used and often the lecturer does not use examples from the students culture. In this case, the student has no way to relate to the particular lesson. Flowerdew and Lindsay also point out that many non-native students have challenges understanding the material at a conceptual and linguistic level. They encourage lecturers to adapt their materia ls to their audience. They can do this by "adjusting their language and by simplifying and adapting what was in the set text" (126). It is important to also understand that non-English speaking students can have challenges that native English lecturers or professors may not understand at first. Robert Berman and Liying Cheng studied the perceived difficulties that graduate students had in moving towards their academic achievement. They found that both graduate and undergraduate students felt they had the most problems with understanding and speaking the language and that listening was easier than reading, writing or speaking in a different language (2000 28). They also found that the GPAs of these students suffered somewhat when they did not understand the language. In general, the non-native speakers who were in graduate school did better than those who were in undergrad. The difference between undergraduate and graduate could be that the

Analysis of the Beatles Music Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Analysis of the Beatles Music - Essay Example The music had an elaborate and riff introduction that naturally sticks in the head, fascinating and eye catching title, and enough breaks that enable the listeners to examine the tone, focal points, and key message of the song. In addition, this music was inspiring with a dramatic ending that leaves one desire for more, as well as, gets the feeling of satisfaction. According to Lennon, this music was composed to be on the hit parade. The song was composed in the standard style that is evident in most of the bands catalog. In essence, this style encompasses verse/verse/bridge/verse. Moreover, the band opted not to include solo of any kind in the song (Lennon, pg15). Moreover, they did not include repetitions of the final verse or the bridge common in their songs. This is because they understood that this style could have created an ineffective and prolonged mood. In essence, this could have extended the two and a half tenet for the pop song in the early 60s. Notably, the start of the song is characterized by the four bar introduction that debuts their exceptional riff played by the legendary John on harmonica, while guitar played by George. The beetle are the songwriter and they did this song well by arranging their introduction on their original song (Everett, pg12). This can be attributable by the fact that Harrison played the riff repeatedly during the rehearsal of this song.

Writing with Semantic Argument or Statistics Essay

Writing with Semantic Argument or Statistics - Essay Example Never mind the content, TV cartoons are the cheaper alternative to hiring a baby-sitter and is the safest way to keep even a hyperactive toddler distracted. Or so parents generally believed. But this rather cavalier attitude parents have towards their very young children watching TV cartoons – of any and all sorts – have pediatric experts worried; studies have shown that TV cartoons may be to blame about the increasingly antisocial tendencies of children even at a young age, attitudes that they may carry with them into adulthood. Could TV cartoons really be as bad an influence? One way to determine the influence of TV cartoons is to look at the statistics. TV sets may be the most common feature among American households; about 99% percent of homes are not without their own TV sets as television programming are the cheapest and most convenient way to be entertained and informed. The average child watches up to two hours of TV cartoons each day (Center for Communication and Social Policy, University of California, Santa Barbara [UCSB], 1998) and some even as much as 28 hours of cartoons each week (Beresin, n.d.). But what is more alarming about this fact is not the quantity of TV time but the quality of the program. Studies revealed that shows that target the very young audiences contain twice as many violent acts as other programs; furthermore, Saturday morning cartoons have been recorded to contain as much as 20 to 25 violent incidents per hour compared to 3 to 5 violent incidents found in prime-time TV (American Academy of Pediatrics [AAP], 1995). Not all TV cartoons feature this rather stunning amount of violence. A recent study conducted to determine the effects of violence in media on children’s anti-social behavior was conducted by Drs. Christakis and Zimmerman in 2007. They classified TV programs that target the young audiences into three categories: violent programming,

Discussion Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 107

Discussion - Assignment Example In the year 2013, Target Company’s data were hacked in its stores. This presented serious threats to the credit and debit cards of approximately 40 million customers. This follows the introduction of malware to the POS system in the stores (Cheng, 1). In the year 2014 on January 10, the Target Company admitted that approximately 70 million of its customers faced serious security issues. This is because their personal information were stolen following the security breach. This resulted to several losses to the company. In addition, the security breach at Target Company eroded the company’s good reputation. It is estimated that in 2013, the security breach cost the shareholders at the Target Company approximately $148 million (Cheng, 2). From the above incidences, there were several lessons learnt by prospective business persons, including the Target Company that was the victim. It is evident that every operating business premises should have secure data systems. The data should be protected in such a way that hackers cannot easily access them in order to avoid the losses incurred, as well as the negative consequences associated with security breaches. In conclusion, data or security breach is a serious issue to most companies as well as agencies. Data security breaches always paralyze several operations within the companies. In addition, they always result to huge losses and compromise on the reputation of the companies. Cheng, Andria. Target data breach has lingering effect on customer service, reputation scores. Retrieved on 10th June 2014 from

