“Half-Criminals” or Urban Athletes? A Plea for Fair Treatment for Skateboarders”

David Langley wrote this article portraying the skateboarders’ situation in an urban city life. Being a skateboarder himself, Langley expresses his opinion in the piece by asking for the fair treatment of skateboarders in the urban society. In his view, “People in general, eye most of the skateboarders as misfit or delinquents, adult think of them as criminal types or associate skateboarding with anti-social behavior “(141). This irrational thinking about skateboarders needs to be changed, the city dwellers should keep in mind that skateboarding is just like another form of sport for the urban environment, as natural as riding a bike or ice-skating, Langley claims. There are two reasons for skateboarders to feel mistreated in the urban society that Langley talks about in the article. Firstly, there is never legitimate space for skateboarders to practice their sports. Secondly, the laws that regulate skateboarding are either highly restrictive or never clear enough. So, as Langley offers, first, the city needs to make room for the skateboarders by building more skate parks. Second, the rules and laws should be clearer and more specific so that the cop’s behavior towards the skaters to target them for tickets stops.

Furthermore, Langley does not deny the fact that the cities have tried to treat skateboarders fairly before by building parks, but he complains it still does not solve the problem because most of them are made by non-skaters. Also, Langley argued against the general people's thinking of skateboarding being the reasons for urban environment to get dirty and vandalized. He rather thinks, skaters help to keep it clean since they need smooth surfaces to skate, and they never have to deal with healing ozone, which means they are not polluting the environment.
In my opinion, there is no environmental harm from skateboarding and the skateboarders should be as admired as any other athletes. But, it’s also true that skateboarding can cause accidents by flying skateboards to windows, cars or rolling into traffic in a everyday urban-city life. So, is it really just about the image of skateboarders being rebellious, drug-users, “hooligans”, Or it’s about the safety and keeping the roads less dangerous and less occupied?

"Would legalization of gay marriage be good for the gay community?"

Sam Isaacson wrote an article analyzing the opinion of the gay community on legalizing same sex marriages. It is somewhat of a controversial issue with the gay community whether or not marriage is a good thing. He divides the community into two groups: integrationists and liberationists. The controversy is caused because of these two different philosophical views. The integrationists want to be as normal as can be. They want to "integrate" themselves into society. On the other hand, the liberationists cherish their gay culture with their own customs and values. The integrationists want gay marriage and the liberationists object to same sex marriage. Isaacson's belief is to consider the objections of the liberationists. However, he believes that legalization of marriage would benefit gays and society.

The liberationists do not care for being part of the "normal" society. They believe marriage would take away from their way of living and would show that marriage is the right way to live. Isaacson states, "We not only abandon the sexual minorities of our community, we strengthen society's narrow notion of what is "normal" and thereby further confine both straights and gays." Liberationists do not want to lose the unique characteristics of gay culture. Some gay writers have said, "Gays have been forced to create different forms of relationships that often allow for a greater and often more fulfilling range of life experiences." Gays are more likely to stay friends with their ex-girlfriends/boyfriends and they form very close relationships without becoming romantically involved. The communication in their relationships is better than most straight couples. The liberationists think that marriage "limits and normalizes personal freedom. They do not want to be faced with the social pressures of marriage and their culture is forgotten.

Isaacson agrees with the liberationists but many benefits would come about from the legalization of gay marriage. Marriage is stability that is good for a society. Children need a stable environment so that they are well adjusted. Couples tend to be happy in long-term relationships. Isaacson adds that when a person gets old, ill, or depressed it is nice to have someone who will take care of them so they are not alone.

Furthermore, Isaacson does not want to forget the real benefits that come with marriage. For example, legal rights, tax benefits, insurance benefits, inheritance, and voice in medical treatment or funeral arrangements. He feels that gay love is not respected. Society does not care whether gays have relationships or families. Isaacson wants to send a message to the world that "gay love is just as meaningful as straight love."

