We worked on a sociology experiment, largley involving deviant behavior and what the public would do in response. I had a small group that held up free signs during the day at about 11:30 and dressed in out of the dorm outfits, dressed in "goth" or eclectic outfits to get attention and walked into a Subway that we filmed with people's responses to the girls outfits, their behavior and reactions over two days of filming. I have three other videos currently in my camera, but the first video had trouble loading.
Government/Sociology
Social Experiments
Purpose: How do members of our community respond to deviant behavior?
Research Problem/Question: The basic question my group addressed was: If you held up a sign with the words ‘Free Hugs’ on it would people respond and take you up on it? In addition, we made it more complicated by dressing Heidi in a punk fashion, boots, and purple netting arm cuffs with a black shirt and purple pants, making her entire outfit purple and black and Taylor dressed as a preppy person in a collared shirt and jeans. The question thus became more detailed and complicated when we added those elements and it became not only; would people respond to a free hugs sign? But if they do, who would get more hugs? Taylor dressed as a prep or Heidi dressed as punk?
There would be no downside to leaving this question unresolved, just an upside to people’s day and an increase of positive time instead of that lack of time that was wasted by bothering both the unsuspecting few people who had the misfortune of passing by my group and I as we made their day stranger.
The purpose of our research was exploratory, to find out how the public would respond and even if they would notice. It was an exploration into the fact that if you stand on the side of peoples world’s with something that wasn’t quite normal, Would they notice? Would they respond?
Operation: The variables to consider are the ones written above, the difference in a person’s dress and the oddness of the out of the norm ‘Free Hugs’ sign. My group and I, which as a spur of the moment decision became Sam, Taylor, Heidi and I, a collaboration of an unlikely group due to different circumstances. I believe this affected the experiment because we could have collaborated more and been friendlier attracting more people instead of awkwardly trying to perform this experiment instead of ignoring each other or pairing into pairs.
We walked from High Tech High International to the nearest shopping center which consisted of Subway, a Mexican restaurant, Starbucks, a wine bar, Oggi’s, a massage parlor and TCBY Berrio, a frozen yogurt shop. Taylor and Heidi stood side by side holding the free hugs sign as Sam recorded observations on paper and I filmed what we saw on my digital camera. We also had Taylor and Heidi walk into Subway and order sandwiches as I recorded the people’s reactions to seeing them. Heidi danced around while waiting in line for her sandwich, which yielded little if any results or reactions from people other then the Subway employees with whom had to look at Heidi and Taylor because it was their job to get orders for sandwiches, and add items to sandwiches while communicating with people without judgment. In other words, no one looked except one person that Taylor claims. We intended results but instead ended up in a fairly controversial conclusion over results which some of us believed that there were people that looked, and others believed that there were few if any that even noticed or bothered to look at them.
Hypothesis: (Before you tested) Our hypothesis was that people would respond to the Free Hugs sign and choose either Taylor or Heidi by hugging one of them more then the other.
Independent vs. dependent variables?
A main component and variable involved in this experiment was that we chose a shopping center in the afternoon, (a prime spot to disrupt the normal environment that occurred there and crossed people’s days) that we were sure would be busy with businessmen and women. My self developed guess was that people would look at the girls strangely but choose Taylor for hugs as opposed to Heidi because to me, it seemed as though Heidi’s style of dress would have intimidated the public because she wore dark colors in full daylight and the way she appeared it seemed to the average passerby that she wasn’t very nice or that she was a very independent person. So my self developed guess was that Taylor would be the one to get more hugs because she was in simple colors and a ‘nicer’ mode of dress.
Research Methods – Mode of Observation: We used a digital camera and a notebook to record our observations. We also used participant observation by recording what people’s reaction’s were to Taylor and Heidi’s dress and strange sign, which ended up recording no noticeable results by anyone. Our sociology experiment was also experimental, although thought of at the last minute we wanted to see how people would react. Our experiment ended up being a dud, however, because we should have chosen more of a crowded environment in order to get more results. The type of people we chose was not selective, we were willing to have anyone in the public come up to us, in otherwise, and we chose the entire population as our main objective to observe. We ended up focusing on a smaller amount of people or small sample in the local Subway in that little shopping center and mainly chose to focus on the subway employees reactions and the people in the restaurant, which as I have stated previously ended up becoming controversial amongst our small, but seemingly divided group later on as we discussed our observations and results.
Findings (Analysis and Interpretation): Instead of people coming up to hug either of the girls, they were both ignored. It is well known that people shy away from what intimidates them and what they don’t know. That is why I think, besides bothering and interrupting their day, no one wanted to hug either of them (the girls) as a hug is a physical touch and something personal to the majority of people. It doesn’t matter if they are “free”, no one wanted to get that close strangers, especially on their lunch hour. That is my logical analysis and interpretation basically that by observing the quietness and the fact that they were alone without any attention from passersby backs up my theory and that probably having someone with a pink camera standing near them recording, but appearing to be taking an everlasting picture didn’t help the hypothesis by attracting people but rather drove them away.
Summary and Conclusions: In all fairness I believe an important variable to consider is by choosing people’s lunch hour or rather the hour following, was not the right time to go for the experiment. We were given class time on a Thursday afternoon for one hour to complete this sociology experiment. While I am not complaining, I believe that we should probably have gone downtown to test our hypothesis as the lunch hour at which businessmen and women have more of an ambiguous lunch hour and passersby frequently walk around town. Whereas unbeknownst to our group the area we chose had people quickly leaving back to their offices and scarcely noticing us or looking our way.
As I have stated previously in my interpretations and observations during our experiment, I believe that it did not turn out the way it was supposed to because we chose the wrong time of day, we were in the wrong type of environment, with the wrong type of people, in a shopping center with just a few fast food restaurants and a massage parlor where not many people leave or enter during the day except their lunch hour and both teenagers and kids were at school. We had a limited amount of people to have members of the community respond to our deviant behavior that really wasn’t all that bad. I believe that the results relate to social policy and the greater world beyond academia because it teaches us, or rather should teach those who believe in humility and respect that just because you choose to wake up in the morning or become deviant and bother civilians that the majority of public does not respond well to people who try to bother them or interfere in their day and daily routines. It does nothing but bother people to try and be “deviant”. What is the purpose in that? Why bother people? In the name of sociology and experiments, scientists and sociologists should have enough respect for people not to bother the public by forcing them to become part of an experiment that exploits their daily lives when they are least expecting it and only telling them that they were in an experiment after the results and observations are obtained.
I feel personally, that if you are a sociologist and someone that wants to get the attention of the people in your town that it should be for something big and important that affects more then one person with the amounts of people participating. Recording the amount of people who show up to support a cause by running in a marathon and recording their reactions of the cause they are so dedicated for, recording the reactions of patients in a hospital when volunteer groups come in or the emotions of volunteers helping out would be a great test and experiment of who they people are that choose to help out, what do they get out of this, what do the patients receive when they smile at visitors, what are the emotions in a crowd at a protest for and against their passions and something they stand for, what are the reactions of people who witness protests and speeches like the one that Martin Luther King Jr. spoke which according to many documentaries affected many people.