Why Do You Want to Become a Child Development Associate Credential Essay Example for Free

Why Do You Want to Become a Child Development Associate Credential Essay My educational goal is to complete a Child Development Associate Credential, an Associates of Arts Degree, and a Bachelors’ of Arts Degree in Early Childhood Education. With a CDA I will be a lead teacher in the classroom; I will be able to plan developmentally appropriate activities for the children in my care. I will also have the basic fundamental understanding of Child Grow and Development, how to support children’s social and emotional development, how to plan a safe healthy environment, steps to advance children’s physical and intellectual development, strategies to establish a positive relationship with families, how to manage an effective program operation and most of all maintaining a commitment to professionalism. The Associates of Arts Degree with an emphasis in Early Childhood Education, will increase my level of expertise in the fundamentals of the CDA Credential, and provide me with a broad knowledge, the skills and training required to teach children from age zero to five year old. The practicum courses will provide opportunities to apply theoretical knowledge to planning and presenting curriculum. A Bachelor’s Degree will strengthen my education skills, while enhancing my understanding of the many aspects of children’s development and education. With the professionalism, expertise and communication skill needed, I will be able to take on a job as a director at a center, or teach up to the third grade in a public school. Education is very important in order to have a successful life. Without a proper education it is very difficult to reach your maximum potential. My career goal is to be a qualified early childhood education teacher. I chose this career path because I have always had an interest in children, and the way they develop: physically, intellectually, socially and emotionally, while being in an intimate multicultural environment. The abundance of knowledge children gain in the first five years of life is remarkable; it is amazing to watch them adapt to the environment both physically and socially. I delight in their curiosity, imagination, sense of adventure and playfulness. The emotional traits children’s develop at this tender age will be shape by the people they come into immediate contact with. I am privilege to have an influence on the development of children during their most impressionable years. I believe that the Early Education Studies will affect my future as a teacher a parent and as a member of my community.

To Veil of Not To Veil Essay Example for Free

To Veil of Not To Veil Essay Those of people that are brought up in typical western culture believe that Muslim women who wear the job symbolize the continued oppression of women in the Middle East. In â€Å"To Veil or Not To Veil† Jen’nan Ghazal and John P. Bartkowski perform a case study of different forms of identity among Muslim women in Austin Texas. This experiment delves into Muslim culture and tries to analyze both sides of the argument a primarily factual essay. The article carefully analyses both sides of the issue in an attempt to better understand what the head coverings mean for these women, and how their gender roles compare as muslim women. It appears that some people of the west fail to do before making assumptions about Middle Eastern oppression of women, many stop to ask a Muslim woman what she thinks about wearing a veil. In their case study Ghazel and Bartkowski talked to twelve veiled women and twelve unveiled women in Austin, Texas and asked them questions surrounding the controversy of the hijab. Islamic women’s motivations for veiling seem to vary dramatically. The range can be broad as expressing their strongly held conviction, to critique western culture, for strictly religious purposes, and to be viewed not just as women, but as intellectual equals. Some of verses in the Qur’an and Hadiths (Islam’s holy texts) say that women must wear to hijab to not tempt men and that to be a good Muslim woman she must conceal her body. This belief makes women overall much more modest and submissive. The Islamic religion according to the article is very much a patriarchal religious institution and some of the bureaucratic men in the society are said to see the veil as a way to keep women subservient in their society. This appears to be the central reason why unveiled women do not wear a hijab. They believe that because the head covering wasn’t originally created by Islam they shouldn’t have to wear it to achieve spiritual welfare or be considered of higher religious caliber. They believe the hijab is an oppressive tool to leave the male social hierarchy as it is now. By not wearing the hijab it appears that the majority of women feel empowered verses those woman who do where a veil. But it is important to note that there exceptions to the rule, the article talked about a girl who wore the hijab to be taken seriously by society and move up the social hierarchy. This article primarily uses an empirical methodology. The arguments are portrayed through the research and case study that the two authors conducted in Austin, Texas. Both arguments are covered thoroughly and some quantitative data is used. As I read the article I found it surprising that the two authors only conducted this study on twenty four women, twenty four Americanized women no less. An American Muslim woman verses a Middle Eastern Muslim woman can have very different views on the issue simply because the societies are so different, it is possible that the culture of the United States is encouraging this challenging think by these twenty four women. I also found it a little shocking that the article failed to address the factor fear plays in Middle Eastern Muslim women to wear the hijab. The majority of the Middle East is based on an ideology called Timocracy which is a society based on honor. When women in some countries do not wear the veil they are in affect disrespecting Islam and the nation according to some more radical Muslims. Because of this many women are punished by being beaten for something as little as a veil slipping in public. It is clear that a hijab does not have just one singular meaning. The veil may be a piece of the Islamic religion, but it is how women view and own the veil that determines what gender arises for the issue. While the some of the cultures may be forced on women, like Iran it takes independent and free thinking women to determine the culture now and how it will evolve.

