Reflection Letter free essay sample

It was my actions that have caused me all these mess and according to the lessons I have learnt in the Academic Integrity Seminar, I believe in high degree of integrity from today. My friend and I were caught cheating on quizzes and online tests. Unfortunately, our instructor caught us red-handed and we were referred to the Office of Student Conduct. My relaxed efforts on academics led me into all these mess. Instead of going to do more studies on previously learnt topics, my peers and would go to the clubs and any other place that we could have fun and forgot our academic roots were more important.Only to find that had nothing to offer whenever there was an exam. Thats when my best friend would suggest that we improvise a way in which we can acquire high grades and achieve academic scholarship. The truth is that our efforts were imposing a great danger in my academic and personal life. We will write a custom essay sample on Reflection Letter or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page This kind of incidences has also happened to my peers especially my best friend. To avoid such a circumstance occurring again in my life, I have decided to take my studies more seriously. Again, I have decided to make proper preparations in my studies prior to examination period or any other test and quiz. Eave also cited to avoid the bad groups or peers in the campus and choose a company with good academic morals. During the Academic Integrity Seminar, have learnt that I am only destroying my life. Am a person with great vision for my life, my county and the entire world. I dont want to shun this away. My knowledge on ethics and integrity has gone a notch higher. Being able to know that ethics and integrity is part of my scholar achievement during my academic life, its an assurance that I will practice it both in college and after college. This lesson on integrity will go a long way in my life as I have to reactive even at work place.Knowledge without ethics and integrity is harm to a scholars life. I went through all the modules in the integrity seminar and learnt that some Of us fall victims Of plagiarism knowingly or knowingly. We have to include citations in our term papers whenever we use work from other authors whether its from the internet or from any other public sources. We should not have the assumptions that the sources belong to the community. From now onwards, I will make sure that cite any reference that quote in my academic term papers and any life research papers I work on.

Steps for Strong Time Management for College Students

Steps for Strong Time Management for College Students Within the first few days of starting college, many students quickly learn that managing their time is one of the most challenging and difficult aspects of being in school. With so much to do and keep track of, strong time management skills can make all the difference. Get and Use a Calendar It can be a paper calendar. It can be your cell phone. It can be a PDA. It can be a bullet journal. No matter what kind it is, though, make sure you have one. Write Down Everything Write down everything in one place. (Having multiple calendars just gives you more to do amidst an already tight schedule.) Schedule when you plan to sleep, when you are going to do your laundry, and when youre going to call your parents. The crazier your schedule gets, the more important this becomes. Schedule Time to Relax Dont forget to schedule in time to relax and breathe. Just because your calendar goes from 7:30 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. doesnt mean you can. Keep Trying New Systems If your cell phone calendar isnt big enough, buy a paper one. If your paper one keeps getting torn, try a PDA. If you have too many things written down each day, try color-coding to help simplify. Very few college students make it through their programs without some kind of calendaring system; keep trying until you find one that works for you. Allow for Flexibility Things inevitably come up that you werent expecting. You may not have known that your roommates birthday is this week, and you certainly dont want to miss the celebrations! Leave room in your calendar so that you can move things around a little when needed. Plan Ahead Do you have a large research paper due the last week of the semester? Work backward in your calendar and figure out how much time you need to write it, how much time youll need to research it, and how much time youll need to pick your topic. If you think youll need six weeks for the entire project, work backward from the due date and schedule the time into your calendar before its too late. Plan for the Unexpected Sure, you just might be able to pull off two papers and a presentation during midterms week. But what happens if you catch the flu the night youre supposed to be pulling the all-nighter? Expect the unexpected so you dont have to spend more unplanned time trying to fix your mistakes. Schedule Rewards In Your midterms week is a nightmare, but it will all be over Friday by 2:30. Schedule a fun afternoon and a nice dinner out with some friends; your brain will need it, and you can relax knowing that youre not supposed to be doing anything else.

Essay About Traveling Why Should You Start Travelling Today

Essay About Traveling Why Should You Start Travelling Today Traveling is an extraordinary experience every person needs to try. It reveals a whole new and exciting world out there, opens out your inner strength, and presents with unforgettable adventures. Read an example of essay about traveling to learn more and get inspired. Traveling – The First Thing on Your To-Do List There is nothing quite like traveling, like seeing a new place for the first time or returning to a favorite one. People of all ages, from all around the world, go to foreign places for different reasons – mainly, for work, family, and leisure. Whether by plane, train, ship or by automobile, traveling is generally a pleasurable experience, at least for the people who can financially afford comfortable and safe methods of travel. But it has more benefits than satisfying one’s need to make money, like, for example, to see loved ones and enjoy oneself on vacation. There are other benefits of traveling worth mentioning and trying out. HOW DIETING AND EXERCISING CAN CHANGE YOUR LIFE? One of the significant benefits of traveling is finding and keeping inner balance. Too often, people get wrapped up in their lives, their daily routine of working, sleeping, eating, and living. They become self-absorbed to the point when their fatigue affects their health, their happiness, and their future. It’s a great, big world out there with billions and billions of people, who each day live their life and have their own unique experiences. Traveling is a humbling experience. It is merely a superior feeling: to go to another country, and to see people live differently, speak differently, look differently. This is how one comes to understand how big and crazy our world is. Another benefit to traveling is coming to see one’s native country in a different light, in a different way. It is possible through making a comparison of your home and a foreign location. Sure, this is impossible without traveling. Going to unknown places create new perspectives and inspiration. Away from home, one comes to understand what â€Å"home† actually is and what it means. Perhaps their native country is not as free as they had been told or initially thought it to be, for example. One does not understand what it means to be a citizen of their native country until they have seen it from a distance, from another, completely different country. When traveling elsewhere and having to live according to a foreign place’s laws and social norms, one immediately thinks of how things are done in their own country and culture and begins to favor one way or another. This changes how one feels about their native land, whether in a better or a worse way. This notion can be applied to various characteristics, such as women’s rights, human rights, customs and traditions, beliefs, a trust for government, etc. Traveling is always beneficial for the individual experiencing it. Another great benefit of traveling is a life experience. Many people do not have the luxury of going to another country, or even to another city of their own country. Traveling gets a person out of their comfort zone, away from all their ordinary pleasures and comforts and way of doing things. This forces them to be adventurous, to live life to the fullest, to make the most of this precious gift and use the time they have to discover new things, and meet new people. This is similar to what people experience when reading a fictional story. They get to become whoever they are reading about, just like when traveling, they get to become the citizens of the country they are visiting, even if it is only for a short time. They live outside their life. To conclude, traveling is the perfect entertainment for a person of any age. On the one hand, it helps people to form a better understanding of themselves, their beliefs, and their lives. On the other, it also provides people with a better understanding of the world they live in, even if it’s beyond their immediate environment. Moreover, it may even help a person to feel connected to the many people living in the world. Nevertheless that their lives may never meet or they are so utterly different that they may as well be from different planets. There are no hesitations. Go and explore the world. In the meantime, will take care of your academic success. Just place an order and get ready for the trip without a second thought.

Enron subverted within the structure of the rational business Essay

Enron subverted within the structure of the rational business organisation - Essay Example The book by Bethany McLean and Peter Elkin (2005), talks of the way 'the hypothetical future value' of their investments were booked and profits shown for the shareholders to consume. Enron started with Oil pipelines and made it to the broadband and to a host of other services including electric distribution and power supply. While the core competency of the company lies in pipelines, they went into energy trading and broadband systems. They did not work out and build over their core competencies which are advocated by most of the management theorists (C K Prahlad & Gary Hamel, 1990). Enron was bankrupt on January 25th, 2002. Though there were number of fraudulent practices that the company and its executives practiced, it is also true that the society had a leading role to play in the making of the company and its debacle. Supporting an untrue situation arises when the people involved are greedy and tempt a crowd to be greedy as well. Enron became ambitious with the change in leadership and when the mantle was taken over by Jeff Skilling. Enron was ambitious even prior to that under the stewardship of Ken Lay. The growth was steady and the finances proved strong. But with Skilling taking over the leadership of the company, there was a subtle but a sure change in the approach of the management towards making money. ... It was just that Enron did not have time to reorient itself and plan for a classic change and none of the theories of change management seem to have been adopted (Kotter & Schlesinger, 1979). The company's executives were paid using the company shares which were traded freely in the market. The company maintained a high price for their shares and this resulted in their own staff having a larger value added to the share prices of the company. The company started benefiting by insider trading and ensuring that the company continued to have a high share price and the rate of growth of the company was well over 30 to 50% every year. This was too good to believe but then the share holders and the company employees too continued to believe in this performance. The company hid a number of facts about the debt status of the company and failed to show the right numbers on their reports. Hidden in numerous shell companies across the world were all these losses that was used by the senior execu tives of the company to hide and mislead the public and the share holders by giving them wrong information during critical times (Bethany McLean & Peter Elkin, 2005). This has also resulted in a gross violation of law by the company and its board. These hidden facts were so high that the company could not rectify these problems and come out of it unscathed. This in itself led the company to file for its bankruptcy. The senior executives were held for taking the country and its people for a ride and having misled them. The employees of the company and the share holders of the company felt cheated at the end of the game. This debacle led not only the company to bankruptcy but also took most of the senior people into the jail. Organisation Culture Organisation culture of any organisation