In conclusion, I felt that this experiment was absolutely pointless, further proving my original thoughts that you shouldn’t bother someone’s day, no one wins, no one is happy, it just bothers people. I believe that it was a ridiculous assignment. While I enjoy writing, this should have been more of an ambiguous social experiment with more then 2 hours. I believe that if you are studying the people and reactions of the public, it should be historical and affect those who watch the results. An example of that is the reaction that was given by the classmates of mine who watched a documentary about the violence against blacks that occurred in the 60’s by police. Watching the reactions of people that were being beaten and hurt, but, seeing the victims smile as they got arrested really was a true test of their character and it was on filmed on camera. No one told the mass of people to remain resilient and determined, they just were, but, the documentation on film, underscored the message that future generations were able to see that no matter what hardships they face, even when they think that no one cares or no one is watching, that a person’s, anyone’s reaction matter a great deal in sociology, just in the right context.
If I was the head of a federal agency, I feel that partaking in sociology experiments by disrupting society would be a waste of my time, talents, federal money and an absurdly misdirected exercise. Unfortunately, while personally I feel that filming can elicit positive results and feedback in the right context, the U.S government would not know what to do with these results if they had commissioned this type of study.
Friday, May 15, 2009
Monday, May 4, 2009
Resource Management Project
The resource project we worked on was about a government issue and how it was being mismanaged. The whole ideal of the project was to choose a mismanaged govt issue and then research and write a large research paper on how it could be fixed, then after that, write a letter to our congressman/congresswoman. I chose to do myne on FEMA'S overall mismanagement based upon the emergency responce it generated AFTER THE Devastation of Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, Lousiana. It was poorly managed and left many people without help for days and even had help turned away as a direct result of a clash between Red Cross and FEMA. In addition to the mismangement of vital communication that could have easily been fixed, had the right steps been taken. In response to the same devastion when Hurricane Ike hit and destroyed most of Galvestan, Texas, the governor of texas after sending many mesgs and cries of a state of emergency to FEMA and expecting help but finding a delayed response started his own Hurricane relief system and that notifies citezins and works with the national Hurricane center.
Resource Management -Fema
FEMA Editorial - How FEMA Needs To Learn From Their Mistakes
By Colleen Hughes
FEMA stands for Federal Emergency Management Agency. FEMA's emergency management are supposed to prepare for emergencies and disasters, respond to them when they occur, help people and institutions recover from them, mitigate their effects, and reduce the risk of loss. In theory FEMA sounds like a great management agency, one that is supposed to sooth the victims of viscous natural disasters and they’re effects like property devastation, insurance issues, provide supplies like food, water, shelter and basic necessities until they can lift themselves off their feet, if they can, in the wake of devastation.
However, it has been proven that FEMA is not qualified to manage their resources efficiently or quickly. An article on CNN.com addresses the same point that I make, which states that FEMA is simply unable to do their job. For example in the effects of Hurricane Katrina, victims were left to evacuate to the Superdome and left without food or water for over five days, in filthy environments where people began dying, left unattended and alone all around the superdome for lack of supplies and assistance.
This was a cumulation of Red Cross and FEMA. But, FEMA turned away supplies to the dying victims in vast amounts. "It is indeed possible that there was additional suffering and maybe even loss of life that might not have occurred if these assets had been deployed," said Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, chairwoman of a Senate committee with jurisdiction over the Department of Homeland Security and FEMA, "Now, you might be able to understand if it came from outside government," she said. "But this is another federal agency, an agency that was offering trained personnel and exactly the assets that the federal government needed to assist in the search-and-rescue operations."
According to government officials, 1,322 people died from Katrina, all but 15 of the deaths occurring in Louisiana and Mississippi. A FEMA document provided to the Senate committee indicates that many of the Interior Department's resources, which included transportation, communications and engineering, were never integrated into FEMA's planning for a catastrophic hurricane. If supplies and proper communication had been implemented and FEMA had actually had organization they would have been able to save lives instead of losing them by restricting supplies and medical assistance. The Red Cross even covered it up by stating that those people trapped in the Super Dome for five or more days were receiving at least two meals per day, when in reality, they were suffering in agony.
If FEMA is better regulated and less restrictive, they would be able to solve their own problems. In working in conjunction with Red Cross, instead of having both organizations battling for control, best interest would be to put into helping the victims first instead of so much political red tape. By not turning away fireman, and aid offered to them they could actually assist and actually manage their emergencies. They should also coordinate their communication and plans in different disasters instead of running around unable to decide on a plan of action. This I feel would be the best course of improvement for managing FEMA.
Meserve, Jeanne. "FEMA failed to accept Katrina help, documents say." CNN.com. 30 Jan. 2006. 8 Feb. 2009.
By Jeanne Meserve
CNN Washington Bureau
RESOURCE ESSAY - Colleen Hughes
12/12/08
Government
Research paper
FEMA
As long as the United States has been in existence there have always been disasters and problems that have affected human lives and their lifestyles, such as fires, earthquakes, hurricanes, tornados, dust storms, tsunamis and nuclear disasters. Since the United States has been through so much life threatening weather conditions, one would assume that by now systems would be put in place to effectively ensure the safety, well being and regulate the amount of assistance given to victims quickly, clearly, and in an organized fashion.
Unfortunately, although there is a specialized government department created through the Department of Homeland Security called the Federal Emergency Management Agency or (FEMA) the clarity of its assistance and speed at which it dispatches its relief in the wake of natural disaster is slim. FEMA is supposed to prepare the supposed to prepare the nation for all hazards and manages federal response and recovery efforts following any national incident. In addition its supposed to initiate mitigation activities, train first responders, work with state and local emergency managers, and manage the National Flood Insurance Program and the U.S Fire Administration. The organization at which victims and their families deserve in order to receive funding, aid, or being rescued is almost completely non- existent or has failed them in a variety of ways. Staff in FEMA has changed in the last few years from Michael D. Brown who was secretary for the Emergency preparedness and response as well as the head of FEMA to the previous director of FEMA during President Clinton’s administration James Lee Witt. However, Brown made an excellent point when he said “The response to Hurricane Katrina must be well coordinated between federal, state, and local officials to most effectively protect life and property. We appreciate the willingness and generosity of our Nation’s first responders to deploy during disasters. But such efforts must be coordinated so that fire rescue efforts are the most effective possible.” That is exactly what should be done, and it’s not getting accomplished.