Land Vegetation Ethiopia

Land Vegetation Ethiopia 1. Project Summary Land cover/use Study projects provide policy makers, industry and community interest groups, and landholders with accurate information on  woody vegetation cover, information on changes in the cover, mapping and providing statistical information. In earlier times the northern Ethiopian highlands were characterized by humid climate and denser vegetation (Bard et al., 2000). Significant human impact on the land resource resulted in 65 per cent of the total land mass to be a dry land. Land clearing for agricultural activity has become an increasingly main topic in the natural resource debate that contrasts the economic aspects of land development to the people dependent on it and with the ecological need to conserve. This project is a one of the initiative to investigate the land cover and its respective slope of the study site and to recommend technologies applicable to the overall land cover study projects in the dry high lands of Ethiopia. The study combines field verification  and computer processing using state-of-the-art remote sensing and Geographic Information System (GIS) technologies. The study specifically applies and eexplore the potential of Visible and Near Infrared (VNIR) bands of the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer ASTER images to discriminate land use categories where the land is fragile with mixed uses villages, patches of forest, patches of grazing land, crop land, wasteland, etc. the study will also explore the potential of ASTER images to provide stereo images for DEM generation of the scene that can be used to generate the Slope. The DEM generation task will investigate developing a rational polynomial function model. At last integration of the land cover and the DEM together with other GIS data can be used as input data to classify the suitability of land for specific land use. 2. The Problem Statement and Justification for the Research More than 63% of all smallholders in Ethiopia have less than 1 hectare of land. Population is growing rapidly and, although in the northern parts of the country the average rural population density is only 33 persons per square km, the population density per unit of arable land is much higher (138 persons per square km). Land fragmentation is common and the more fragmented holdings are, the more time it takes to manage them, with potential consequences for productivity. The national average is 3.2 parcels per smallholder, though districts averages vary from a little over 1 to more than 5. The broadest areas of high fragmentation are in eastern Amhara and Tigray, although there are also districts with high average fragmentation in Gambella, parts of SNNP, and the eastern highlands. (Ethiopian Agricultural Sample Enumeration, 2001/02. Central Statistical Authority.). As a result of fragmentation, farm sizes are very small and the use of fallow is rapidly disappearing, causing problems of declining soil fertility and erosion. Population growth increases the demand for land and contributes to farming on steep and fragile soils, also leading to erosion problems. It increases demand for biomass as a source of fuel, leading to deforestation and increased burning of dung and crop residues, thus increasing the problems of erosion and nutrient depletion. Population growth increases demand for livestock products and therefore leads to increased livestock numbers, causing overgrazing and consumption of crop residues by animals. In such situation Land degradation is a great threat for the future and it requires great effort and resources to improve. The major causes of land degradation in Ethiopia are the rapid population increase, severe soil loss, deforestation, low vegetative cover and unbalanced crop and livestock production. Inappropriate land-use systems and land-tenure policies enhance desertification and loss of biodiversity. The balance between crop, livestock, and forest production is disturbed, and the farmer is forced to put more land into crop production. The government has envisaged long- and short-term strategies to reduce the pressure on land and land fragmentation. Among the short term strategies are providing technical and vocational training to the landless youth to enable them to find off-farm employment and encouraging emigration to urban centers and to other parts of the region for resettlement. These strategies recommended allocation and reallocation of land to be based on the land use classification to be done in detail study. Understanding the current status of land use is very important and this project will come up with important elements of current land use study using remote sensing technologies to provide reliable information that help to prepare a complete land use plan. Justification Land Cover/ Slope Study To approach the growing problems of natural resource management, spatially explicit information about physical, biotic, and human factors must be available in a variety of geographic and temporal scales (USFWS 1976). Local planners and managers require detailed knowledge of the region for which they have responsibility as well as information on the regional, state, and national levels. Land cover data are essential at several scales. Current land cover data are vital to many applications including: making basic habitat assessments, delineating specific vegetative communities, calculating soil loss, and evaluating water quantity/quality within and between watersheds. The list of categories to be mapped is determined through the objectives of the mapping effort. This thesis describes such a mapping effort, one of presenting a basic land cover/Slope map, along with methods useful for land use planning applications. The conventional methods in producing DEMs need large campaigns that result in land surveying teams using analogue or analytical techniques. In the last decades satellite stereo image based topographical map production is turned into operational state from its experimental state. Recently many local scale landscape or topographical monitoring requirements are maintained by high resolution satellite images (Kanab 2002, Zomer et al. 2002, Baily et al. 2003, Su ¨zen and Doyuran 2004a, b, Liu et al. 2004). Advantages of ASTER for land evaluation The ASTER sensor is