Implementation of Knowledge Mining with Ontology Research Paper

Implementation of Knowledge Mining with Ontology - Research Paper Example 22). Knowledge mining is the process of merging databases together, machine knowledge, statistics and any other linked area so as to obtain important facts and information in bulky quantity of data. Organizations are required to know their data models and pattern (NEMIS. Conference, p. 1). Multi agent mining is the process in which knowledge is mined in a larger quantity using a variety of agents. Cloud computing applications In cloud computing the remote computer does not have to do more and heavy processes any more when running processes. Servers on the cloud network run this processes instead. This help in reduction of user’s need for hardware and software. The following are more reasons to why most companies and organizations should consider cloud computing; cloud computing gives an alternative of storing data in another computers hardware. Computer users are able to gain access their data and applications wherever at anytime. Cloud computing reduces IT support expenses wh ereby incase of a technical issue it’s solved online. It also reduces cost on hardware such as hard drive. One does not have to buy a hard drive with large memory (Strickland, p. 3). We have a number of cloud computing services provided by Google. The applications are as follows: Google Talk is a communication application that allows personal computer user to chat, send and receive documents and mails. Gmail is a calendar and an email application that allows each user store files and documents up to 7GB. The other Gmail services are ability to chat, receive mails and enjoy mutual calendar options. Website applications provides Google site services to design websites that include built in videos, calendars and pictures. Google Docs are applications that offer document designing and sharing online. Other applications include groups that allow one to arrange folders and favorites which assist in retrieving the unread mails (Regina, Budnikas and Ambraziene, p. 263). A Matlab tool accelerates and eases applications when using GPU computing compared to when using FORTRAN or C. The user is able to employ parallel computing toolbox when using GPUs in conjunction with Matlab tools. Parallel computing supports Nvidia Cuda GPUs, many GPUs and GPU operate straight from Matlab. Parallel computing toolbox allows the user compute and work out bulky data difficulties using computer clusters, multi processors and GPUs (MathWorks, p. 1-7). Other cloud computing tools include; VOIP, Phone systems, Blog, Wiki and social media tools. VOIP allows users make calls on the internet, for example Skype. Skype allows multiple or group calls at once. The phone system allows one to have a Google voice account that contributes to a cloud based voice mail and responding system. (Jamsa and Jamsa, p. 86- 92). Ontology applications Ontology is used to design and manage the knowledge applications. These applications are associated with the phase of software lifecycles and are concerned wi th specific components of software such as the controller module, data base and user interface. In order for the application to work more efficiently in ontology deployment and processing, additional tools are used. The ontology editor is one of the applications in the web and is used to manipulate ontology as it helps in the process of ontology translation to implemented language. They are in the HTML form and enable the

Today is a result of yesterday, tomorrow is a result of today Essay Example for Free