Letters from Birmingham Jail by Martin Luther King

After a non-violent protest in the merchant section of Birmingham Alabama, Martin Luther King Jr. is put in county jail. There he recieves a letter from local clergyman proclaiming his decisions to be rash and unneccesary. In which they understand a part of King's struggle, but felt his actions to be against the public safety. Mr. King writes back with a letter stating that his "actions" were not only loong overdue, but well in the means of what needed to be done. The black Americans have long been segrgated at this time and were seeking integration. Birming Alabama was one of the most segrated cities in the South. When the clergymen praised the police force for their actions, King criticized that the police were violen and lashed out against minorities. The clergymen also pointed out how impatient Mr. King was. This was replied with they were already waiting for such a long time, and they could wait no longer. For every criticism the local clergymen had to offer, the civil rights activist had a long and awesome response.

Martin Luther King did an excellent job of considering his audience's perspective. He knew since his audience were preachers that they would have a religous perspective of things. So Mr. King made sure to put many biblical remarks about Jesus and Moses (626). Since Mr. King could read exactly what the clergyman's opinions were, he could directly answer them all. He covered the civil rights activists' patience, the timing of the march, unlawful arresting, and even his dissapointment in the church's role in civil rights. But his biased opinion leaves much to be undecided. Were his actions in good correlation with what the citizens of Birmingham wanted? Did he carefully consider the clergymen's point of view? Most people would say yes.

The Cause for the Draft

In Philip Carter and Paul Glastris’ piece, “The Cause for the Draft”, they explore the need for soldiers to be posted in Iraq. The U.S. army is made up of an all-volunteer crew., but their just isn’t enough men willing to fight in Iraq. We have a strong need for soldiers without the means to expand our all-volunteer army. We have enough men who are active in the army, but not enough of them are currently serving in Iraq. We have a demand for about 250,000 to 300,000 more men to serve oversees. We could possibly force active soldiers to serve in Iraq for longer periods of time in order to expand our number of troops, but it would be like “plowing a field with a Ferrari” in that it could not ever be done again. If men are forced to serve, it would decrease our number of reenlistments. Soldiers would not reenlist if they fear being held in Iraq for longer than they feel necessary.

There are others ways to increase the number of troops in Iraq, some be unethical. One solution being to convince other countries to join our troops in manning Iraq. This solution is unrealistic considering that Europe opposes our presence in Iraq. Another method would be to send more private military contractors over and depend less on other military servers. But this method also proves unreliable due to the high costs, and the fact that the idea of military contractors manning our troops has been pushed to its limit. We may also reshape our armies and move men into different section in order to have only the necessary amount of troops to each area needed. We could also offer a higher salary for our soldiers, which would recruit more men, though this option would prove too great a cost for the U.S. in the long run. There is always the option of drafting young men out of high school, but this method proves to be unethical and digressive. Men who are forced to join are less motivated and serve for shorter terms. Carter and Glastris then make their claim by discussing a method that they have themselves come up with. They feel that we should require all students, male and female, graduating from high school who seek to get a college education to choose serve a year or two doing one of the following; serving for AmeriCorps, doing homeland security assignments, or serving in the military. This way, it is their choice whether or not to serve, but we are still able to increase our troops in number.

Separating Science From Stereotype

A speech given by the president of Harvard University, Lawrence Summers, started an uproar when he suggested that innate biological differences may help explain why men have better career success in science and mathematics than women. Summers’ is reported to have said that men are biologically inclined to outperform women in the higher end of the math and science spectrum. The evidence to support this hypothesis is quite small. Summers also cited that there was a gender difference in the SAT mathematics scores. He states that boys tend to be the worst performers but the best scorers. In a 2003 study, boys outperformed girls by a statistically small margin. Although boys did score higher in 7 of 43 countries, boys and girls had similar scores, and in one country, girls even outperformed the boys. In neuroscience terms, there is evidence that male and female brains are different anatomically in complex ways, but no one knows how these differences relate to cognitive performance. Even though they have differences, males and females score equally well on IQ tests. One of the clearest cognitive gender differences is spatial reasoning and navigation, which is reportedly linked to math ability. Spatial cognition is organized different in males and females. A single testosterone injection will improve a woman’s performance on a visuospatial task. Social scientist found that changing a females name to a male name on identical work increases its perceived value. It is also stated that female and minority students who are aware of who are aware of gender and racial stereotypes score lower on tests such as the SAT. The comments that Summers has made are more likely to make it tougher for aspiring female mathematicians and scientists who are now being told that they are at a biological disadvantage.