carried on board the Terra satellite that was launched in December 1999. The sensor has 14 spectral bands; three for Very Near Infra Red (VNIR) at 15 meters resolution, six for Short Wave Infra Red at 30 meters resolution, five for Thermal Infra Red at ninety meters resolution. Graphic 1 (below) shows the band coverage of the ASTER sensor. Thus with such resolution and number of bands it is possible to discriminate small fragile lands typical of Ethiopian highlands. In addition ASTER imagery has an extra channel of image data that is created by the sensor capturing a backwards looking image for the third VNIR band. So for image band three there exists one (nadir) image channel and also a backwards looking (off nadir) image channel. This creates an along-track stereo effect that provides DEM generation capability to be used for slope study. Scope This thesis presents a small watershed land cover/Slope map representing for the northern region of the country. It will provide information just beyond the local watershed by demonstrating feasibility of using selected satellite imagery for regional planning as well. It is known that Land suitability analysis is the process of matching demand, crop requirement, and supply, the quality of the land. Where it is necessary to specify the type of specific land use (e.g for forest plantation, maize, rangeland, etc.) so as to match with crop requirement, basic land characteristics, such as depth of soil, climate, amount of pH, level of soil nutrient, depth to ground water, etc.. Thus the scope of this thesis is limited to generating parameters necessary for the land suitability analysis. Project Objectives General objective To demonstrate the feasibility of Advanced Space borne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) imagery to provide base line data for land use planning for sustainable land management Specific objectives Investigating discriminating power of ASTER Imagery in studying land cover in highly fragmented high lands of northern Ethiopia. To develop rational polynomial function model to generate a DEM that will be further processed to develop slope information. 4. Description of Project Activities and Methodology Selecting Study Area The landscape of Ethiopia is extremely diverse. In order to map land cover on a regional scale, it is necessary to understand the structure and dynamics of land cover on a local scale. To this end, the study area will be located to approximately represent throughout the northern part of the region. Thus the site will include major physiographic regions, i.e., predominantly mountains, valleys, and plains. On top of that the study site will be chosen on the following criteria: ease of access to allow comparison of actual land cover to images in hand, availability of current digital cover maps, and representation of regional land cover. Classification Scheme The first step in land cover mapping is to determine a classification system, i.e., to list the land categories to be mapped. Several items will be considered in this process: The objectives The characteristics of the data And the accuracy requirements. As in most well planned mapping efforts, the objectives determine the classes and the procedures used. Since the objective of this study is to identify fragmented land use types rather than classifying different vegetation types, emphasis will be placed on land impacted by human activities. The data available also determined the level of detail. ASTER imagery is assumed to be the best data currently available. The relatively high spatial resolution and the number of spectral bands of this imagery offers the best opportunities for discriminating a variety of cover types among any available satellite data such as Landsat. Imagery ASTER imagery with 15m spatial resolution, which is taken in the dry season of 2003, is the basic dataset from which land cover and Slope will be mapped. The data to be used for land cover study will be the VNIR bands (Band 1: 0.52-0.60 Lm; Band 2: 0.63-0.69Lm and Band 3N: 0.76-0.86Lm) of and 3N and 3B bands for the Slope study. A DEM created from ASTER level 1A (L1A) imagery can be expected to have a vertical accuracy of approximately 25 meters. Although in areas with less vegetation or man made features, this can rise to approximately 11 meters. It is therefore useful for small to medium scale mapping applications, 1:50,000 to 1:100,000. Only the near-infrared (NIR) channel of ASTER image has stereoscopic view capability as another NIR sensor is located as back view on board Terra satellite. Therefore, one NIR sensor collects image in nadir direction while another NIR sensor gets image in back-looking direction. Using two different looking directions, stereo imaging and DEM generation can be attained (Welch et al. 1998, Toutin 2002, Hirano et al. 2003). Training Data for image classification Since this study applies supervised classification, training data are needed at the start of classification. To this effect training data will be acquired from a variety of sources such as available maps, aerial photography of the same year and expert knowledge and review. Image Classification One scene for the land cover study and another nadir scene for the Slope study will be used for classification. To georeference the image, Ground Control Points (GCPs) will be collected from easily identifiable points using Geographic Positioning System (GPS). Image classification will be done either using pixel based supervised image classification or with object-oriented image classification depending on the accuracy to be achieved. ILWIS 3.3 software format will be the major image processing tools that will be used. Ground Truth and Classification Accuracy Assessment Before a map should be used, it is necessary to know its accuracy (Congalton1996). Accuracy assessment will be made using ground truth points to be collected from the major land use/cover types using GPS. It is recommended to have a ground truth at the same time of data acquisition, or at least within the time that the environmental condition does not change. A general rule of thumb is 75 to 100 reference points per category for a large image (Congalton 1996). However; for such a small scale study quite less number of reference points will be feasible. Statistics The Confusion Matrix