Today is a result of yesterday, tomorrow is a result of today Essay Today is a result of yesterday, tomorrow is a result of today. To what extent is this statement an apt representation of Buddhist ethics? Today is a result of yesterday, tomorrow is a result of today. This statement, as a representation of Buddhist ethics, would seem to suggest the realm of ethical action is effectively deterministic. This raises many questions about the nature of Buddhist ethics, most significantly: Is this a coherent position? If today is a result of yesterday how can one be said to be possessed of free will? And if one has no free will surely one cannot be considered a moral agent thus consequently, are responsible for ones actions. In this essay I will consider the evidence and arguments supporting this interpretation, together with counter-arguments in order to discuss the statement and reasoning behind this, resulting in my conclusion that will encompass all these arguments. Firstly I will look at morality in Buddhism as it is a Buddhists ethics which determine their behaviour which ultimately affects the results of tomorrow. Classifying Buddhist ethics can be considered an instance of virtue ethics, centred on the idea that the basis of morality is the development of good character traits which, in Aristotles system for example, include intelligence, wisdom (sila), and the ability to discern between good and bad. Peter Harvey contended that the Mahayana idea of skilful means (upaya) is similar to Christian situation ethics because it accepts ethical principles being overridden in certain situations in the name of wisdom and bodhichitta. Situation Ethics does not propose rules but rather suggests a guiding principle to decision making; Acting morally means acting in the most loving way in any situation. Unlike the approach of upaya in Mahayanan Buddhism, situation ethics do not ignore or reject traditional values but is bound by them. Both systems may allow for compassionate killing. There is a story in the suttas of how in one of his past lives the Buddha killed a robber to stop him from killing a number of bodhisattvas and thus prevented the robber from suffering in the hells for aeons. The difference though, is that in Buddhism only a very advanced bodhisattva is permitted to break with the traditional values, while situation ethics can be applied by anyone with a loving heart: This can thus be understood as in Buddhism, a Bodhisattva can act unethically and leave no imprint on the future, yet an unenlightened Buddhists actions will have a negative impact. Many religions emphasise the importance of the notion of good and bad actions, however in Buddhism, pre-determining actions to be good or bad would be a fruitless exercise Buddhists believe that reality of Dharma is beyond the concepts of good and bad; it contains both good and bad unseparated in a pre-conceptual state. Trying to remove half of reality, by definition, would be unachievable, thus trying to remove bad, would be unachievable, and pointless. More than that, the conscious effort to try to remove half of reality is also a kind of affirmation of the existence of just that part that you are proposing to remove. Buddhism does not say that there is no morality; it encourages the central importance of morals and ethical behavior in all areas of life. Although Buddhism believes in right action, it insists that right action is not the same as the Christian concept of right action; that moral action does not always match our conceived notions of morality. Buddhism believes that only this place and this moment are real and all else past and future are not real existence. It therefore follows that the only place where conduct can be right or wrong is here and now. So Buddhism emphasizes that right and wrong are concerned with the present moment, here and now. Acting morally means acting right at this very moment. Acting right at this moment is the only true morality. We can debate right and wrong as intangible concepts, but those abstractions are always detached from the real situation in front of us now, and so they are partial and can never be a complete guide to our action in the present; this notion would thus infer, in relation to the question I am researching, that past actions are not real existence, along with the future, therefore if the past is not real, how can it impact on tomorrow? It therefore follows that the only place where conduct can be right or wrong is here and now. So Buddhism emphasises that right and wrong are concerned with the present moment, here and now. Acting morally means acting right at this very moment. Acting right at this moment is the only true morality. It can be discussed right and wrong as abstract concepts, but those abstractions are always detached from the real situation in front of a Buddhist now, and so they are partial and can never be a complete guide to our action in the present. This therefore would conclude that if right and wrong actions are only connected with today, and not the past nor future No actions of yesterday impede on tomorrow. However this could be seen as a slight contradiction: Buddhism gives guidelines as to what good conduct is in the form of the Precepts these are not meant to be rigid and a broken rule will not result in committing sin, like the Christian Ten Commandments; However they are guidelines as to what right conduct is, but in actual situations conduct is decided by the state of the body/mind in the moment of acting, not by the precepts alone therefore if one is broken, Buddhism urges a buddhist to regain the balanced state and act in the present rather than be punished for past bad conduct, which has passed and can never be changed therefore if Buddhism states to live for today as the future and past are not real, yet the past bad conduct cant be changed therefore has left a mark in Buddhists life, how can past bad conduct even be conceived or considered to never be allowed to change if the past does not exist? To illustrate how a Buddhist might approach some of the ethical problems of today, you can look at the example of abortion. The early scriptures of Buddhism (The Pali Canon) are clear in seeing human life as starting with conception: when there is the union of the mother and father, and it is the mothers season, and the being to be reborn is present, through the union of these three things the conception of an embryo in a womb takes place. The word being, however, should not be thought of as a spirit or soul but consciousness being operated on by the force of (karma) that determines where the rebirth will be (according to previous deeds). When looking at such issue, we can see how it is an obvious moral problem as it has not been discussed at length in Buddhist literature; however there are references in the Pali canon that indicate the practice was regarded as wrong. Buddhist disapproval of abortion is related to the belief that in rebirth and teachings on embryology. It is widely held that conception marks the moment of rebirth, and that any intentional termination of pregnancy after that time constitutes a breach of the first of the Five Precepts (panca- sila), not to kill or injure living creatures, this could also be related the idea of euthanasia in Buddhism. This notion is an avowed view of most Buddhists however this position is not reflected in the abortion statistics in Buddhist countries: In more conservative countries such as South Asia, abortion is generally illegal, unless there is a threat to the mothers life, however illegal abortions are common with 300,000 per annum in Thailand, and in various east A sian countries abortions are even more numerous, such as one million per annum or greater is sometimes cited for countries such as Japan and South Korea. The fourth Noble Truth, the Noble Eightfold Path, sets out the main features of the Buddhist way of life addressing the nature of past behaviour affecting the future. The Buddha offered this path as the middle way, a way of life that does not fall into extreme views or extremes of behaviour but encourages balance and controlled moderation. Buddhist ethics are not based on the pursuit of sensual or other pleasures, and they also dont encourage extremes of deprivation, poverty or self-sacrifice. The various moral guidelines should be taken responsibly but with a light touch: Ethical conduct (sila) is built on the vast conception of universal love and compassion for all living beings, on which the Buddhas teaching is based (Walpola Rahula, What the Buddha Taught, London: Gordon Fraser, 1928). In relation to what is good or bad in Buddhism, the main principle is linked to intention and the determining factor is whether the act is out of selfish desire and craving, out of anger or hatred, or out of mindlessness and ignorance. Any actions that are motivated that way will result in caused suffering to us and to others. However, if the act is motivated by love and compassion they will bring well-being and happiness An action characterised by this moral quality (kusala-kamma) is bound to result (eventually) in happiness and a favourable outcome. Actions characterised by its opposite (akusala-kamma) lead to sorrow. This would thus infer that if actions result in happiness or sorrow , all actions of the past affect tomorrow. In Buddhism, ethical behaviour is ultimately dependent on the mind and not on the body. On the basis of the Buddhas advice, Buddhism has developed into many various types of ethical guidance that Buddhists do their best to follow. The ethical disciplines of Buddhism can be divided into the guidelines for lay people, and the guidelines for monastics. Within Theravada Buddhism, ethical action must always be motivated by ahimsa, the wish not to cause harm, and for Theravada monks, the main ethical guidelines are the 227 precepts of a monk. In Mahayana, ethical action must always be motivated by the bodhichitta, the wish to attain enlightenment for the benefit of others, in contrast to lay ethics where there is no need to attain enlightenment as there is no time to achieve such state. Ethical behaviour on the bodhisattva path consists of the six paramitas or transcendental actions. When one becomes a Buddhist one begins by taking the Three Refuges, refuge in the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. The main commitment is to refrain from harming others and to adopt the approach of non violence (ahimsa). Non violence is a prevalent principle of Buddhist ethics as stated in the Dhammapada 5: In this world hate never yet dispelled hate. Only love dispels hate (Dominique Side, Buddhism, Oxfordshire: Phillip Allan, 2005, p151). Lay people can also take one or several of the Five Precepts, which are five basic vows that strengthen the Buddhist way of life: I undertake to refrain from, 1) killing, 2) taking what is not freely given, 3) misusing sexuality, 4) harmful speech, and 5) taking intoxicants. As well as giving guidelines on what not to do, Buddhism encourages positive actions. In the Buddhas advice to a young man called Sigala, recorded in the Pali Canon, the Buddha explained the positive approach can be applied in daily life within the framework of the Six Relationships: 1) Take care of your family 2) Take care of your marriage 3) Keep good company 4) Develop good relationships between teachers and students 5) Develop good relationships between employers and employees, and 6) Develop a supportive and harmonious relationship with the monastic Sangha. The importance of love and compassion is also outlined in 118 of the Dhammapada, Set your heart on doing good. Do it over and over again and you will be filled with joy (ibid, p153). This statement could be interpreted as if you continuously do good the outcome tomorrow will leave you filled with joy, therefore suggesting the idea of free will in Buddhism. In the Noble Eightfold Path, ethical conduct includes three factors which overlap with the Five Precepts and Six Relationships: 1) Right Action, 2) Right Speech, and 3) Right Livelihood. Lay morality rests on the principle that lay people aim to minimise their bad actions and maximise their good so they have a better rebirth. Human actions (karma) in the Buddhist framework were to be determined based on both the intent or motive (chetanaa) and the consequences (vipaaka) of the action. In the Dharmaniyama (moral duty code), theories of causality in Buddhism were challenged in the view that human destiny was unaffected by the ethics or morality of human actions. It countered the doctrine of amoral causation (akriyavaada) whose supporters argued that there was no merit in doing good and no demerit for doing evil. In Buddhist teachings, individual karma is created by situations and moral predicaments, thus the outcome of a Buddhists future will be a result of yesterdays actions. Every action a Buddhist performs can leave an imprint and their karmic potential will allow for its own effect. Positive or virtuous actions give way to future happiness, and negative, non virtuous actions will result in future suffering. This connection between actions and their effects is known as the law of karma; this law is the foundations to Buddhist morality (sila). In the Buddhas teachings, Sila was spoken of vital importance as it allows for higher attainment of wisdom (panna) and concentration (Samadhi); this was mentioned in his Visuddhimagga: A wise man, after establishing well in virtue, develops consciousness and understanding (http://web.ukonline.co.uk/buddhism/panadpa8.htm). The law of karma is seen as a natural law just like physical laws like gravity. Karma is unlike morality in other religions as it is not operated by God or any other supreme being because Buddhism does not require supernatural intervention. The idea that karma works without any outside intervention means that the result of karma is not a reward, nor is it a punishment because they believe that this infers dependence upon a supreme power in judgement, whereas in Buddhism there is nobody to judge us, we determine our future by the way we act and the way we think, this idea is expressed clearly in the first verse of the Dhammapada, What we are today comes from our thoughts of yesterday, and our present thoughts build our life of tomorrow: our life is the creation of our mind. If a man speaks or acts with an impure mind, suffering follows him as the wheel of the cart follows the beast that draws the cart (Dominique Side, Buddhism, Oxfordshire: Phillip Allan, 2005, p130). This quote is an excellent example for evidence in supporting the question being asked in this essay, as it addresses the idea that not only our actions, but also our thoughts build our future and that impurities of the mind cause future suffering. A Common misinterpretation of karma is that it is a law of fate; however the idea of fate implies determinism, which would allow for no change or freedom, thus an idea seen in many theistic religions such as the notion that God determines life. This idea of determinism could be firstly viewed as a completely contrasting idea to that in Buddhism. Determinism is the philosophical proposition that everything is determined causally by an unbroken chain of prior events. However determinism has been expressed as the doctrine of Dependent origination in Buddhism and is an important factor in the evidence regarding my question. The doctrine of dependent origination is fundamental in connecting moral responsibility and causation, especially the ontological status of all matter. The doctrine teaches that all phenomena occur from dependence on causes and circumstances and lack intrinsic nature. The doctrine is expressed in its simplest form in phrase idam sati ayam bhavati, which means when this exists, that arises, which logically can be expressed as, when condition A arises, condition B arises, thus its reversal would be that when A doesnt exist, B wont. It is indicated in early sources that the Buddha became fully enlightened under the Bodhi tree when he fully realised the profound truth of Dependent Origination, thus that all matter is conditioned and arise and cease in a determinate chain of events. Therefore in relation to moral responsibility, it could be said that nothing happens out of its own volition, so there are no forces or metaphysical realties, such as a god or soul to act as a determiner, so it could be argued that moral responsibility is ones own, yet with a chain of causation, and no self, it could also be said one cannot be responsible if one doesnt exist. A way of classifying Buddhist ethics in Western terms is by relating it to soft determinism. Soft determinism is a midpoint between the hard determinism of philosophers such as Hobbes, Hume and John Stuart Mill, where the assertion of cause and effect is