Repeat hurricanes have not only left our countries citizens homeless, and in need of relief, but have displaced natural resources such as the 1.3 million acres of forest land that was destroyed in Mississippi with a total loss through the forest industry of $5 billion from Hurricane Katrina, it wrecked homes, lives, jobs, families and had an unfortunate impact on the economy. There was a loss of 75 billion dollars in physical damage with the total economic impact in Louisiana and Mississippi exceeding $158 billion dollars in damages. Such notable hurricanes which occurred recently include not only Hurricane Katrina which was the largest hurricane of it’s strength in U.S history and the third costliest which attacked the Gulf coast of Louisiana, Florida, and Mississippi in 2005 that started at a level 3 and quickly escalated to a level 5. But, three years later Hurricane Ike with which it’s devastating, horrifically strong wind and rain flooded and destroyed Galveston, Texas in 2008. To date, 2008 has been the worst hurricane season in history with six hurricanes that have nearly destroyed entire cities, killed injured, displaced thousands and cost the United States government billions of dollars in damages. Not including the fiscal and social impact these displacements have had on the cities and states these hurricane victims have evacuated to.
A large demonstration of the severity of the government mismanagement in regards to their emergency response and aide to those severely affected by natural disasters is shown in Hurricane Katrina and the years following. FEMA over regulated where, when and how many people were needed to effectively assist and aid those in need. One might say it was a mismanagement of regulation in power through panic and force. Aaron Broussard, president of Jefferson Parish, South of New Orleans was quoted as saying
Far from deferring to state or local officials, FEMA asserted its authority and made things worse. When Wal-Mart sent three trailers trucks loaded with water, FEMA officials turned them away. Agency workers prevented the Coast Guard from delivering 1,000 gallons of diesel fuel, and on Saturday they cut the parish’s emergency communication line, leading the sheriff to restore it and post armed guards to protect it from FEMA.
In addition, further sources have concluded several other problems attributed to FEMA’s overall failure; Ms. Bottcher, the governor’s press secretary believed that FEMA had interfered with the delivery of aid including offers from the Mayor of Chicago, Richard M. Daley, and the Governor Democrat of Louisiana, said “The problem was not who was in command. FEMA repeatedly held up assistance that could have been critical.” Nearly every emergency worker told agonizing stories of communications failures, some of them most likely fatal to victims. Much of the blame is circulated around; however Mayor Nagin said it best when he said “The root of the breakdown was the failure of the federal government to deliver relief supplies and personnel quickly. They kept making promises and saying things would happen.
Therefore a proposed solution to this problem includes restructuring the Emergency response system in the government by organizing how they respond and thoroughly conducting the distribution of help, aid, volunteers, supplies, experienced personnel, efficiently by meticulously and strictly monitoring the usage of the fiscal donations, thereby avoiding confusion. This revised structure should come with a capacity for leniency in the event of emergency that would grant outside help permission to assist, participate and utilize their skills and expertise without hassle. Whereas with the FEMA system coroners, doctors, paramedics, firemen, out of state policeman, civilians and caring individuals were all prevented from helping because of rigid government bureaucracy and miscommunication. Ironically, in the disaster that affected her own state, the Governor of Louisiana and the mayor of New Orleans were both overridden in almost every manner in their efforts to assist and comfort their disaster and grief stricken state. In a structural overhaul of the system as it currently stands the revised solution would be respect and authority given to those politicians in charge of the disaster affected areas as it is their job such as the Governor and mayor. Not to be controlled by a third party when they are the authority over their own jurisdictions.
While no one can ever be fully prepared for all natural disasters or life threatening situations, it is the responsibility of the United States government to ensure that its citizens are well protected to avoid the potential of injury or death and the severity of the aftermath in the event that they lose their homes, possessions and jobs. Alone, as one student there are not many things that can be done to influence the government into changing Homeland Security regulated systems, therefore as a United Community we should do all we can to assist and make the necessary precautions available and at the ready.
Works Cited
Associated, Press, comp. "FEMA under fire for Ike snafus Texas state government also gets some blame for distribution problems." MSNBC.com. 17 Sept. 2008. The Associated Press. 09 Dec. 2008
"First Responders Urged Not To Respond To Hurricane Impact Areas Unless Dispatched By State, Local Authorities." FEMA Site. 29 Aug. 2005. FEMA. 09 Dec. 2008.
"Katrina's Toll." Make It Right Foundation New Orleans. 2008. 09 Dec. 2008.
New York, FT Reporters, comp. "Federal agency 'slow' to accept business help." FT.com. 05 Sept. 2005. Financial Times. 09 Dec. 2008.
Shane, Scott. "After Failure Government Officials Play Blame Game." 05 Sept. 2005. New York Times. 09 Dec. 2008.
Zarend-Kubatko, Jill, ed. "Disaster touches area residents." Zwire.com. 02 Sept. 2005. Casa Grande Valley Newspaper Inc. 09 Dec. 2008.
FEMA Outline-
What is the Resource?
The resource is FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency)
What is the issue or problem?
The issue is that FEMA is mismanaged, it’s response to natural disasters quite frankly has been unable to do anyone justice and it’s not satisfactory. FEMA cannot manage its resources. Its response is slow, they do not communicate correctly and in the past they have failed to manage the emergencies in which it is their job.
-What is the history of how the resource has been managed?
The straw that broke the camels back was really Hurricane Katrina and FEMAs response in the wake of it. Supplies were turned away, people were left in overcrowded stadiums, on roof tops, without aid, dying of dehydration and without food, medicine or able to take care of themselves. Needing help from FEMA but destitute. The issue is that they were short communication, aid, assistance and unable to help themselves in the aftermath of a disaster many residents of the gulf coast and specifically New Orleans, Louisiana where the level 5 hurricane hit and the additional catastrophe of the combined levees breaking over the lower ninth ward. The Red Cross and FEMA fought against each other with paperwork and bureaucracy behind them before helping the people that needed it and the overall way they went about helping the victims was difficult, lengthy and did not accomplish what needed to be done.
-What is the significance of this issue?
The significance is that without fixing FEMA, we cannot ensure that the victims of the effects of natural disaster can get help. If they don’t get help, most of them may die or resort to lives of crime or other dire consequences which are not pleasant and will most likely affect the United States in a domino effect.
-What would happen if we did nothing to address it?
People would live in poverty, die, or become criminals to ensure their means of survival.
As demonstrated in many victims from Hurricane Katrina and former residents of New Orleans before the Hurricane hit.
How is the resource being mismanaged? When FEMA is so bad that their slow response time and poor management requires not two but nearly three separate requests from the Governors of both Louisiana and Texas. As well as sparking the Governor of Texas to set up his own system of disaster management that works in conjunction with the Hurricane Weather channel. That in itself should be an alarm that our Federal emergency management failed so inadequately to respond to the needs of victims that it caused a Governor to take matters into his own hands and in effect, replacing the ill system set up by the government.
Are there any laws that are currently in place to protect or manage the resource?
There is legislation in the making that would have the victims stay at “camps” on military bases. That in itself is an issue that would strike controversy.
What is the solution you are proposing?
I propose that to solve the endless problem of communication and no service etc that FEMA members should be properly trained in HAM radio and have portable ones because they don’t rely on satellite and always have service.
That there should be a new agency per region that is specifically tailored to help the region and its specified natural disaster that affects those regions.
What should the government do to bring about your solution?