After reading this whole article I found that there have been many test done to prove that men are better in mathematics and science than women. Though the facts usually show that men score higher on certain test such as the SAT, they do not mention any other test that you need to take. Also, it states that boys and girls perform equally well in IQ test. Females also outperformed males in one country in the 2003 study. Should all women be put into this “spectrum” or should you look at a female’s individual performance? Are gender roles in math and science really that big of a deal?

Harvard Prez’s Admission: Men and Women Are Different Linda Chavez Blog by: Jennifer Ibert

In his speech, while president of Harvard University, Lawrence Summers opened up the debate of why women are underrepresented in positions in the science and engineering fields. He justified his thoughts with three hypotheses: 1. The high-powered job hypothesis, 2. Different availability of aptitude at the high end, 3. Different socialization and patterns of discrimination in a search. To explain these three hypothesis further he is basically saying woman are more inclined than men to find jobs that have a balance of work and family life. The second hypothesis, which heated the debate, was that in tests of math and science aptitude the distribution curves are different between men and women. In addition, Summer’s is saying that women are socialized to be less competitive than men. In the article “Harvard Prez’s Admission: Men and Women Are Different,” Linda Chavez makes the argument that as heated as Lawrence Summer’s speech may have been, should his idea that differences exist between men and women when it comes to math and science be correct? In her article Chavez states, “Boys outnumber girls in remedial reading classes—by large ratios, in most studies—but they are even more likely to outnumber girls among the most gifted in math and science.” It was even shown in a study by Johns Hopkins University, “boys outperformed girls among the top scoring students on math by 13-to-1.” Chavez believes that although many people may not agree with Summer’s speech, he deserves high marks on this intriguing debate.

Chavez does an adequate job of presenting the counter argument with many concrete examples. She talks on how feminists have been trying to explain the reasoning behind the differences of men and women in science, one of their reasons being, “girls are not encouraged properly to pursue math and science.” She also goes on to give the example of Hopkins revealing gender discrimination in MIT in their actions of, “allotting them less lab space and giving them fewer plum assignments.” Would fault be brought in to the argument, regarding men and women in science, when bias is brought in to the picture? Are gender roles still a main issue in our world even though we are in the 21rst century?

Plugged In, Tuned Out: Young Americans Are Embracing New Media but Failing to Develop an Appetite for News

Dan Kennedy

In this article, Dan Kennedy looks at the ongoing changes in how the human race operates when it comes to media and the news. An assistant professor at Northeastern University’s school of Journalism in Boston, Kennedy often writes on the media trends of the era. Kennedy examines that over the past decades the population of young Americans has decreased in news interaction. In his starting argument, Kennedy explains that if you were to examine an American in their late teens to 30s, they would not be doing something a person of this age did 50 years ago. Kennedy has many things to blame his reasoning on. He explains that with technological advances many young adults reach out to different sources rather than the traditional newspaper. He also states that young adults are entering an age where they were not brought up with strong news enforcement. ““What’s happening, I think is that many more of them are entering adulthood without a news habit,” says Tom Patterson, the Bradlee Professor of Government and the Press at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government (474.)” Kennedy does state that though Americans have decreased in the traditional news, they have developed an interest in online services. From Facebook to online news services, more young adults are reading the news from the easiest way they can reach it, which would be with their technology.

After reading Kennedy entire article, it is easy to say that he is very strong on suggesting that many young adults are uninterested in the news. He blames many of this on technology and that the news is very uninteresting. Kennedy speaks that we need ways of entertainment to be interested in the news. Even though this may be true, I think that the news does not need to be entertaining to meet the needs of young readers. The news is a very important aspect in the survival of our country. Just because, young people are more interested in technological advances does not mean we have subjected the news to a back burner. Many young adults understand that the news is a very important aspect and keep up with this. Whether it from the television or to online services, many people are keeping up with the news. Just because a person does not know all of the leaders of our country does not mean that they are not up to date on our current standing.