universal, therefore moral freedom is not possible; and libertarians who believe that uncaused, unconditional choices can be made and that free will exists, as Immanuel Kant stated free will was essential for morality, In morals, the proper and inestimable worth of an absolutely good will consists precisely in the freedom of the principle of action (Robert A Bowie, Ethical Studies, Nelson Thornes, 2001, p59). There is an important relationship between freedom and moral responsibility; it has been commonly held that we should be morally responsible for actions that we freely perform. If we can only blame or praise people for actions they freely and knowingly undertake, then it is vital that we have the freedom to act, morality depends on freedom. Immanuel Kant wrote ought implies can, therefore we cant blame someone for something they cannot do; If people are not free, the prospect of making moral decisions in denied, thus if an external influence causes human actions, people cannot be morally responsible. Hard determinists believe that we are not free and cannot be held morally responsible for our actions (Omar Khayyam R A Bowie, Ethical Studies, p91). This idea has some ethical similarity to the traditional Judeo-Christian idea of Predestination, it can be summarised as all our choices, decisions, intentions, other mental events, and all our actions are no more than effects of other equally necessitated events (Honedrich, ibid, p91). Hard determinism insists that all actions have a prior cause. However, this idea has a number of profound consequences; it puts doubt in our hopes for the future and how we consider the morality of others. If we praise a person for their good action, we are mistaken as it is not their action, it has been pre-determined. Additionally, if our actions are determined humans cannot deliberate rationally, we are, to an extent, illusive to the fact we cant decide for ourselves what we wish to do. Buddhism accepts the idea of determinism but rejects the idea of an agent and thus the idea that freedom is free will belonging to an agent. The Buddha said There is free action, there is retribution, but I see no agent that passes out from one set of momentary elements into another one, except the connection of those elements. Buddhism believes in neither absolute free will nor determinism, it preaches a middle doctrine, called pratitya-samutpada in Sanskrit, which is often translated as inter-dependent arising: When this exists, that exists; From the arising of this, that arises; When this does not exist, that does not exist; From the cessation of this, that ceases (Majjhima Nikaya, 1.262-64, D. Side, Buddhism, 2005, p97). It is part of the theory of karma. In Buddhism it is taught that the notion of complete freedom of choice is unwise, because it denies the reality of physical needs and circumstances. Similarly incorrect is the idea that we have no choice in life or that our lives are pre-determined. To deny freedom would be to undermine the efforts of Buddhists to make moral progress through our capacity to freely choose compassionate action. Pubbekatahetuvada, the belief that all happiness and suffering arise from previous actions, is considered an incorrect view according to Buddhist doctrines. Libertarianism however, rejects the idea of determinism. If we wish to retain the idea of moral responsibility and accept that a person can, when confronted with the choice between right and wrong, act as a free agent, one must accept the idea of libertarianism. Libertarians do not reject the idea of determinism completely, in general they agree that the inanimate world is mechanistic that all events are mechanically caused and therefore predictable and that all the mechanical chains of cause and effect may extend to the animate world. They deny the principle of universal causation applying to human action and that accordingly human behaviour is predictable. Libertarians distinguish between a persons formed character or personality and his or her moral self. David Hume described liberty in his An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding: By liberty, then, we can only mean a power of acting or not acting, according to the determinations of the will; that is, if we choose to remain at rest, we may; if we choose to move, we also may (R A Bowie, Ethical Studies, 2001, p93). They believe we are not compelled to act morally by forces outside our moral consciousness. Moral actions are not chance or random events, but result from the values and character of the moral agent. An important argument for libertarianism is the human sense of decision making. While we have a sense of freedom, a sense of deliberating over our options, determinists maintain this is an illusion of freedom. Libertarianism does not explain human action, yet many would argue surely action needs a cause? Libertarianism attributes our moral judgement to an objective source, unmoved by environmental or upbringing, but this is questionable. Buddhists therefore do not agree with hard determinism in that Buddhists do not believe in an external cause, like libertarians, however they do not completely agree with the libertarian notion of complete free will. To resolve the debate on relating Buddhism to either Determinism or Libertarianism and thus create a type of determinism to which Buddhist causality can relate to, A.J. Ayer advocates a type of soft determinism which accepts that everything has a cause but which defines particular actions as free volitions. An action can be a free volition provided that 1) If you had had the volition not to do the action you would not have done it and 2) Nobody compelled you to do it. for Ayer we have responsibility for our volitional actions. In order to explain the difference between phenomena that are caused and free volitions, some soft determinists distinguish between the internal and external causes of an action, for example between its contingent and mental causes. It can be argued that while the external causes are determined, the psychological causes may not be; the Buddhist view is similar in that it states that physical objects and circumstances are always determined through causes and conditions. Physiological, physical and psychological causes are determined by mental decisions. Therefore a midway between the two contrasting theories is soft determinism and can most satisfactorily relate to Buddhist ethical principles. It would seem that we must choose between the belief in universal causation and, on the other hand, the belief in the existence of free will, it being accepted by both determinists and libertarians that these two beliefs are incompatible. The incongruity of the two however is rejected by soft determinists who say that human freedom and moral responsibility, is incomprehensible without determinism. Soft determinists state the assumption that determinism is inconsistent with free will is the result of considerable confusion about what is meant by free. It is true that freedom as incompatible with fatalism, the view that human beings are powerless to change the cause of events, but it is not conflicting with determinism. Therefore soft determinists have labelled the two ideas; when the cause of action is internal, therefore out of your own volition, you acted voluntarily and of your own free will; but when the cause is external, for example contrary to your wishes or desires, you acted involuntarily and under compulsion. According to the soft determinist, this distinction between internal and external causes explains why freedom and moral responsibility is not only compatible with determinism but actually requires it. Determinism is correct here in that for these actions to be uncaused would mean they would be completely unpredictable, impulsive and therefore irresponsible. Therefore when it is said a person acted freely it is not meant as his or her action was uncaused but rather they were not compelled to do it, that they were under no kind of external pressure, they themselves chose to act this way. We can relate the soft determinist notion of labelling the distinction between action and cause to Buddhist morality; in actual situations a Buddhists conduct is decided by the state of their body/mind in the moment of acting, not by the Precepts alone. They try honestly to follow the Precepts, but if they break one of the Precepts, Buddhism urges them to recover and regain the balanced state and act right in the present, rather than to forfeit for past bad conduct, which has passed and can never be changed as it does not exist anymore. Buddhism says that whether or not one can act morally or right in this moment does not depend on the concept or belief of what it right and what is wrong, but on the state of our body and mind at this present moment. The enlightenment (Bodhi) of the Buddha was both his liberation from suffering (dukka) and his insight into the nature of the universe; the Buddha was thus awakened to the truth of dependent origination. This is the idea that any phenomena only exists because of the existence of other phenomena in a complex web (Indras net) of cause and effect covering past, present and future. Everything is dependent on everything else: A human beings existence is dependent on the condition of everything else in the world (and universe) at that moment in time but equally the condition of everything in the world in that moment is dependent in an equally significant way on the character and condition of that human being. Indras Net is used in Buddhism as a metaphor for illustrating the concepts of emptiness of interconnectedness of all things. Everything in the universe is interconnected through this web of cause and effect thus all are interdependent. Therefore because all these things are transient (annicca) and conditioned it can be held that they do not exist, thus if they do not exist, can they be held morally responsible for their actions? The Heart Sutra disagrees with the idea of dependent origination and says that there is no such law as karma or cause and effect. This still however relates to the idea of emptiness (sunyata) as noted by Nagarjuna that dependent origination and emptiness are two sides of the same coin. For Nagarjuna, emptiness should not be interpreted ontologically, but rather in the way of the parable of the raft: The Buddhist teaching (especially shunyata), is like the raft one constructs for the crossing of a river. Once the river is crossed, the purpose of the raft has been served. Therefore the raft is not needed anymore. The same is true of emptiness: it should not be held on to; one who does hold on to it will have trouble functioning in life. Nagarjuna wrote extensively, and his teachings resulted in the formation of an Indian school called Madhyamika or the Middle Way School. Sunyata refers to the fact that no thing, including human existence, has ultimate substantiality, which in turn means that no thing is permanent and no thing is totally independent of everything else. In other words, everything in this world is interconnected and in constant flux. An appreciation of this idea of emptiness thus saves us from the suffering caused by our egos, our attachments, and our resistance to change and loss. Therefore all phenomena are dependent originations, which means that they dont exist, thus if they dont exist, they are empty which would thus mean that ethics itself is empty, thus it would be impossible to ever act ethically as there would not be such notion in existence. If everything is dependent causally, then it would seem impossible to act ethically: however a Buddhist would argue that the whole universe isnt dependent causally, there is only one determining factor, Karma. Thus one of the possible arguments against karmic determinism is that karma is only one influencing factor and the universe has a random aspect to it, which could account for a degree of freedom. Buddhist teachings explain how misleading states of mind keep you trapped in a recurring pattern of dissatisfaction by teaching about interdependent origination, the idea that things happen for a reason. Dependent Origination suggests that every event has a cause. For a Buddhist, life experiences, both good and bad, arent random, meaningless events, however, nor are they rewards, or punishments, as rewards and punishments require a controlling outside force sat in judgment such as a god, as there is no god in Buddhism blaming God or fate doesnt work, experiences come from a result of a series of causes and effects that begin in a buddhists mind. In teachings known as the Twelve links of dependent arising, Buddha described the mechanism that drives you from realm to realm within a cyclic existence and keeps you trapped in suffering and dissatisfaction in these links; Buddhas purpose for teaching these links, beginning with ignorance and ending with a corpse, was to make us aware of th e way our ignorantly motivated actions unavoidably lead to recurring suffering, this suffering motivates a Buddhist to seek a way out, thus nirvana. The Buddha taught that the way to achieve this freedom is by engaging in what he called the Three Trainings which form the foundations to which the entire structure of Buddhist practice rests. These three trainings were: Moral Discipline, the strength; Concentration, the sharp aim; And Wisdom, the tool. If a Buddhist practices the three trainings in combination with one another, the Buddha stated that cyclic existence would end and one would feel the inexpressible peace of liberation. With moral self-discipline as a base, concentration allowing for inherent focus, wisdom can break through ignorance and help you free yourself from the cycle of recurring misery. In relation to the asking if today is a result of yesterday, it would suggest it is, however a Buddhist can change tomorrows outcome by having moral self discipline, concentration and wisdom. If a Buddhist wants protection from suffering and from the danger of lower rebirth, they must try and not commit any more negative karma, however, this is also a problem in Buddhism as karma is generally negative, thus how can one create any more negativity if all karma is negative, thus everything really is Dukkha, therefore, in conclusion, it is apt to say that today is the result of yesterdays actions. However, a Buddhist can purify negative karma that has already been committed. There are ten principle non-virtuous actions that should be avoided; Three actions of the body, four of speech, and three of the mind. The three non virtuous bodily actions are killing, stealing and sexual misconduct; the four non virtuous verbal actions are lying, divisive speech, hurtful speech and idle chatter and the three non virtuous mental actions are covetousness, malice and holding wrong views. The best way for a buddhist to avoid negative actions is to practice consideration for others. All kind of non virtuous actions have three kinds of effects, the ripened effect, the effect similar to the cause and the environmental effect. The ripened effect of a negative effect is a rebirth in one of the three lower realms. A Buddhists previous actions will always have a definite outcome on tomorrow, however there are issues such as causality and free will which when taken into consideration make it hard to substantiate whether a Buddhist can be praised or blamed for such actions. The idea of Sunyata means that if everything in existence is empty, morality itself is empty which would mean acting ethically would be impossible, therefore actions are empty so the law of Karma is flawed, this is a contradiction in Buddhist philosophy as it would mean that there can be no actions of yesterday impacting upon the present, therefore I could reach a conclusion disagreeing with the statement Today is a result of yesterday, tomorrow is a result of today as it is impossible to be a result if there are no actions in existence allowing for a future; However, with many ideas in Buddhist philosophy contradicting each other it is hard to conclude on this question as there are too many conflictions between Karma being the universal law of cause and effect and dependent origination, as well as the idea that it is too simplistic a notion for today to be a result of yesterday as there are complicated ideas related to Buddhist ethics. Bibliography Damien Keown, Oxford Dictionary of Buddhism: Oxford University Press, 2003. Dominique Side, Buddhism, Oxfordshire: Phillip Allan, 2005. Geshe Kelshang Gyato, Introduction to Buddhism: Cumbria; Thorpe Publications, 1992. Michael Palmer, Moral Problems: The Lutterworth Press, 1991. Robert A Bowie, Ethical Studies: Nelson Thornes, 2001. Walpola Rahula, What the Buddha Taught: London: Gordon Fraser, 1926. www.buddhanet.co.uk www.wikipedia.org www.nibbana.com

