Best Blog Ever

No School Uniforms

2009-02-21T10:15:00.003-08:00

Imagine how dull school days would be if students had to wear the same clothes every day. The school uniform system may not apply to your school, but I would like to tell you how school uniforms could make our lives horrible. Many schools are starting to adopt a uniform policy, which means it could find its way to your school. You might be a parent someday, or even now, and your kids might be in school. How would you feel if a uniform policy would force you to pay hundreds of dollars for a pair of clothes? Students should not have school uniforms because it does not produce the results that people say they do.School uniforms do not have any effect on the student’s behavioral problems or attendance.
According to the Notre Dame’s Department of Sociology in 1998, school uniforms have, “no direct effect on substance abuse, behavioral problems, or attendance.” It is not clothing that causes behavioral problems; it is he person who commits them. According to Ashley Crownover, spokeswoman for the Metro Parents Against Standard School Attire, in 2007, “research does not support claims that uniforms increase safety or improve academic performance. ”School uniforms force unnecessary costs upon families if schools are not willing to pay for them.
If parents have more than two or three kids, the cost of uniforms can easily surpass a couple hundred dollars.For example, Laura and Scott Bell from Indianapolis were forced to pay $641 for five sets of pants and shirts for their five children. Even if schools are willing to pay for uniforms, it is still could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars or more.
The Bell family filed suit over their public school’s uniform plan in Anderson, Indiana claiming that it violates the guarantee of a free public education. It violates the guarantee of a free public education because the family has to pay an additional $641 for their children to even enroll in the school. The right of free expression is violated when students are forced to wear schools uniforms. The right of free expression is violated because the students are forced to look a certain way before they are accepted into a public place. In the Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School case in 1969, court ruled that a student’s freedom of expression must be protected if it did not critically interfere with the requirements of correct discipline.
The requirements of appropriate discipline should be entirely based on how the administration disciplines the student. There was no reduction in incidents of inappropriate behavior by having students wear uniforms.
According to the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment, children are allowed to “wear clothing of their own choice.”
Due to the first and fourteenth amendments, students have a constitutional right of free expression. Clothing that students wear can be a constitutionally protected form of expression.
School uniforms are unlawful and they should not be used in school systems.
The perception that students will perform better by wearing school uniforms is both inaccurate and incorrect.
The cost of school uniforms can cause families to spend unnecessary amounts of money.
Student’s constitutional rights are violated when they are forced to wear school uniforms.
I hope you consider the negative effects and incorrect results that school uniforms produce.

Source:
Dowling-Sendor, Benjamin. "A Question of Rights vs. Authority." American School Board Journal (2001): 1-4. SIRS.

Motsinger, Carol. "Ironing Out Policies on School Uniforms." USA Today 5 Aug. 2007: 1-2. SIRS. McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

World Government

2009-02-17T17:30:00.000-08:00

War is pointless in a world that is united to form one government. Without the need for war trillions of dollars could be saved and be put to better use. The money that was previously used for research in military technologies could be used for research in fields that are more beneficial to the human race such as renewable energy technologies and medical technologies. There is the possibility that we could destroy almost all life on earth if we do not put a stop to war. Through the use of nuclear weapons we could destroy all life on earth by starting a nuclear war which would then start a nuclear winter. According to Noam Chomsky, in his speech A World Without War, on January 31, 2002 “there will be a world without war or there won’t be a world.” Many international problems can be solved with the use of a world government. Many problems in this world are on a global scale and cannot be solved through cooperation with other nations. Attempts to cooperate with other nations often leads to arguments about which is the best way to do something. A world government would be able to fix this problem by deciding on a solution similarly to how our government decides on solutions; through voting. The more serious problems that need to be solved in this world are international. One of these problems is global warming. Global warming cannot be solved by nations agreeing to invest more money in alternative energies or agreeing to reduce the levels of pollution in the air. According to Joe Devanny in “Debatabase” on July 24, 2006 “Even if any agreement is possible (and agreement is by no means guaranteed) it will be characterized by insufficiency because of compromise between the many different power interests of the separate sovereign states.” Because of this we need a world government to take control of the very important issues that are on a global scale that need solving. Another problem that is a global issue is the issue of world hunger. World hunger could be completely eliminated if we were governed by a world government. A world government could make sure that people who need food get it instead of individuals or groups sending starving people support every once in a while. Another reason that we need a world government to take charge is in order to keep other international institutions accountable. There are many international organizations that are unaccountable to those that they are supposed to serve. These institutions include the World Trade Organization, the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund. These organizations are not under the control of the United Nations which leaves them free to serve a few rich countries which is what they are doing. According to Joe Devanny in “Debatabase” on July 24, 2006 “These organizations have a huge influence upon global development.” The great economic power that these organizations have should not go unchecked. If these organizations do become accountable it could lead to greater economic prosperity all over the world. Many of the current issues in the world could be solved by establishing a world government.