Easily put, they should work on there communication of FEMA, work on time management, amount of assistance given, how they locate the victims and anything that could possibly be filed under the order of Federal Emergency Management Agency. The government should re evaluate the entire system and find solutions based upon each problem.
The letter I sent to the official will be on today.
Resource Management -Fema
FEMA Editorial - How FEMA Needs To Learn From Their Mistakes
By Colleen Hughes
FEMA stands for Federal Emergency Management Agency. FEMA's emergency management are supposed to prepare for emergencies and disasters, respond to them when they occur, help people and institutions recover from them, mitigate their effects, and reduce the risk of loss. In theory FEMA sounds like a great management agency, one that is supposed to sooth the victims of viscous natural disasters and they’re effects like property devastation, insurance issues, provide supplies like food, water, shelter and basic necessities until they can lift themselves off their feet, if they can, in the wake of devastation.
However, it has been proven that FEMA is not qualified to manage their resources efficiently or quickly. An article on CNN.com addresses the same point that I make, which states that FEMA is simply unable to do their job. For example in the effects of Hurricane Katrina, victims were left to evacuate to the Superdome and left without food or water for over five days, in filthy environments where people began dying, left unattended and alone all around the superdome for lack of supplies and assistance.
This was a cumulation of Red Cross and FEMA. But, FEMA turned away supplies to the dying victims in vast amounts. "It is indeed possible that there was additional suffering and maybe even loss of life that might not have occurred if these assets had been deployed," said Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, chairwoman of a Senate committee with jurisdiction over the Department of Homeland Security and FEMA, "Now, you might be able to understand if it came from outside government," she said. "But this is another federal agency, an agency that was offering trained personnel and exactly the assets that the federal government needed to assist in the search-and-rescue operations."
According to government officials, 1,322 people died from Katrina, all but 15 of the deaths occurring in Louisiana and Mississippi. A FEMA document provided to the Senate committee indicates that many of the Interior Department's resources, which included transportation, communications and engineering, were never integrated into FEMA's planning for a catastrophic hurricane. If supplies and proper communication had been implemented and FEMA had actually had organization they would have been able to save lives instead of losing them by restricting supplies and medical assistance. The Red Cross even covered it up by stating that those people trapped in the Super Dome for five or more days were receiving at least two meals per day, when in reality, they were suffering in agony.
If FEMA is better regulated and less restrictive, they would be able to solve their own problems. In working in conjunction with Red Cross, instead of having both organizations battling for control, best interest would be to put into helping the victims first instead of so much political red tape. By not turning away fireman, and aid offered to them they could actually assist and actually manage their emergencies. They should also coordinate their communication and plans in different disasters instead of running around unable to decide on a plan of action. This I feel would be the best course of improvement for managing FEMA.
Meserve, Jeanne. "FEMA failed to accept Katrina help, documents say." CNN.com. 30 Jan. 2006. 8 Feb. 2009.
By Jeanne Meserve
CNN Washington Bureau
RESOURCE ESSAY - Colleen Hughes
12/12/08
Government
Research paper
FEMA
As long as the United States has been in existence there have always been disasters and problems that have affected human lives and their lifestyles, such as fires, earthquakes, hurricanes, tornados, dust storms, tsunamis and nuclear disasters. Since the United States has been through so much life threatening weather conditions, one would assume that by now systems would be put in place to effectively ensure the safety, well being and regulate the amount of assistance given to victims quickly, clearly, and in an organized fashion.
Unfortunately, although there is a specialized government department created through the Department of Homeland Security called the Federal Emergency Management Agency or (FEMA) the clarity of its assistance and speed at which it dispatches its relief in the wake of natural disaster is slim. FEMA is supposed to prepare the supposed to prepare the nation for all hazards and manages federal response and recovery efforts following any national incident. In addition its supposed to initiate mitigation activities, train first responders, work with state and local emergency managers, and manage the National Flood Insurance Program and the U.S Fire Administration. The organization at which victims and their families deserve in order to receive funding, aid, or being rescued is almost completely non- existent or has failed them in a variety of ways. Staff in FEMA has changed in the last few years from Michael D. Brown who was secretary for the Emergency preparedness and response as well as the head of FEMA to the previous director of FEMA during President Clinton’s administration James Lee Witt. However, Brown made an excellent point when he said “The response to Hurricane Katrina must be well coordinated between federal, state, and local officials to most effectively protect life and property. We appreciate the willingness and generosity of our Nation’s first responders to deploy during disasters. But such efforts must be coordinated so that fire rescue efforts are the most effective possible.” That is exactly what should be done, and it’s not getting accomplished.
Repeat hurricanes have not only left our countries citizens homeless, and in need of relief, but have displaced natural resources such as the 1.3 million acres of forest land that was destroyed in Mississippi with a total loss through the forest industry of $5 billion from Hurricane Katrina, it wrecked homes, lives, jobs, families and had an unfortunate impact on the economy. There was a loss of 75 billion dollars in physical damage with the total economic impact in Louisiana and Mississippi exceeding $158 billion dollars in damages. Such notable hurricanes which occurred recently include not only Hurricane Katrina which was the largest hurricane of it’s strength in U.S history and the third costliest which attacked the Gulf coast of Louisiana, Florida, and Mississippi in 2005 that started at a level 3 and quickly escalated to a level 5. But, three years later Hurricane Ike with which it’s devastating, horrifically strong wind and rain flooded and destroyed Galveston, Texas in 2008. To date, 2008 has been the worst hurricane season in history with six hurricanes that have nearly destroyed entire cities, killed injured, displaced thousands and cost the United States government billions of dollars in damages. Not including the fiscal and social impact these displacements have had on the cities and states these hurricane victims have evacuated to.
A large demonstration of the severity of the government mismanagement in regards to their emergency response and aide to those severely affected by natural disasters is shown in Hurricane Katrina and the years following. FEMA over regulated where, when and how many people were needed to effectively assist and aid those in need. One might say it was a mismanagement of regulation in power through panic and force. Aaron Broussard, president of Jefferson Parish, South of New Orleans was quoted as saying
Far from deferring to state or local officials, FEMA asserted its authority and made things worse. When Wal-Mart sent three trailers trucks loaded with water, FEMA officials turned them away. Agency workers prevented the Coast Guard from delivering 1,000 gallons of diesel fuel, and on Saturday they cut the parish’s emergency communication line, leading the sheriff to restore it and post armed guards to protect it from FEMA.
In addition, further sources have concluded several other problems attributed to FEMA’s overall failure; Ms. Bottcher, the governor’s press secretary believed that FEMA had interfered with the delivery of aid including offers from the Mayor of Chicago, Richard M. Daley, and the Governor Democrat of Louisiana, said “The problem was not who was in command. FEMA repeatedly held up assistance that could have been critical.” Nearly every emergency worker told agonizing stories of communications failures, some of them most likely fatal to victims. Much of the blame is circulated around; however Mayor Nagin said it best when he said “The root of the breakdown was the failure of the federal government to deliver relief supplies and personnel quickly. They kept making promises and saying things would happen.