California Gold Rush Essay -- American History

The California Gold Rush The California Gold Rush was not all about Americans being happy and rich because of the discovery of gold. Indians, Hispanics, African Americans and Chinese all went through some sort of struggle or problem during the Gold Rush period. Not only did men go through rough times but so did some women. The California Gold Rush was a whole different world within California. Gold turned everyone into people they were not. In 1847, an Indian scout brought Mr. James Marshall to Maidu. Maidu was a village of Koloma. There, the first nugget was discovered where James Marshall built a sawmill. The sawmill was located along the American River. Some people say the first Gold Nugget was found by Indian Jim, whom worked for James Marshall to dig a channel to power the sawmill. However, James Marshall received the credit. Indians were famous for their invention in 1849 of the "Long Tom," also known as a box which caught gold. Although the Indians worked very hard for John Sutter whom was James Marshall's boss, Indians suffered tremendously. Gold Fever was a common disease which Indians died from in Northern California. Indians also died from violence and starvation. When Indians found gold nuggets, they would trade the nuggets for clothes, blankets or food for their families. It wasn't the money they wanted. It was the supplies they needed. For a while the Indians were doing well until the year of 1850 which California was now their jail. Because of the changes the whites were making, there was so much poverty for Indians around this time. Families were so poor Indian women decided to prostitute themselves. I think this is one of the most horrible things anyone can do to degrade themselv... ...erior and controlling about. A lot of people died from trying to survive in a free country because of the way they looked or the color of their skin. Lives were always in danger either way you looked at it. Now days people do have to go through some discrimination, racial problems or struggles such as being poor. We do not fight over land, we fight for each other or for money. Money is probably the only thing everyone will always cherish because money can help you do anything now. References Minorities During the Gold Rush. (2000). Retrieved October 18, 2005 From http://www.LearnCalifornia.org/doc.asp?id=1933@pagetype=content The Story of California From the Earliest Days to the Present. Henry K. Norton. 7th ed. Chicago, A.C. McClure & Co., 1924. Chapter XXIV, pp. 283-296 James J. Rawls, and Walton Bean. California. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2002