Works Cited

Chomsky, Noam. "A World Without War." A World Without War. 31 Jan. 2002. 11 Jan. 2009 .

Devanny, Joe. "World Government: Debatabase - Debate Topics and Debate Motions." IDEA: International Debate Education Association - Debate Resources & Debate Tools. 24 July 2006. 11 Jan. 2009 .

Propanolol and PTSD

2009-02-16T17:01:00.000-08:00

Propanolol, a popular heart drug, may be able to heal some of those frightening images or anxiety attacks from those who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. The drug previously succeeded at a Harvard Medical School, where it shown to prevent post-traumatic stress disorder to people who have suffered from a car crash or assault. Merel Kindt of the University of Amsterdam says, “The potential might be that we have a procedure that reduces irrational fears permanently.” The breakthrough in the medication could hopefully produce positive results from soldiers returning from Iraq. The procedure for PTSD healing is a system called exposure therapy, where they make their patients relive their horror in a safe setting until they are comfortable with their memories. This system is obviously not the best treatment because of the new horrors that the patients might get from reliving it. Look to propanolol in the future to help heal some of those with post-traumatic stress disorder.
Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601124&sid=aPA2nf_ZLwvU&refer=home

Is it the Apocalypse?

2009-02-15T17:34:00.000-08:00

There are many people in this world that believe that the apocalypse is going to be soon. Some even try to estimate an exact date of when the apocalypse is going to happen. I personally dont want to believe that the apocalypse will happen anytime soon but there is very many possible ways that it could happen. Some scientists believe that once in every so many years the magnetic poles of the earth switch which causes natural disasters on a scale never before seen. This is one way that people think the apocalypse is going to happen. Another way that the apocalypse could happen is if a black hole really is created in an atom smasher. This is highly unlikely though because scientists do calculations to make sure that that kind of thing does not happen. Also an asteroid is supposedly supposed to come close to the earth and it may be close enough to hit the earth which would throw up enough dust into the sky to block out much of the sunlight. The earth would then cool down and go into another ice age. One of the reasons many people are worried about the Apocalypse being on December 21, 2012 is that the Mayan calendar ends on that day. There are many possible ways that the apocalypse could happen and these are just a few of them. So if you are at all worried about the apocalypse happening you could build a safe place that would be able to survive almost anything and remember to pack a lot of things for survival. The survival of the human race rests on our shoulders, do we just go extinct as other past species have? I think not.

Symantec to Support Ask.com

2009-02-15T16:41:00.000-08:00

Internet goers can feel a little bit more secure while browsing on ask.com. Made by Symantec Corp., Ask worked out a deal with Norton security software to make the search engine increase in safety. Since the deal, Ask was in fourth place in the United States search engine market through December. Although Google and Yahoo trampled Ask in the percent of share department, Ask is confident that Norton will boost their popularity. Ask has been struggling with its security, making its searchers unaware of potential dangerous websites. Norton's rival, McAfee Inc., teammed up with Yahoo last year to do what Ask couldn't do with its search security. If Norton will be reliable to the underdog search engine, the ratings will certainly increase for ask.comSource: http://www.fosters.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090215/GJLIFESTYLES/902129897/-1/SANNEWS

The Stimulus Bill

2009-02-13T11:53:00.000-08:00

The stimulus bill is intended to help the country get back up and going. In this bill are many things, one of them is a $3.2 billion tax break for General Motors. Other companies are also getting tax breaks from this bill. The general view of this bill is split. As the bill is being finalized and changes are being made many people think that the bill is getting worse and that the taxpayers of today and tomorrow are going to have to clean up the mess that it is going to create. Others think that the bill is going to be a great thing for the country and that it will create millions of jobs and get our country up and going. Many other things are in this bill and to find out more about the stimulus bill you can go to http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/13/us/politics/13stimulus.html

A Gigantic Snake-45 feet long

2009-02-08T18:50:00.000-08:00

A killer snake that was longer than a bus, as heavy as a small car and which could swallow an animal the size of a cow, has been discovered by scientists.

The 45ft long monster - named Titanoboa - was so big that it lived on a diet of crocodiles and giant turtles, squeezing them to death and devouring them whole.

Artist's impression of the giant snake Titanoboa cerrejonensis which measured 45ft

Weighing an impressive 1.25 tons, it slithered around the tropical forests of South America 60million years ago, just five million years after the last dinosaurs were wiped out.

Partial skeletons of the boa constrictor-like prehistoric killer were found in a Colombian coal mine by an international team of fossil hunters.

To read the rest of this article at the original source you can go to http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1135683/The-gigantic-45ft-snake-swallow-cow.html