In order to determine the errors in the classification, the following model called confusion matrix: (IDRISI module CONFUSE.) will be applied where: Matrix columns = ground data (assumed ‘correct) Matrix rows = map data (classified by the automatic procedure) Cells of the matrix = count of the number of observations for each (ground, map) combination Diagonal elements = agreement between ground and map; ideal is a matrix with all zero off-diagonals Errors of omission (map producers accuracy) = incorrect in column / total in column. Measures how well the map maker was able to represent the ground features. Errors of commission (map users accuracy) = incorrect in row / total in row. Measures how likely the map user is to encounter correct information while using the map. Overall map accuracy = total on diagonal / grand total Statistical test of the classification accuracy for the whole map or individual cells is possible using the kappa index of agreement www.sc.chula.ac.th/courseware/2309507/lec_content.htm). Users and producers accuracy measure the correctness of each category with respect to errors of commission and omission. Accuracy of each class cannot be completely stated in one statistic; both accuracies are needed for a valid assessment. Users accuracy is obtained by dividing the number correctly classified by the total number of pixels, within the classified image, of that class assessed. A low users accuracy represents a high error of commission. Producers accuracy is calculated by dividing the number of pixels correctly classified by the total number of reference points within that class (bottom row of error matrix). A low Producers accuracy represents a high error of omission. The Kappa statistic describes the degree of superiority (expressed as a proportion), that the classification results have as compared to a random classification. DEM Generation Developments in computers, broadening of visualization applications and the availability of geospatial data, made the use of digital elevation models (DEM) an indispensable quantitative environmental variable in most of the research topics. The landscape change and process-based studies in digital Earth sciences require the excessive use of DEM (Ka ¨a ¨b 2002, Zomer et al. 2002, Baily et al. 2003, Su ¨zen and Doyuran 2004a, b, Liu et al. 2004), for landslide susceptibility/hazard assessment, erosion susceptibility, glacier monitoring, geomorphological mapping, etc., in order to quantitatively represent or to analyse the morphology or the landscape. Within this study, the major steps that will be performed are (1) pre-processing and (2) The first step in pre-processing is the orthorectification of raw L1A images. The whole scene ASTER L1A image will be orthorectified using available 1: 50,000 scaled topographic maps. DEM generation from stereoscopic imagery is dependent on establishing the mathematical model relating the scene coordinates of conjugate points to the ground coordinates of the corresponding object point. Either rigorous or approximate models can be used to establish such a relationship. Rigorous modeling necessitates a full understanding of the imaging geometry associated with the involved sensor. Moreover, it involves the external characteristics (as represented by the Exterior Orientation Parameters EOP) and the internal characteristics (as represented by the Interior Orientation Parameters IOP) of the imaging sensor. Such characteristics are derived with the help of control information, which might take the form of a calibration test field, ground control points, and/or onboard navigation units (e.g., GPS/INS). However, the derivation of these parameters might not be always possible due to: the lack of sufficient control; weak imaging geometry (especially for satellite imaging systems with narrow angular field of view); and/or intentional concealment by the data provider (e.g., Space Imaging does not release the IOP and the EOP for their commercially available imagery). Therefore, there has been an increasing interest to investigate approximate models, which do not explicitly involve the internal and external characteristics of the imaging system. (A. Habib, E. M. Kim, M. Morgan, I. Couloigne, 2005). There has been an increasing interest within the photogrammetric community to adopt approximate models since they require neither a comprehensive understanding of the imaging geometry nor the internal and external characteristics of the imaging sensor. Approximate models include Direct Linear Transformation (DLT), self-calibrating DLT (SDLT), Rational Function Model (RFM), and parallel projection (Vozikis et al., 2003; Fraser, 2000; OGC, 1999; Ono et al., 1999; Wang, 1999; Gupta et al., 1997; El-Manadili and Novak, 1996). This thesis will apply RPF; it is based on the ratios of polynomials with different degree which can vary from 1 to 3. The coefficients are estimated using a large number of Ground Control Points (GCPs). In general, the procedure for DEM generation from stereoscopic views can be summarized as follows (Shin et al., 2003): †¢ Feature selection in one of the scenes of a stereo-pair: Selected features should correspond to an interesting phenomenon in the scene and/or the object space. †¢ Identification of the conjugate feature in the other scene: This problem is known as the matching/correspondence problem within the photogrammetric and computer vision communities. †¢ Intersection procedure: Matched points in the stereo-scenes undergo an intersection procedure to produce the ground coordinates of corresponding object points. The intersection process involves the mathematical model relating the scene and ground coordinates. †¢ Point densification: High density elevation data is generated within the area under consideration through an interpolation in-between the derived points in the previous step. The image orientation with rational polynomial functions involves general transformation to describe the relationship between image and ground coordinates. They provide a generic representation of the camera object-image geometry. The RPF provided with the high resolution satellite images connect image space and object space by: Row or column = rpf (ÃŽ », Ï•, h) Where row/column is the image coordinates and ÃŽ », Ï•, and h are longitude, latitude and ellipsoidal