Virtual Child Essay

I was asked to create and answer questions about a virtual child. When I was told this was an assignment I thought â€Å"this should be easy†. Boy was I wrong! I found many things can affect the outcome of my child. If I am too strict or too easy, the child’s behavior will show this. Over time, this will also affect the child’s temperament. I have learned that some of my classmates’ virtual children are harder to get along with and require more discipline then others. I decided to just trust my instinct and answer the questions as if they were for a real child. In this report you will see how my answers affected my virtual daughter Alexis and, my experience throughout the duration of the assignment. 0-8 MONTHS 1. How does your baby's eating, sleeping and motor development compare to the typical developmental patterns? ~Alexis’s motor skills are typical for her age, crawling, sitting up, and standing up, but not walking yet. Her sleeping habits are normal for her age. Infants normally sleep sixteen-seventeen hours a day. For the first week or so Alexis wasn't very hungry and actually lost a little weight, she has now started eating and has gained back some of the weight she lost. . At 8 months of age was your child an â€Å"easy†, â€Å"slow-to-warm-up†, or â€Å"difficult† baby in terms of Thomas and Chess's classic temperamental categories? On what do you base this judgment? ~Alexis was an easy baby. She had a positive disposition and her body functions operated regularly. She is mostly positive and shows intens e interest in her surroundings. She smiles at familiar people and toys, and she is able to laugh at funny and is developing lots of cute little habits. 3. How is your child's attachment to you and your partner developing? What is happening at the 3-month and 8-month periods that might affect attachment security according to Bowlby and Ainsworth, and various research studies? ~Alexis is more attached to me than my partner. She is able to focus her eyes on me and she studies my face. When Alexis started daycare she would usually cried when I dropped her off but got over it quickly. Now she is use to it and doesn’t seem to have any problem with it. 8-18 MONTHS 1. Describe and give examples of changes in your child's exploratory or problem solving behavior from 8 through 18 months and categorize them according to Piagetian and information processing theories. Note that 8 months is included, so you'll need to use the time-line to look back at 8 months for examples. ~When Alexis was 8 months she was in substage 3 based on Piaget’s 6 substages. . I played a hiding game with Alexis, she could find the object when I hid it in the same spot but was unable to find it if I put it in a different place. Now Alexis is in the substage 4, based on Piaget’s 6 substages. I played a hiding game with Alexis again and she was able to find the object even after long delays and seemed to think this is was great game. 2. Analyze your baby's temperament in more detail at 18 months than you did at 8 months. How would you describe your baby in terms of the five aspects of temperament utilized by the Virtual Child program (activity, sociability, emotionality, aggressiveness vs. cooperativeness, and self-control)? Has Alexis's temperament been stable over the first 18 months? A blurb defining and providing examples of the five aspects of temperament is provided at 12 months, but you should seek out further explanations of temperament from your textbook. Explain how the concept of goodness of fit (also discussed in the blurb on infant temperament) applies to your interactions with your child. Alexis is very active and is a very social baby. She isn’t aggressive at all and she cooperates very well. I play with Alexis and introduce her to new things and she seems to enjoy it very much. 3. Were you surprised by anything in the developmental assessment at 19 months? That is, does your perception of your child's physical, cognitive, language and social development differ from that of the developmental examiner? Give specific examples. If you were not surprised, write instead about some aspects of your child's development that need the most work. I was very surprised that Alexis scored above average in all aspects of language development and she was above age-norms for building a block tower to model one made by the examiner and other skills such as copying shapes, coloring within the lines and solving picture puzzles. 2 YEARS OLD 1. Have there been any environmental events in your child's first 2 1/2 years that you think might have influenced his or her behavior? On what do you base your hypotheses? ~She is now in preschool and I think it has been difficult for her because she isn't use to the new caregiver and environment. Another instance is she was in an accident with her tricycle and she is now afraid to ride it. 2. How is your child progressing on typical toddler issues, such as learning household rules, learning to follow routines, listening to you, developing self-control and learning to get along with other children? ~She has been doing well with learning household rules and listing to me. Sometimes she looks guilty when she breaks something, or embarrassment when she has a potty accident. She gets along with other children good. 3. Analyze your own parenting philosophy and practices. What principles from social learning theory, Bowlby, Ainsworth, Piaget, Vygotsky, information processing theory, developmental neuroscience and other theories do you appear to have relied on in making your parenting choices or interpreting your child's behavior? Include three principles/theorists from the above list in your answer. ~My parenting practices and philosophy come from my experience as a child. I remember when I was young my parents didn’t really push me to succeed and learn new things. I want my child to explore and learn as much as she can. My parents were also lenient when it came to me getting in trouble which made me do worse things when I was older because I knew the consequences wouldn’t be so bad. That made me want to be a strict parent. 3 YEARS OLD 1. What activities and experiences you and your child have engaged in might be promoting healthy behavioral practices and an interest in physical activity? ~Alexis like to play hide and seek and likes to play sports for a short time. I think this will help her be more interested in sports when she gets older which, will make her an active child, reducing the chance of obesity. . Describe development of your child’s language and cognitive skills and discuss how these might be affecting his or her interactions with you ; your responses. ~Alexis’s language development is very good. She likes to tell people about things she has done, but she sometimes leaves out details. When I hear her telling stories I ask questions to help her to fill in a few detai ls. Alexis is also fascinated with her new baby sister Ashlynn and tells everyone about her. 3. How well is your child adapting to social situations in the home and outside the home? Does your child have any behavior or emotional problems at this point? Why do you think these problems are occurring and what are you doing about them? ~Alexis clings more to adults and only has a few friends in preschool. The only behavioral problem she has is acting up in public places and she is somewhat anxious and unsure of herself in social situations. I think these problems are occurring because she is constantly around adults. I’m going to invite a few friends over and have play dates to help her get use to children. 4 YEARS OLD 1. How would you characterize your parenting style? How have your specific parenting techniques changed since infancy? In what ways do you think your parenting style, or any other aspect of your parenting, has been influenced by your cultural background or other experiences? ~My parenting style is Authoritative. I set rules and boundaries and if they are not followed there are repercussions but, at the same time I am a loving parent and I am emotionally supportive. My parenting techniques have been about the same since Alexis was a baby. I don’t think my parenting skills have been influenced by my cultural background at all. My experiences might have influenced my parenting because I was treated horribly when I was a child so I know I don’t want my child treated like that. 2. Describe two specific examples of changes in your child's behavior at age 4 that seem to stem from growth in cognitive and language ability since the period of infancy (e. g. , improvements in symbolic thinking, reasoning, knowledge of the world, theory of mind). ~Alexis’s symbolic thinking and reasoning has grown a lot since infancy. She is above average in her problem solving skills and language abilities. She can solve problems with more than two steps and she can complete full sentences. 3. How would you characterize your child's personality? Would you say that your child is primarily overcontrolled, undercontrolled or resilient? Support your argument. ~Alexis is in the overcontrolled category. She is cooperative, and follows the rules, but she is very shy in social situations and anxious and clingy under pressure. For example, when she is in class and is asked to join a group for work she gets very unsure of herself and clings to the teacher. 6 YEARS OLD . How well is your child adapting to social situations in the home and outside the home? Does your child have any behavior or emotional problems at this point? Why do you think these problems are occurring and what are you doing about them? ~Alexis is doing well in social situations she has made more friends and she isn’t as clingy towards adults as she was before. Alexis still acts up on occasion in public places but overall has been doing great. 2. Do you notice any improvements in cognitive and language skills since age 4? Give specific examples. Does your child have any special needs with regard to cognitive or language development at this point and what do you plan to do? ~Alexis’s cognitive and language skills are above average. Alexis’s memory is getting better. She beats me on memory games such as Concentration because she remembers where the cards are located. But when she tells people about things that happened to her, she leaves a lot of details out and sometimes gets the order wrong. I join in the retelling of the experience, prompting Alexis with questions, rather than just butting in and telling it myself. . Which aspects of your child's behavior and personality reflect continuities from earlier behavior (e. g. , at ages 3-4 years) and which seem to be novel for this age level? ~Alexis doesn’t act up in public places anymore like she used to. But she does like to cheat when we play games. Her personality is about the same a sweet girl who sometimes gets nervous and shy and looks to an adult to help her out. She has made more friends. Alexis has become a kind of quiet leader of her small group of friends in first grade. She is still a bit shy, but well-liked by the other kids YEARS OLD 1. How smart is your child, and in what areas? Think back to the blurb on multiple intelligences that appeared at age 6. Find specific evidence regarding your child's verbal, logical-mathematical, spatial, musical and bodily-kinesthetic intelligence from your observations of your own child as well as the psychologist's report at age 8 years, 11 months. ~Alexis is very smart for her age. She is grate in solving problems, telling stories, and she is very talented in piano and singing. Alexis Demonstrates strength in her reading and writing. Alexis is able to hold her own in conversations with adults, and uses some surprisingly difficult words in her speech. She also is beginning to use this vocabulary in her writing for school. Areas of speaking and listening and in content knowledge of social studies and science, areas of mathematical problem solving, understanding of data and number concepts and, in the areas of spatial understanding and visual arts. 2. Describe some examples of your child's behavior or thinking that you think are due to typical American gender role socialization and explain why you think so. Several examples can be found at ages 6 and 8. How closely does your attitude toward gender roles correspond to typical American attitudes, and if there is a discrepancy, to what do you attribute this (e. g. , cultural background, attitudes of your own parents, etc. )? ~Alexis likes to follow me around and do what I do. Alexis enjoys playing sports with one of her friend’s brothers, and sometimes Alexis will also play sports with some of the boys on the block. Alexis is able to play with both boys and girls at school, but mostly plays with girls. I have taught Alexis that she can do whatever she want’s. Such as being a police women or a sports athlete. I grew up playing with cars and toy soldiers as well as Barbie dolls to me it doesn’t matter what gender you are. 3. How might your child's development have been different if s/he was raised by people with a different socioeconomic, ethnic or cultural background? Base your answer on specific evidence of SES/cultural differences from the textbook and class lectures. ~Different cultures have different views on how a child should be raised. For instance a child in a Chinese household would have to focus more on school and less on activities and would have much stricter rules. Or a female child in a Hispanic culture would focus more on home economics. 10 YEARS OLD 1. Describe your child's academic skills between ages 6 and 10 and assess how well these skills are developing. The 5th grade report card will be useful for this but you should also incorporate your own observations. What are you doing to help your child? ~Alexis demonstrates strength in all areas of reading, and in spelling and appropriate for grade level in writing. Alexis s also demonstrating strength in the areas of speaking and listening and in content knowledge of social studies and science, in the areas of mathematical problem solving, understanding of data, number concepts, graphical applications, and arithmetic computation, in the area of art as well as in area of music. She is very smart. I help her by introducing her to new things and encouraging her to write, work on music and her art work. 2. How well is your child adapting to social situations in the home and outside the home? Does your child have any behavior or emotional problems at this point? Why do you think these problems are occurring and what are you doing about them? ~Alexis is doing good in outside social situations. She is already adept at social networking. She adds photos to the family page every so often and sends messages to her friends. Alexis likes to go on weekends and hang out there with one or two friends. At home she sometimes fights with her sister Ashlynn. Sometimes Alexis gets upset in stressful situations inside or outside the classroom, and will withdraw from activities or become anxious or moody. She usually improves before the day is over. When she fights with her sister I put her in time out and tell her what she did wrong and why it is wrong. 3. Has your parenting changed since the preschool period and if so, why do you think it has changed and what effect might this have on your child? Refer to your textbook or lecture notes for evidence on typical changes in parenting that occur in middle childhood. ~I don’t think my parenting has changed at all. I’m still a strict but loving parent and I still help Alexis excel in her school and music and other activities that interest her. 12 YEARS OLD 1. Describe any physical or behavioral signs of incipient puberty. Alexis argues with me more, mostly about clothes bedtime and chores but otherwise we get along pretty well. I have to renegotiate household rules more then I use to with Alexis. And I have to make reasonable concessions, such as a later bedtime in exchange for more chores. Alexis has shown an interest in boys and likes to talk about hot actors or music ians. I’ve also noticed she’s been reading magazine articles about sex. Alexis thinks she’s too fat due to a growth spurt. She has taken to staring at herself in the mirror and refusing to wear certain clothes that she thinks make her look big. She seems to be more interested in hanging out with her friends than studying, and tries to get out of doing homework. Alexis has been getting teased for not wearing a bra because she is developing. 2. How would you characterize your child at this point in terms of the under-controlled, over-controlled or resilient categories? Have there been any changes since the preschool period and why might they have occurred? ~Alexis is now in the undercontrolled category she does not follow the rules, and has a tendency to become distracted and overly emotional, particularly when under stress. When she was in preschool she was undercontrolled. I believe these changes have occurred because she has hit puberty and has entered a sort of rebellious stage. 3. Using the 7th grade report card and your own observations, summarize your child's academic skills at this point. What specific activities might promote some of these skills? ~Alexis is still doing great in school making straight A’s. She needs to focus more on time management, working independently in the class room and finishing homework on time. Some activities to promote her good grades would be to encourage her to keep it up. 5 YEARS OLD 1. What activities and experiences at ages 12 and 14 has your teen been involved in that might promote healthy behavioral practices, physical fitness and skill in sports? ~Alexis tried out for the high school dance team and made it. Alexis practices routines and stretches at home quite often. She also played a little bit of Tennis one summer. She likes to do outdoorsy things lik going camping. I believe these things will help promote healthy behaviors. 2. Have there been any changes in your teen's behavior toward you or your partner? Why are these occurring and how are you responding? Alexis occasionally gets upset and becomes cranky or gives us the silent treatment when we have discussions about issues such as bedtime, chores, curfew, clothing choices, music choices, etc. , but otherwise we get along pretty well. When we have discussions and she gets like this I drop it and talk to her about it more once she has calmed down. 3. Do you see any examples of how cognitive and physical changes in early adolescence (ages 12-14) relate to your teen's social or emotional behavior? ~Now that she’s older she wants to hang out with friends more and she’s a lot more social. She was a little emotional about her body because of the changes puberty brought on. Along with puberty came a lot of emotional ups and downs. 16 YEARS OLD 1. Think about your teen's cognitive strengths and weaknesses and how they are reflected in his or her school grades and activities from 14-16 years of age. What careers or courses of study might be best suited to your teen's abilities and interests? ~Based off of Alexis’s grades and interest, I think she would be best suited for a career in science, art, or music. She has excelled in these three subjects and she enjoys them very much. The most practical career would most likely be in science. 2. How important have your teen's relationships with peers been to his/her social development, emotional well-being and school achievement from 14-16 years of age? ~It has been very important to her social development and wellbeing. It has helped her socially by getting her interested in things teens her age should be interested in and has made her emotional well-being much better. It hasn’t helped her school achievements much, she would rather hang out with her peers instead of doing homework or working on school things. 3. How has your teen adjusted at 14-16 years of age to typical adolescent issues such as risk-taking, drugs, alcohol, and sexual interests, and how have you responded to your teen? ~She has experimented with alcohol, I talked to her and grounded her. She has been dating a boy for a few months and says she’s in love so I talked to her about sex, birth control and condoms. 18 YEARS OLD 1. As the program ends, what pathways does your child appear to be on in terms of physical, cognitive, social, emotional and moral development? To what extent could you have predicted these pathways based on what you knew of your child's earlier development? Describe some specific ways in which you think your parenting mattered for your child's development, based on evidence from the course regarding the contributions of parents to child development. ~I think Alexis will continue dancing and she is on a great path for education. She had magnificent grades and did great on her PSAT’s. I believe she will get into a great college and have a great career. She has good social skills and even though she is a little emotional I think she will make good friends in the future. Her moral development is good she knows what’s right and what’s wrong and I think she will act accordingly. I knew Alexis would be smart from the time she was little. She always wanted to learn and she always did great in her academics. My parenting skills helped her achive as much as she did because I always encouraged her to learn and do what made her happy but at the same time I was strict and made sure what she needed to get done was done. 2. Describe some specific ways in which your child developed that appeared to be influenced by factors outside your control, such as genes, random environmental events or the general influence of contemporary middle-class American culture. I think her shyness was probably a genetic factor. I also think that her school environment and the influence of other children her age made her the way she is. Our culture also influenced her with music and T. V. 3. Bonus Question: Are there any issues you had with your parents, your school work, your friends, or your romantic involvements in the last year of high school that continued to be issues for you in coll ege? Reflect on your own personality, interests and cognitive abilities at the time you graduated high school. How did these personality characteristics and abilities manifest themselves in subsequent years? How have they changed since your high school days, if at all? ~My last year of high school my foster mother passed away which really affected my school work which made college harder for me. I love music it’s my passion and I think when I left high school I focused more on it because I had more time to do so. When I first started my virtual child I figured it would be easy, and at first it was. After I created my user name and password I was prompted to answer a few questions to help determine my baby’s gender and inherited traits. A few minutes later my virtual daughter Alexis was born. I have to say that doing virtual child was by far a great experience. I was very eager to do this project because I believed it would show me what kind of mother I will be when I decide I’m ready for children in real life. A few weeks after Alexis was born she was somewhat lethargic, didn’t want to eat very much, and she hadn’t gained much weight. When I read this I was a little worried. I then read that I took her to a pediatrician and he said it was nothing serious. I thought it was a little strange as well so I looked it up. I learned that it is normal for newborn babies to stay around the same weight or even lose weight within the first few weeks, after that, babies generally start eating more and gaining weight. I also learned when a baby loses weight they can become lethargic from lack of energy due to not eating enough. A short time passed and Alexis was eating heartily and gaining weight back. While raising Alexis I learned a lot of things. Like that genetics play a key part in her temperament. For example, the questionnaire I answered at the beginning asked me about my sleeping habits, and I answered that I slept often and I was told that Alexis sleeps virtually all the time. At every stage, I learned something new about the stages of development. When Alexis was five weeks old I wanted Alexis to be curious about her environment so I gave Alexis a lot of audio stimulation, including talking to her, singing to her, and putting on music for her to listen to. At eighteen months Alexis was very interested in music, and often danced to the rhythm. Then when Alexis was five she impressed everyone who heard her with her singing ability and ability to play songs by ear on the portable keyboard. I think playing music for her when she was a baby influenced this. At three months, Alexis started to make sounds like she was trying to speak to me. So I would encourage her by talking back with her. One of the things I thought was cute about Alexis was that she would smile at familiar people and toys, and she was able to laugh at surprising or funny things like playing peek-a-boo. Alexis also preferred people over objects and smiled and interacted with nearly everyone. This made me feel good about how I was raising her. One part of the program said that my â€Å"mother† would come over and watch Alexis while I went out with my â€Å"husband† but I would call and check on her often. I think I would probably do that in real life. I think good mothers always worry about their children. When Alexis was fifteen months old, I noticed she would often study things in her environment and perform simple little experiments with them, almost like a little scientist. Right away I thought it was interesting. I found out later on when she was older that she enjoyed science very much. I thought to myself, wow, things that you do when you are young carry on in to your older years. This made me think about what I was interested in when I was younger. When I was about four I sang in church and now I’m twenty-two and I still love to sing and write lyrics. I had never thought about it before and I thought it was cool to compare it with my life. When Alexis was ten she got into social networking. I was kind of shocked to learn this. Even though I know computers and internet are very common these days, I wasn’t aware such young children were using social networks such as Facebook. When I was ten I didn’t even know what a computer was. Coming from my background and my raising I do not think I would let my child on a social network until they were at least fourteen. I just believe there are too many predators on the internet to let a ten year old join Facebook. A few times in the program Alexis told me that I was more supportive and approving of her than the average parent. She also said that I was stricter than most of the other children’s parents. Even though Alexis is a virtual child this comment made me feel really good. When I do have a child this is exactly the kind of parent I want to be. When I was growing up my parents were not very supportive of me at all and they were extremely strict. I do not want to be like that so knowing I was making the right choices brought me great joy. In Alexis’s teenage years she started becoming more isolated and emotional. She started spending a lot of time in her room and was very moody. She also became a lot less corporative. At first I thought it was because I did something wrong but, I started thinking about myself and other teenagers I know. From my own experience I figured out that that is just something that comes with puberty. Realizing that this was normal for teens, it helped me see that not everything was my foster parents fault when I was a teen, some of it was actually me. I believe this information will also help me when I have a teenager of my own. When Alexis was sixteen she got a part time job at a grocery store. This was an important thing for me. When I was fifteen I got my first job and it helped me become more independent. I was able to save money during the summer and buy my own school clothes and did not have to rely on my parents for much. It made the transition from living with parents to living on my own a lot easier. I think this will help Alexis strengthen her independence when she becomes an adult. Alexis was a straight A student all through school. This made me feel extremely proud of my virtual daughter. I believe that school is a very important part of having a successful life. When I was in school I strived to do my best so that I could go to college and have a great life. This experience with my virtual child was a very important one. To know my child was doing excellent in school told me I was doing something right in my parenting method. Some things that I found challenging in this assignment was the fact that there was not as much information as I thought there would be and what information was there was very spread out. I think it would have been easier if during the infant years they gave information for every month instead of every three months. Also some of the information given to was a kind of confusing and I did not agree with some of the answers to the questions because, in my mind, I could come up with so much more scenarios. My virtual child definitely challenged me and putt my mind to work. Some of the things that were easy for me during this project is the fact that at the end of each stage they gave a parent and child evaluation information. This helped me with my assignment it showed where I was at as a parent and what I needed to work on. My virtual child all in all was an excellent experience for me. To raise a child from birth to adulthood is very interesting. It helped me understand more about my human development class and I think it prepared me to be a wonderful parent in the future. My virtual child also helped me see where my all my parents were coming from when I lived in different homes and each of their own individual parenting methods. I also learned a lot from this experience about children. I know information that I probably wouldn’t have learned anywhere else. Mostly, I think my personality made this experience even better for me. The fact that I love children and projects made this fun for me which helped me get through the program.