Therefore a proposed solution to this problem includes restructuring the Emergency response system in the government by organizing how they respond and thoroughly conducting the distribution of help, aid, volunteers, supplies, experienced personnel, efficiently by meticulously and strictly monitoring the usage of the fiscal donations, thereby avoiding confusion. This revised structure should come with a capacity for leniency in the event of emergency that would grant outside help permission to assist, participate and utilize their skills and expertise without hassle. Whereas with the FEMA system coroners, doctors, paramedics, firemen, out of state policeman, civilians and caring individuals were all prevented from helping because of rigid government bureaucracy and miscommunication. Ironically, in the disaster that affected her own state, the Governor of Louisiana and the mayor of New Orleans were both overridden in almost every manner in their efforts to assist and comfort their disaster and grief stricken state. In a structural overhaul of the system as it currently stands the revised solution would be respect and authority given to those politicians in charge of the disaster affected areas as it is their job such as the Governor and mayor. Not to be controlled by a third party when they are the authority over their own jurisdictions.
While no one can ever be fully prepared for all natural disasters or life threatening situations, it is the responsibility of the United States government to ensure that its citizens are well protected to avoid the potential of injury or death and the severity of the aftermath in the event that they lose their homes, possessions and jobs. Alone, as one student there are not many things that can be done to influence the government into changing Homeland Security regulated systems, therefore as a United Community we should do all we can to assist and make the necessary precautions available and at the ready.
Works Cited
Associated, Press, comp. "FEMA under fire for Ike snafus Texas state government also gets some blame for distribution problems." MSNBC.com. 17 Sept. 2008. The Associated Press. 09 Dec. 2008
"First Responders Urged Not To Respond To Hurricane Impact Areas Unless Dispatched By State, Local Authorities." FEMA Site. 29 Aug. 2005. FEMA. 09 Dec. 2008
"Katrina's Toll." Make It Right Foundation New Orleans. 2008. 09 Dec. 2008
New York, FT Reporters, comp. "Federal agency 'slow' to accept business help." FT.com. 05 Sept. 2005. Financial Times. 09 Dec. 2008
Shane, Scott. "After Failure Government Officials Play Blame Game." 05 Sept. 2005. New York Times. 09 Dec. 2008.
Zarend-Kubatko, Jill, ed. "Disaster touches area residents." Zwire.com. 02 Sept. 2005. Casa Grande Valley Newspaper Inc. 09 Dec. 2008
FEMA Outline-
What is the Resource?
The resource is FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency)
What is the issue or problem?
The issue is that FEMA is mismanaged, it’s response to natural disasters quite frankly has been unable to do anyone justice and it’s not satisfactory. FEMA cannot manage its resources. Its response is slow, they do not communicate correctly and in the past they have failed to manage the emergencies in which it is their job.
-What is the history of how the resource has been managed?
The straw that broke the camels back was really Hurricane Katrina and FEMAs response in the wake of it. Supplies were turned away, people were left in overcrowded stadiums, on roof tops, without aid, dying of dehydration and without food, medicine or able to take care of themselves. Needing help from FEMA but destitute. The issue is that they were short communication, aid, assistance and unable to help themselves in the aftermath of a disaster many residents of the gulf coast and specifically New Orleans, Louisiana where the level 5 hurricane hit and the additional catastrophe of the combined levees breaking over the lower ninth ward. The Red Cross and FEMA fought against each other with paperwork and bureaucracy behind them before helping the people that needed it and the overall way they went about helping the victims was difficult, lengthy and did not accomplish what needed to be done.
-What is the significance of this issue?
The significance is that without fixing FEMA, we cannot ensure that the victims of the effects of natural disaster can get help. If they don’t get help, most of them may die or resort to lives of crime or other dire consequences which are not pleasant and will most likely affect the United States in a domino effect.
-What would happen if we did nothing to address it?
People would live in poverty, die, or become criminals to ensure their means of survival.
As demonstrated in many victims from Hurricane Katrina and former residents of New Orleans before the Hurricane hit.
How is the resource being mismanaged? When FEMA is so bad that their slow response time and poor management requires not two but nearly three separate requests from the Governors of both Louisiana and Texas. As well as sparking the Governor of Texas to set up his own system of disaster management that works in conjunction with the Hurricane Weather channel. That in itself should be an alarm that our Federal emergency management failed so inadequately to respond to the needs of victims that it caused a Governor to take matters into his own hands and in effect, replacing the ill system set up by the government.
Are there any laws that are currently in place to protect or manage the resource?
There is legislation in the making that would have the victims stay at “camps” on military bases. That in itself is an issue that would strike controversy.
What is the solution you are proposing?
I propose that to solve the endless problem of communication and no service etc that FEMA members should be properly trained in HAM radio and have portable ones because they don’t rely on satellite and always have service.
That there should be a new agency per region that is specifically tailored to help the region and its specified natural disaster that affects those regions.
What should the government do to bring about your solution?
Easily put, they should work on there communication of FEMA, work on time management, amount of assistance given, how they locate the victims and anything that could possibly be filed under the order of Federal Emergency Management Agency. The government should re evaluate the entire system and find solutions based upon each problem.
The letter I sent to the official will be on today.
NyQuil Story
Colleen Hughes
4/23/09
Elika-Sociology
Entertwingle
Life is like a bowl of chocolate, it’s messy; At the risk of sounding like an Alice in Wonderland tale of a mischievous, nonsensical, blabbering drug trip, I start on my own tale of nonsense. Instead I’ll tell you about how it all started, how I got to where I am, my life story… I’m on a street at night; it’s dark except for the eerie, but comforting glow of an autumn moon and four streetlights, evenly spaced apart. I’d prefer it be five because then I’d feel better, after all five is my lucky number. But, life is uneven and I’m often told to get over it.
I’m an anxious person, and I needed to get over it, fast. You see, I am a college student and life is hectic and demanding. Oftentimes I think that I’ll be able to get over anything, but other moments I feel as though I don’t have the drive to accomplish those very goals and molehills I not too long ago vowed I would crush and rise over. I think that’s why I did it. I mean, I don’t drink, and as much as I would like, there are no ‘street dealers’, gangs or rampant drug sales happening anywhere near or on my campus, in fact, there aren’t any at all.
I had intended to commit suicide, but with the unfortunate circumstances of life, I didn’t have any money so I couldn’t buy anything that would end my life, like a rope, knife or gun. Pills, I thought, would be too risky. I may end up with more grievances in my body and failure of my organs rather then escaping life’s severity. I couldn’t buy a rope without money, besides, where would I hang myself? And eventually I came to the conclusion that you can’t just choke yourself with your own hands. I also entertained the thought that jumping in water and submerging my body to allow a collapse of air in my lungs and fluid filled body might accomplish my goal, but that had a higher chance of giving me hypothermia.