height in geographic coordinates of WGS84 datum (Grodecki et al., 2004). Direct solutions use rational function coefficients and sensor parameters information without any control points and refinement the original coefficients. Indirect solutions use ground control points for computing coefficients without using sensor parameters (Tao, Hu 2001). Our solution is based on ground control points without any initial values of coefficients. First approximate values of parameters extract and then precise values compute with using ground control points. Rational Function Model with 20 parameters (Valadan, Sadeghiam 2002) is used in this paper as follow: Where : are the normalized row and column of pixel in image. : are the normalized coordinates of the image point in the Conventional Terrestrial (CT) coordinate system. : Rational Function Coefficients (RFCs). Estimating the RFM coefficients The method by which the RFM coefficients are recovered depends on the availability of a physical sensor model. In cases where a physical model is provided a terrain independent scheme can be applied. This scheme is based on the generation of a 3D grid in object space, using the physical sensor model. The 3D grid should contain several layers of points and its characteristics are determined by the coverage of the image and the terrain relief differences. Then, a Least Squares solution of the RFM coefficients can be derived. Finally, an estimation of the quality of the derived RFM coefficients should be carried out based on an evaluation of the residuals in a higher density 3D grid. When a physical model is not available, a terrain dependent scheme is used. As in this scheme it is not possible to generate a 3D grid, the solution is highly sensitive to the terrain relief, as well as to the distribution, number, and quality of the GCPs used. Generation The generation process involves four steps: primitive extraction, primitive matching, space intersection, and interpolation. Primitive extraction: At this stage, a decision has to be made regarding the primitives to be matched in the normalized scenes. Possible matching primitives include distinct points, linear features, and/or homogeneous regions. The choice of the matching primitives is crucial for ensuring the utmost reliability of the outcome from the DEM generation process. In this research, point features are chosen. Fà ¶rstner interest operator (Fà ¶rstner, 1986) will be used to extract distinct points from the imagery. The operator identifies points with unique grey value distribution at their vicinity (e.g., corner points).The next section discusses the matching procedure of these points. Primitive Matching: The matching criteria deal with establishing a quantitative measure that describes the degree of similarity between a template in the left scene and a matching window, of the same size, within the search space in the right scene. Either correlation coefficient or least squares matching could be used to derive such a similarity measure Space Intersection: Following the matching process, conjugate points undergo an intersection procedure to derive the ground coordinates of the corresponding object points. The RPF equation will be used for such computation. Interpolation: So far, the ground coordinates of matched interest points, which passed the consistency check, are derived through space intersection. These points are irregularly distributed and are not dense enough to represent the object space. Therefore, they need to be interpolated. In this research, Kriging will be used to interpolate the resulting object space points into regular grid. The Kriging methodology derives an estimate of the elevation at a given point as a weighted average of the heights at neighboring points. 5. Project Milestones and Expected outputs 5.1. Expected output Following are the expected outputs from this research; Based on the success of ASTER imagery in demonstrating land cover classification and slope generation, the result herein may be used as basic data to assist slope management, land use planning, and other land management efforts such as land suitability, and landslide susceptibility mapping when combined with other GIS data. Provides a procedure based on the rational polynomial function model for generating DEM directly from a stereo ASTER images, and other experimental results. In particular, the method can be quickly and easily applied to areas with little map data, and at low cost. Based on the success it can be extended for all the northern high lands of Ethiopia. 5.2. Dissemination plan The immediate users of the research result are policy makers, teaching institutes and other planning and development organization in their programming of land use management. It will also assist the local government in the design and making of policy issues. The small holder farmers are the ultimate users of the research results through well designed land management projects that are effective in ensuring sustainable development of the resources they are dependent on. 6. Work Plan 7. References Fraser, C. S., H. B. Hanley (2003). Bias compensation in rational functions for Ikonos satellite imagery. Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing, 69(1): 53-57. Ganas, A. E. Lagios, N. Tzannetos (2002). An investigation into the spatial accuracy of the Ikonos2 orthoimagery within an urban environment. Int. Journal of Remote Sensing, 23(17): 3513-3519. Grodecki, J. and G. Dial (2003). Block adjustment of high resolution satellite images described by rational polynomials. Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing, 69(1): 59-68. Hu, Y., C.V., Tao (2002). Updating solutions of the rational function model using additional control information. Photogrammetric Engineering and Remote Sensing, 68(7): 715-724. MARCAL, A.R.S., BORGER, J.S., BOMES, J.A. COSTA, P.J.F. (2005) Land cover update by supervised classification of segmented ASTER images. International Journal of Remote Sensing 26, 1347-1362. www.sc.chula.ac.th/courseware/2309507/lec_content.htm YAN, G., MAS, J.F., MAATHUIS, B.H.P., XIANGMIN, Z., VAN DIJK, P.M. (2006) Comparison of pixel-based and object-oriented image classification approaches—a case study in a coal fire area, Wuda, Inner Mongolia, China. International Journal of Remote Sensing 27, 4039-4055.