Code Noir

Le Code Noir (The Black Code) The Code Noir was a decree passed by King Louis XIV of France in 1685 and ended in 1848. It had a great impact on the sugar industry and trade involving French colonies and territories. The Code Noir contains 60 articles each with its own right and specification. The Code contained rights on slavery, restriction of the freedom of black people, banishment of Judaism, rejecting African cultures and that Catholicism should be the only religion of the colonies. Background The document was encouraged by a favorite minister in the King’s court, Jean Baptiste-Colbert.However, the document remained unfinished due to the minister’s death. Nonetheless, his son succeeded him in completing the source. It was modified and accepted by Louis XIV but rejected by the government. Nevertheless the King’s successor, Louis XV appointed the Code and authorized the law to be passed in the West Indies. The code was considered as a very racial document due t o discrimination of colour and culture. By banning the African traditions, the Mauritian arts such as â€Å"Sega† were created. Layout and PerspectiveThe arrangement of the article is based upon 60 laws. The first decree consisted of Jews being banned from every French region, due to the belief of Jews being the enemy of Christianity. The second law passed was that there should be no other religion other than Catholicism and every resident should be baptized. The documentations continue with the rules of race and eventually come to a point of slavery. The context of this contains the restrictions of black people and slaves. The last article on the document declares laws on taxes and fees.The original script was printed in French and translated into English. The script’s sixty articles are based upon life and death, purchase, religion and treatment of slaves by their lords. The slaves had little benefit from the code namely: * being clothed and fed, * to not work during Sundays and religious holidays * should be baptized in Catholicism * Should be educated in the religion. However the detriments of the verdict were greater, stating that slaves were prohibited from owning any property and had no legal capability.It also oversaw their marriages, deaths, religious traditions, punishments and the extent they had to go to for their freedom. The Code Noir in Mauritius The Code Noir in Mauritius was supposed to act as a justification to the slaves but ended being a Bible claiming the rights of lords over slaves. The punishments were very severe and brutal even abnormal. If a runaway slave was found, his/her ear would be cut off and for the second time they do something wrong, a thigh was chopped off.But the third penalty was the most ruthless of all; they would be stabbed with a hot iron mark on their body namely the Fleur de Lys. The treatments of slaves were that of dogs. Their masters did not give a care if something bad happened to them. Their nutrit ion was limited and therefore the slaves themselves had to cultivate their own food in secret. However, not all masters were like that to their slaves. Some did care for their workers and gave them a proper living by gifting them appropriate clothing and food. AbolishmentSlavery was abolished in France in 1794 and a few decades following that, the Code Noir was also eradicated in 1848. The Code Noir had remained intact for 163 years. Although slavery was obliterated in 1834, the Code Noir stayed for 14 years and then stopped. The slaves who will continue to work would not be referred to as slaves but as apprentices. The Code Noir only had two goals that was: – To give slave owners rights to their slaves – To boost the morality of the slaves Although the Code Noir was not always obeyed and followed, it remained a very important aspect to French Colonies.Legacy Even if the code was removed, the phase of this period was adopted into many books and documentaries. A few of these books have been published in Mauritius specifically, â€Å"Gorges† by Alexandre Dumas. The Code Noir remains a legacy of the French Revolution in Mauritius; nonetheless it depicts the suffering and torture of slaves while working. It also reflects the pain of Mauritius’ ancestors and toilers. The Code Noir serves as an example to our people and a dedication to all those who gave their time and effort into making this island what it is today.