So really, I’d like to tell you that I did it because I was sick with feverish symptoms, however, it was out of a desperate need to escape reality that I ran away, I ran as far as I could without going anywhere, I wanted to stop feeling the pain of heartbreak, the stress that followed me daily, the people I wanted to get away from but couldn’t, not even mentally, as my thoughts would always drift towards them.
I got up in my green cargo pants, and black shirt, looked in the mirror and figured I appeared decent enough, then walked to my neighborhood drug store, PD Symps. My mind could only fathom the irony that only I could come up with. I think PD Symps stood for (Prescription drug symptoms) I laughed to myself, as I walked in. Without realizing it, I suddenly walked into a shelf of tampons. This was even funnier to me in my disconnected state. I accidently knocked a bunch of them off as I tried to back away in my complete disbelief. Suddenly, in response to the loud commotion, a stern looking pharmacist in a long white lab coat and shiny gold name badge walked towards me. “Uh, Ugh, I’m sick.” I stammered, he looked me up and down then said, “You do look pale, what are your symptoms?” “Um, my head hurts and body aches.” I said “ok well, Can I recommend some cough syrup? Nyquil is good at treating numerous symptoms and helps for a number of reasons; it treats head congestion, runny nose, coughing, sneezing, sore throat, chest congestion, aches and pains as well as fever.” I was a little suspicious so I asked questions. “What is it made of?” “Its made up of 500 mgs of Acetaminophen, that’s what makes it a pain and fever reducer, Dextromethorphan, Doxylamine succinate, a powerful antihistamine and some alcohol.” He laughed and said with a wink, “In your current state you look like you could benefit from the ingredients. Doxylamine causes drowsiness, dizziness, lightheadness, and interferes with cognitive and decision making abilities.” Well… I did want to feel better, and impaired cognitive function sounded like just what I needed. So I paid for two bottles of green Nyquil and went home. Instead of the quote reality is better than your dreams, I felt sleep was much better than reality, I wanted to be out like a light, I didn’t even want to remember my name as I drifted into a blissful slumber, if only for a while to distract and prohibit me of thinking of my problems. That’s why I treated Nyquil as a drug and did what I did. The reality of it was about how I escaped my problems with a simple, yet effective and peaceful drug of choice, Nyquil.
My only escape was semi consciousness as I tried to sleep as long as I could. Even my dreams held me in a prison I was mentally unable to escape from. Which created not only a physical hell during the hours I was awake but during my time asleep my mind betrayed me. Yes, I said it. That three flavored, multi symptom cold and flu reliever. That nighttime, sniffling, sneezing, aching, coughing, best sleep you ever got with a cold medicine. Except, I used it to sleep better and then some. Oh yes, it was the best sleep one could ever get with a cold. Heck, that bottle of liquid magic could solve anyone’s problems; at least I began to think. School wasn’t going the best for me, I was in a funk with all the emotions piling up over my head, my boyfriend had broken up with me on an allegation that I’d cheated, and to some degree, it was true. My lonely friend and I took advantage of our unstable scenario and kissed at an inconvenient time. From then on, despite my friend’s and my own self anguish or our ‘we could give a damn about who we hurt from there on’ attitudes, we always remained attached to each other despite our cold, self enforced distance. So in essence, my stress drove my need to abuse the least likely of all drugs. Cough medicine.
To numb my pain, I took a few more cup full’s then the small instructions told me to take. I did it willingly and desperately. It provided an all over calming and warming sensation that provided me with an all over sedation that I felt was just what I needed.
We used each other continually until finally we realized that we were each other’s drug of choice, realizing that, we began to date. Distance has begun to settle in again, with busy schedules, other errands to get done, time is taking it’s toll, we’ve seen each other once in the last two months, and from what I have seen, our time together is not just fleeting but seemingly non existent. I reminisce about how our time as friends with benefits seemed as though we made time to use each other at least once a week or every two weeks, and now, a relationship seems to be dooming my outlook.
Meanwhile the Nyquil started giving me a tingling feeling in my arms and legs, then a heavy feeling as my limbs settled into comfortable positions by my side and I rapidly started to lose touch of what was going on around me as everything slowly became blurry and I began to loose touch with reality. As a bonus, I was numb, but could still see. I would equate it to a hypnotist putting you under; you don’t quite realize what is going on or where you are, but that you are safe and don’t feel pain. That, in essence is how calming the combination of Acetaminophen and Dextromethophan in Nyquil also found in Robtussin as well other cold and flu medications can be.
Right now I’m standing in this dark street on this cold night, it’s chilly, but I have a black jacket that my nana bought me, with a furry hood. You know, the same one you see popular girls wearing at the mall. Yea, I’m pretty proud as I look down. I wonder if this is really my jacket or another sedation induced dream I’m having. I know I’ve wanted this type of jacket for a while. I start questioning; did Nana really give this to me? I don’t really know. This is a possible side effect I found the hard way. Reality vs. half consciousness. My current boyfriend, the one I’m supposed to be so close to hasn’t talked to me in a few days and continues to distance himself by barely acting as though we’re going out, although maintaining the façade I think that is our relationship upon my probing questions. He makes it appear as though it’s all in my head when all I hear from him are a cumulative amount of five words in a day and none allude to affection.
I felt my body release its tension, as my eyes began to close, my body became heavy, like a steamroller, sank down into the bead, as his face is erased from my mind. Strange images began to appear, strange scenarios, places and temperature changes. It seemed like I’ve been in a comfortable feeling without anxiety for a while now, I’ve seen so much, I don’t know what is real anymore. I think I’ve dissociated from reality. In the last hour I’ve experienced snapping turtles, bloated penguins, trundled Griffiths, the whole 64 Zoo Lane and Clifford. Haha I like the red dog, he was entertaining but, very strange. He sat on the edge of a Ferris wheel next to the stuffed panda with his marble eye hanging out by a stitch. Poor panda. There was an iguana that was emerald green and navy blue whose name was Emeril like the chef and a red ant named Peter. He was mean and surprisingly grumpy. Then there was the camel that smoked Marlboro cigarettes. He was very adamant that he would never smoke Camel cigarettes for he claimed they were wrong and hurtful. His name was Jake. There was Babar, Paddington Bear, Franklin the Turtle and Little Bear. The weird thing is that they were all on a Ferris wheel with me. I should have struck up a conversation with Hanging by a string panda, but I believe he was making deals with some of the other creatures on the Ferris wheel. I had reason to believe this because he was badgering the Koala from 64 Zoo Lane and hitting him up for money. When the Koala peacefully offered up some of his drug like Eucalyptus, the panda suddenly became increasingly aggressive. He ran up to the innocent giraffe kicked him and then ran to Babar and stole his crown. The mean ant named Peter was his right hand man and he threatened to bite anyone who came near, every animal here had always been known to be quite peaceful as reflected in their shows I had watched. How the Panda and the red ant came to be I have no idea. I realized that although I was deeply submerged in my own consciousness, this was a direct result of my depression and guilt I’d felt in real life, but mostly I’d attribute all this to the Doxylamine which made me space out.