relgion 101 papal states :: essays research papers

There were mixed reactions among Arab states to a contentious Jordanian proposal, which aims to revise the long-standing Arab strategy to normalise relations with Israel by sidestepping direct reference to the Jewish state's return of occupied Arab territories. But, Syria is expectedly raising concerns over the Jordanian plan, which drops specific references to Israel's return of Arab land seized during the 1967 Middle East war - including Syria's Golan Heights - as part of any full normalisation with the Arab state. The proposal by Jordanian King Abd Allah II is expected to dominate the two-day Arab League summit starting on Monday as it aims to amend a Saudi Arabian-crafted strategy, which was endorsed by Arab leaders at a 2002 summit in Beirut. The Saudi plan, known as the "Arab initiative," offered Israel full ties with Arab states in return for the handover of Arab territories, including the Palestinian West Bank and Syria's Golan Heights. Reservations Arab foreign ministers convened on Saturday for official talks to finalize the two-day summit's agenda, which Abd Allah's proposal is expected to feature prominently on. Damascus has reservations over Jordan's proposal An Arab delegate, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that 13 of the Arab League's 22 members are showing implicit support for the Jordanian proposal, which some see as a way to compel Israel to meet its requirements under the US-backed road map for regional peace. Nine Arab states, including Syria, have reservations over the current draft. Diplomats have asked the Jordanian and Palestinian foreign ministers to come up with a new drafting for Abd Allah's proposal in an apparent bid to make it acceptable to all sides. Reword Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmad Abu al-Ghait said on Saturday that Jordan wants to reword, not change, the 2002 Arab initiative to make it more easily understood by the international community. Syria is worried the draft effects their right to the Golan Heights †The Jordanians are saying that through their consultations with the international community they heard them saying that the Arab initiative is too long and has too many details," Abu al-Ghait told The Associated Press. â€Å"This means that many of the international sides couldn't grasp the content of this initiative because of its length and its details.† Abu al-Ghait said any â€Å"rewording of the initiative ... will need a new Arab consensus. We might succeed in this.† The Saudi-crafted Arab initiative calls for the Israeli withdrawal from East Jerusalem, the West Bank, Gaza Strip and Syria's Golan Heights, as well as the creation of a Palestinian state and right of return of refugees.