Timeline of the Scottsboro Boys Case

Timeline of the Scottsboro Boys Case In March of 1931, nine young African-American men were accused of raping two white women on a train. The African-American men ranged in age from thirteen to nineteen. Each young man was tried, convicted and sentenced in a matter of days. African-American newspapers published news accounts and editorials of the events of the case. Civil rights organizations followed suit, raising money and providing defense for these young men. However, it would take several years for these young mens cases to be overturned. 1931 March 25: A group of young African-American and white men engage in a scuffle while riding a freight train. The train is stopped in Paint Rock, Ala and nine African-American teens are arrested for assault. Soon after, two white women, Victoria Price, and Ruby Bates charge the young men with rape. The nine young men are taken to Scottsboro, Ala. Both Price and Bates are examined by doctors. By the evening, the local newspaper, Jackson County Sentinel calls the rape a revolting crime. March 30: The nine Scottsboro Boys are indicted by a grand jury. April 6 - 7: Clarence Norris and Charlie Weems, were placed on trial, convicted and given the death sentence. April 7 - 8: Haywood Patterson meets the same sentence as Norris and Weems. April 8 - 9: Olen Montgomery, Ozie Powell, Willie Roberson, Eugene Williams, and Andy Wright are also tried, convicted and sentenced to death. April 9: 13-year-old Roy Wright is also tried. However, his trial ends with a hung jury as 11 jurors want the death sentence and one vote for life in imprisonment. April through December: Organizations such as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) as well as the International Labor Defense (ILD) are astonished by the age of the defendants, length of their trails, and sentences received. These organizations provide support to the nine young men and their families. The NAACP and IDL also raise money to for appeals. June 22: Pending an appeal to the Alabama Supreme Court, the executions of the nine defendants are stayed. 1932 January 5: A letter written from Bates to her boyfriend is uncovered. In the letter, Bates admits she was not raped. January: The NAACP withdraws from the case after the Scottsboro Boys decide to let the ILD handle their case. March 24: The Alabama Supreme Court upholds the convictions of seven defendants in a vote of 6-1. Williams is granted a new trial because he was considered a minor when he was originally convicted. May 27: The United States Supreme Court decides to hear the case. November 7: In the case of Powell v. Alabama, the Supreme Court ruled that the defendants were denied the right to counsel. This denial was considered a violation of their right to due process under the Fourteenth Amendment. The cases are sent to the lower court. 1933 January: Noted attorney Samuel Leibowitz takes the case for the IDL. March 27: Pattersons second trial begins in Decatur, Ala before Judge James Horton. April 6: Bates comes forward as a witness for the defense. She denies being raped and further testifies that she was with Price for the duration of the train ride. During the trial, Dr. Bridges says that Price showed very little physical signs of rape. April 9: Patterson is found guilty during his second trial. He is sentenced to death by electrocution. April 18: Judge Horton suspends Pattersons death sentence after a motion for a new trial. Horton also postpones the trials of the eight other defendants as racial tensions are high in town. June 22: Pattersons conviction is set aside by Judge Horton. He is granted a new trial. October 20: The cases of the nine defendants are moved from Hortons court to Judge William Callahan. November 20: The cases of the youngest defendants, Roy Wright, and Eugene Williams, are moved to Juvenile Court. The other seven defendants appear in Callahans courtroom. November to December: Patterson and Norris cases both end in the death penalty. During both cases, Callahans bias is revealed through his omissions- he does not explain to Pattersons jury how to deliver a not guilty verdict and also does not ask for the mercy of God upon Norris soul during his sentencing. 1934 June 12: In his bid for re-election, Horton is defeated. June 28: In a defense motion for new trials, Leibowitz argues that qualified African-Americans were kept off jury rolls. He also argues that names added on the current rolls were forged. The Alabama Supreme Court denies the defense motion for new trials. October 1: Lawyers associated with ILD are caught with $1500 bribe that was to be given to Victoria Price. 1935 February 15: Leibowitz appears before the Supreme Court of the United States, describing the lack of African-American presence on juries in Jackson County. He also shows the Supreme Court justices the jury rolls with forged names. April 1: In the case of Norris v. Alabama, the United States Supreme Court decides that the exclusion of African-Americans on jury rolls did not protect African-American defendants of their rights to equal protection under the Fourteenth Amendment. The case is overturned and sent to a lower court. However, Pattersons case is not included in the argument because of filing date technicalities. The Supreme Court suggests that lower courts review Pattersons case. December: The defense team is reorganized. The Scottsboro Defense Committee (SDC) is established with Allan Knight Chalmers as chairman. Local attorney, Clarence Watts serves as co-counsel. 1936 January 23: Patterson is retried. He is found guilty and sentenced to 75 years in prison. This sentence was a negotiation between the foreman and the rest of the jury. January 24: Ozie Powell pulls a knife and slashes a police officers throat while being transported to Birmingham Jail. Another police official shoots Powell in the head. Both the police officer and Powell survive. December: Lieutenant Governor Thomas Knight, the prosecuting attorney for the case, meets with Leibowitz in New York to come to a compromise. 1937 May:Â  Thomas Knight, a justice on the Alabama Supreme Court, dies. June 14:Â  Pattersons conviction is upheld by the Alabama Supreme Court. July 12 - 16: Norris is sentenced to death during his third trial. As a result of the pressure of the case, Watts becomes sick, causing Leibowitz to steer the defense. July 20 - 21: Andy Wrights is convicted and sentenced to 99 years. July 22 - 23: Charley Weems is convicted and sentenced to 75 years. July 23 - 24: Ozie Powells rape charges are dropped. He pleads guilty to assaulting a police officer and is sentenced to 20 years. July 24: The rape charges against Olen Montgomery, Willie Roberson, Eugene Williams, and Roy Wright are dropped. October 26: The United States Supreme Court decides not to hear the appeal of Patterson. December 21: Bibb Graves, the governor of Alabama, meets with Chalmers to discuss clemency to the five convicted defendants. 1938 June: The sentences given to Norris, Andy Wright, and Weems are affirmed by the Alabama Supreme Court. July: Norris death sentence is commuted to life imprisonment by Governor Graves. August: A denial of parole is recommended for Patterson and Powell by an Alabama parole board. October: A denial of parole is also recommended for Norris, Weems, and Andy Wright. October 29: Graves meets with the convicted defendants to consider parole. November 15: The pardon applications of all five defendants are denied by Graves. November 17: Weems is released on parole. 1944 January: Andy Wright and Clarence Norris are released on parole. September: Wright and Norris leave Alabama. This is considered a violation of their parole. Norris returns to jail in October 1944 and Wright in October 1946. 1946 June: Ozie Powell is released from prison on parole. September: Norris receives parole. 1948 July:Â  Patterson escapes from prison and travels to Detroit. 1950 June 9: Andy Wright is released on parole and finds a job in New York. June: Patterson is caught and arrested by the FBI in Detroit. However, G. Mennen Williams, governor of Michigan does not extradite Patterson to Alabama. Alabama does not continue its attempts to return Patterson to prison. December: Patterson is charged with murder after a fight in a bar. 1951 September: Patterson is sentenced to six to fifteen years in prison after being convicted of manslaughter. 1952 August: Patterson dies of cancer while serving time in prison. 1959 August: Roy Wright dies 1976 October: George Wallace, governor of Alabama, pardons Clarence Norris. 1977 July 12: Victoria Price sues NBC for defamation and invasion of privacy after its broadcast of Judge Horton and the Scottsboro Boys airs. Her claim, however, is dismissed. 1989 January 23: Clarence Norris dies. He is the last surviving Scottsboro Boys.

Pros and Cons of Joining a Teachers Union

Pros and Cons of Joining a Teachers Union One decision that a new teacher may face is whether or not they should join a teachers union. In some cases, it is not a choice at all. In eighteen states, it is legal to force teachers to support a union by requiring teachers who are not members to pay a fee to a union as a condition of continued employment. Those states include Alaska, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Washington, and Wisconsin. In the other states, it becomes an individual choice as to whether or not you want to join a teachers union. It ultimately comes down to whether or not you believe the pros of joining a teachers union outweigh the cons. Advantages There are many valid reasons that you should consider joining a union. Those can include: Teachers unions can provide legal protection and advice. In todays lawsuit-happy society, this protection alone can be worth becoming a member.Teachers unions provide support, guidance, and advice. Most teachers unions have a helpline that its members can call to seek counsel in a variety of areas.Teachers unions allow you a voice in hot educational trends, debates, and topics that you feel strongly about.Joining a teachers union gives power to the bargaining position of the union for contract and labor negotiations.Teachers unions provide several discount program opportunities, including life insurance benefits, credit card opportunities, mortgage assistance, etc.They often offer terrific professional development opportunities for members. Even if you live in a state where they cannot legally force your hand to join a union, you may find yourself being pressured to do so by other teachers. This is because teachers unions are a powerful entity. There is strength in numbers. The more members a union has, the bigger voice they have. Unions to Join Deciding what union you join is typically dictated by the district in which you work. Usually, when you join a local union, you join the state and national affiliated with that union. Most districts are entrenched with one affiliate and so it can be tough to join another one. The two biggest national unions include: National Education Association (NEA) - It is the largest education union in the United States. It is typically referred to as Democratic in its ideology. It was formed in 1857.American Federation of Teachers (AFT) - It is the second largest educational union in the United States. It is typically referred to as Republican in its ideology. It was formed in 1916. Not Just for Teachers Most teachers unions offer membership to a variety of roles within schools. Those include teachers (including higher education faculty/staff), administrators, educational support professionals (custodians, maintenance, bus drivers, cafeteria personnel, administrative assistants, school nurses, etc.), retired teachers, college students in education programs, and substitute teachers. Disadvantages In states where you are not essentially forced to join a teachers union, then it becomes an individual choice as to whether you want to join a union or not. There are several reasons that an individual may not choose to join a union. These include: You dont agree with union politics. As mentioned before, the NEA is typically a Democratic association while the AFT is typically a Republican association. Sometimes individuals do not agree with those political stances or a particular stance the union takes on an issue that often does not have anything to do with education. Teachers who have political views contrary to the positions taken by unions may not want to support the union.Union fees are expensive. Most teachers are already cashed strapped, particularly first-year teachers. Every little bit can help, so many teachers feel like the value of joining a union and its benefits are not worth the monetary costs.You don’t believe you need it. Some teachers believe that they do not need the services provided by a teachers union and that there are not enough benefits to warrant holding membership.