I was kicked off for Paddington bear’s allegation’s that I’d stolen his marmalade, but really, Franklin the Turtle had stolen it and threw it off the Ferris wheel. After I was kicked off, I walked down the street and saw a hand gesturing out a limo for me to come closer. My inhibitions were lowered so I figured what the hell? And got in the front.
Smoky the bear was the driver… He said in a deep voice ‘Avoid the fire” Don’t Play with fire! As he flicked a lighter on and off, on and off as he drove. “Don’t play with fire!” As smoky started screaming! Do you smell that? And yelled “Fire!!!” But clearly. There was no fire. Smoky the bear, after all these years of being the mascot and spokesperson for anti piros and fire safety, started having a flashback. “Ahhhhh! No, no! I will not, fire!!! My forest! Ahhh!!!” he screamed to no one in particular. One must question after all these years what set smoky off. “Are those birthday candles?! Fire! I smell smoke! Where’s my shovel!! My cake!!” He screamed further. He told me that apparently at one time, the little forest animals had thrown him a birthday party and he was blindfolded. When he smelt the candles burning he thought it was a fire and started whacking the cake with his shovel. In his awareness and paranoia he had destroyed his own cake. The little forest animals became mad at him and turned their back on him. He was shunned. His only alternative was to advocate for fire safety and throw himself into his work. For over 60 years he has been doing just that and he still remembers that day. He looked at me and in a grough voice said “Ooh you smell like Nyquil! I love the green flavor the best, and I smell it on you.” “Really?” I said, shocked, he was clearly out of his mind. “Yes” said Smoky “I take it because no other cough suppressant tastes anything like it and it numbs my body and stops the aches and pains, did you know that there used to be an ingredient in Nyquil that was also in Methamphedamine? The FDA pulled it mandating that that ingredient be pulled out of it right away and any other cold and flu medicine such as Sudaphed, Robotussin and other well known cough medicines. The ironic thing is it was used to relieve sinus congestion and allergies and was never replaced after it was removed in Nyquil, but was in Sudaphed with a safer ingredient called Phenylephrine. That ingredient advertised on the side of the bottles and packages as an antihistamine was called pseudoephedrine was known to be highly addicting as meth addicts started to call Nyquil the “poor man’s crack”. It was known as an upper that would pump someone up, but was proved to be too dangerous and addictive to include in everyday over the counter medicine. Laughing manically, he said “Mmm Poor man’s crack ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!” Even in my delusional, wacked out mind, I knew that this bear was crazy. He should get some serious help.
Smoky started to drive faster, speeding around street corners at over 100 miles per hour as the back of his limo swung around wildly, nearly avoiding hitting people, knocking into buildings, swinging over sidewalks. I looked for passengers in the back to see their states, if they were ok or needed some help. I pressed the button in the front of the limo that lowered the tinted divider which separates the passengers from the driver, and to my horror, I heard a rousing chorus of “A-A-a-a-a-a-a-a Very Merry un-birthday to me? To you! A very merry unbirthday, for me? For you! So blow the candles out my dear, and make a wish come truuuuuuuuue! A V-E-R-Y MERRY UN-BIRTHDAY TO Y-OOOOOOO-UUU!! With a few beer mugs in mid air swinging side to side. I couldn’t see anyone, but I heard drunken voices singing and mugs clanking against each other as if by invisible hands. At the sight of that, My mouth dropped open aghast as the limo suddenly lurched forward and accelerated up 120 mph which crashed horrifically into a red fire hydrant on the curb of a busy street. The back door swung open as mumblings came out one by one of at least five invisible voices and the click of their shoes on the cobblestone as the hopped out of the limo. “Oy vey!” said one voice, ‘I’m gonna puke!” said another in a slurred voice, “I’m not paying him a dime” said another, as the voices trailed off. I looked at Smokey and all he said was “Only you can prevent Forest Fires…or light em up.” As he walked out of the cab, and then said “Like Billy Collins said ‘I’m going to show them how a professional does it.”
I put a hand to me head because it started throbbing and opened my eyes. I was in my own bed. Never again, I thought, would I put myself in such a comatose state that I put myself in such a long state of a semi conscious awareness. That was one wild ride that hurt.
I think people do what they do and experiment with drugs because they are trying to escape from something and they don’t realize what they have gotten into until it’s too late. Some people sell drugs, but I believe that they only do it to maintain a living such as Columbia, many people in Columbia rely on the drug trade to feed themselves. Overall, just because it is deadly, and some drugs are illegal, never judge a person’s reasoning or rational for participating in drugs or illegal behavior until you’ve walked in their shoes. I feel that sociology never takes that type of stance on why society does what they do. Sometimes, there isn’t even a definable reasoning, nor a clear experience of what someone is going through during their time with drugs or experimentation, and even why or criminal behavior. I am not someone who allocates drug use and am against it, but the overall ability to be open to emotional rationale within a drug abusers mind was what I wanted to illustrate in my story.
4/23/09
Elika-Sociology
Entertwingle
Life is like a bowl of chocolate, it’s messy; At the risk of sounding like an Alice in Wonderland tale of a mischievous, nonsensical, blabbering drug trip, I start on my own tale of nonsense. Instead I’ll tell you about how it all started, how I got to where I am, my life story… I’m on a street at night; it’s dark except for the eerie, but comforting glow of an autumn moon and four streetlights, evenly spaced apart. I’d prefer it be five because then I’d feel better, after all five is my lucky number. But, life is uneven and I’m often told to get over it.
I’m an anxious person, and I needed to get over it, fast. You see, I am a college student and life is hectic and demanding. Oftentimes I think that I’ll be able to get over anything, but other moments I feel as though I don’t have the drive to accomplish those very goals and molehills I not too long ago vowed I would crush and rise over. I think that’s why I did it. I mean, I don’t drink, and as much as I would like, there are no ‘street dealers’, gangs or rampant drug sales happening anywhere near or on my campus, in fact, there aren’t any at all.
I had intended to commit suicide, but with the unfortunate circumstances of life, I didn’t have any money so I couldn’t buy anything that would end my life, like a rope, knife or gun. Pills, I thought, would be too risky. I may end up with more grievances in my body and failure of my organs rather then escaping life’s severity. I couldn’t buy a rope without money, besides, where would I hang myself? And eventually I came to the conclusion that you can’t just choke yourself with your own hands. I also entertained the thought that jumping in water and submerging my body to allow a collapse of air in my lungs and fluid filled body might accomplish my goal, but that had a higher chance of giving me hypothermia.
So really, I’d like to tell you that I did it because I was sick with feverish symptoms, however, it was out of a desperate need to escape reality that I ran away, I ran as far as I could without going anywhere, I wanted to stop feeling the pain of heartbreak, the stress that followed me daily, the people I wanted to get away from but couldn’t, not even mentally, as my thoughts would always drift towards them.