HANDS and Programming :: Programming Technology Engineering Essays

HANDS and Programming Humans were never meant to stare days at a time into a screen and type lines of code into a vast expanse of nothingness. Our minds reject such alien methods with surprising ferocity. It is for this reason that programming has taken a more human-centric approach. Programming is adverse to what humans are naturally inclined to do, and because of this a push has been made for a development of programming where the programmer is not doing that which is against his nature. An example of this is HANDS, which is a programming language that is primarily directed towards children, but incorporates the human-centric ideas. (Myers, Pane, Miller) HANDS bases its programming platform on objects, in HANDS there is a figure sitting at a table that can manipulate a stack of cards, the cards being the programming utilities. This approach lessens the tedious editing of line after line of mundane code. In all actuality the programming is more of a game than a task. This appeals to children greatly (of which the language was geared for), but the basic concept could also be applied to the average programmer. The ability to program without using dry code will be a great step forward in human-centric computing. Once the base level of the computer has been conformed to serve the human’s needs, the other parts of computing that base themselves off of programming will be changed as well. It is only a matter of time. (Myers, Pane, Miller) Another type of progressive programming is in the field of Mechanical Engineering. For fifteen years â€Å"Sammie†--which is a computer model of a human--has been incorporating itself into the workplace. Sammie was a vast improvement for the engineers and their approach to the solving of problems. The engineers at one time had to interpret the anthropometric tables themselves, but with Sammie, the work was done for them allowing quicker, more accurate work to be accomplished. This is a type of program that allowed humans to operate their computers in a way that was much more natural to them, which in itself is a major progression from the previous methods that were sadly outdated and used too often. (Morrissey) Michael L. Dertouzos, the director of MIT’s Laboratory for Computer Science wrote The Unfinished Revolution: Human-Centered Computers and What They Can Do for Us.

My Brother Sam Is Dead :: essays research papers

In the novel, My Brother Sam is Dead, the author demonstrates the effects of war on families, on towns, and even on the children. The author makes it clear that war tears up families more than anything else. As a result of families getting ruined, it affects the children of the family, in this case, by making Tim grow up in a short amount of time. War affects towns, too. Soldiers, some from both sides, raid houses and kill people therefore splitting up towns and communities. War has many bad effects, just like Tim’s father said: â€Å"In war the dead pay the debts of the living.†.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  War affects families more than anything else. An example of this is when Tim’s mother drinks rum a lot when she finds out that her husband and son are dead or are going to get killed. Once she starts to drink, she does not care about Tim or Sam. So in this case, war caused her to drink and it killed half of her family, both of which ruined the Meeker family. One of war’s worst by-products is ruining families. Even though war affects families the most, there are still other bad effects on children and on towns.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The second bad by-product of war is the effect on children. First, war sometimes kills children’s parents or older siblings, throwing their responsibility on to the younger children’s shoulders. The children will never have a normal life of playing with others because they are too busy taking care of things. In the novel, MBSID, Tim had to grow up fast. The reason for this is that his father got killed and his brother, Sam, got killed. So Tim had to do all of the man work around the tavern.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  There is one last main effect from war. It is the effect on towns and communities. It ruins towns and communities by ruining families and children. You can think of it as a link chain: the families and children are the links of the chain, and the town is the whole chain. If one family gets ruined, the link is gone, making it an incomplete chain or town.