I got up in my green cargo pants, and black shirt, looked in the mirror and figured I appeared decent enough, then walked to my neighborhood drug store, PD Symps. My mind could only fathom the irony that only I could come up with. I think PD Symps stood for (Prescription drug symptoms) I laughed to myself, as I walked in. Without realizing it, I suddenly walked into a shelf of tampons. This was even funnier to me in my disconnected state. I accidently knocked a bunch of them off as I tried to back away in my complete disbelief. Suddenly, in response to the loud commotion, a stern looking pharmacist in a long white lab coat and shiny gold name badge walked towards me. “Uh, Ugh, I’m sick.” I stammered, he looked me up and down then said, “You do look pale, what are your symptoms?” “Um, my head hurts and body aches.” I said “ok well, Can I recommend some cough syrup? Nyquil is good at treating numerous symptoms and helps for a number of reasons; it treats head congestion, runny nose, coughing, sneezing, sore throat, chest congestion, aches and pains as well as fever.” I was a little suspicious so I asked questions. “What is it made of?” “Its made up of 500 mgs of Acetaminophen, that’s what makes it a pain and fever reducer, Dextromethorphan, Doxylamine succinate, a powerful antihistamine and some alcohol.” He laughed and said with a wink, “In your current state you look like you could benefit from the ingredients. Doxylamine causes drowsiness, dizziness, lightheadness, and interferes with cognitive and decision making abilities.” Well… I did want to feel better, and impaired cognitive function sounded like just what I needed. So I paid for two bottles of green Nyquil and went home. Instead of the quote reality is better than your dreams, I felt sleep was much better than reality, I wanted to be out like a light, I didn’t even want to remember my name as I drifted into a blissful slumber, if only for a while to distract and prohibit me of thinking of my problems. That’s why I treated Nyquil as a drug and did what I did. The reality of it was about how I escaped my problems with a simple, yet effective and peaceful drug of choice, Nyquil.
My only escape was semi consciousness as I tried to sleep as long as I could. Even my dreams held me in a prison I was mentally unable to escape from. Which created not only a physical hell during the hours I was awake but during my time asleep my mind betrayed me. Yes, I said it. That three flavored, multi symptom cold and flu reliever. That nighttime, sniffling, sneezing, aching, coughing, best sleep you ever got with a cold medicine. Except, I used it to sleep better and then some. Oh yes, it was the best sleep one could ever get with a cold. Heck, that bottle of liquid magic could solve anyone’s problems; at least I began to think. School wasn’t going the best for me, I was in a funk with all the emotions piling up over my head, my boyfriend had broken up with me on an allegation that I’d cheated, and to some degree, it was true. My lonely friend and I took advantage of our unstable scenario and kissed at an inconvenient time. From then on, despite my friend’s and my own self anguish or our ‘we could give a damn about who we hurt from there on’ attitudes, we always remained attached to each other despite our cold, self enforced distance. So in essence, my stress drove my need to abuse the least likely of all drugs. Cough medicine.
To numb my pain, I took a few more cup full’s then the small instructions told me to take. I did it willingly and desperately. It provided an all over calming and warming sensation that provided me with an all over sedation that I felt was just what I needed.
We used each other continually until finally we realized that we were each other’s drug of choice, realizing that, we began to date. Distance has begun to settle in again, with busy schedules, other errands to get done, time is taking it’s toll, we’ve seen each other once in the last two months, and from what I have seen, our time together is not just fleeting but seemingly non existent. I reminisce about how our time as friends with benefits seemed as though we made time to use each other at least once a week or every two weeks, and now, a relationship seems to be dooming my outlook.
Meanwhile the Nyquil started giving me a tingling feeling in my arms and legs, then a heavy feeling as my limbs settled into comfortable positions by my side and I rapidly started to lose touch of what was going on around me as everything slowly became blurry and I began to loose touch with reality. As a bonus, I was numb, but could still see. I would equate it to a hypnotist putting you under; you don’t quite realize what is going on or where you are, but that you are safe and don’t feel pain. That, in essence is how calming the combination of Acetaminophen and Dextromethophan in Nyquil also found in Robtussin as well other cold and flu medications can be.
Right now I’m standing in this dark street on this cold night, it’s chilly, but I have a black jacket that my nana bought me, with a furry hood. You know, the same one you see popular girls wearing at the mall. Yea, I’m pretty proud as I look down. I wonder if this is really my jacket or another sedation induced dream I’m having. I know I’ve wanted this type of jacket for a while. I start questioning; did Nana really give this to me? I don’t really know. This is a possible side effect I found the hard way. Reality vs. half consciousness. My current boyfriend, the one I’m supposed to be so close to hasn’t talked to me in a few days and continues to distance himself by barely acting as though we’re going out, although maintaining the façade I think that is our relationship upon my probing questions. He makes it appear as though it’s all in my head when all I hear from him are a cumulative amount of five words in a day and none allude to affection.
I felt my body release its tension, as my eyes began to close, my body became heavy, like a steamroller, sank down into the bead, as his face is erased from my mind. Strange images began to appear, strange scenarios, places and temperature changes. It seemed like I’ve been in a comfortable feeling without anxiety for a while now, I’ve seen so much, I don’t know what is real anymore. I think I’ve dissociated from reality. In the last hour I’ve experienced snapping turtles, bloated penguins, trundled Griffiths, the whole 64 Zoo Lane and Clifford. Haha I like the red dog, he was entertaining but, very strange. He sat on the edge of a Ferris wheel next to the stuffed panda with his marble eye hanging out by a stitch. Poor panda. There was an iguana that was emerald green and navy blue whose name was Emeril like the chef and a red ant named Peter. He was mean and surprisingly grumpy. Then there was the camel that smoked Marlboro cigarettes. He was very adamant that he would never smoke Camel cigarettes for he claimed they were wrong and hurtful. His name was Jake. There was Babar, Paddington Bear, Franklin the Turtle and Little Bear. The weird thing is that they were all on a Ferris wheel with me. I should have struck up a conversation with Hanging by a string panda, but I believe he was making deals with some of the other creatures on the Ferris wheel. I had reason to believe this because he was badgering the Koala from 64 Zoo Lane and hitting him up for money. When the Koala peacefully offered up some of his drug like Eucalyptus, the panda suddenly became increasingly aggressive. He ran up to the innocent giraffe kicked him and then ran to Babar and stole his crown. The mean ant named Peter was his right hand man and he threatened to bite anyone who came near, every animal here had always been known to be quite peaceful as reflected in their shows I had watched. How the Panda and the red ant came to be I have no idea. I realized that although I was deeply submerged in my own consciousness, this was a direct result of my depression and guilt I’d felt in real life, but mostly I’d attribute all this to the Doxylamine which made me space out.
I was kicked off for Paddington bear’s allegation’s that I’d stolen his marmalade, but really, Franklin the Turtle had stolen it and threw it off the Ferris wheel. After I was kicked off, I walked down the street and saw a hand gesturing out a limo for me to come closer. My inhibitions were lowered so I figured what the hell? And got in the front.
Smoky the bear was the driver… He said in a deep voice ‘Avoid the fire” Don’t Play with fire! As he flicked a lighter on and off, on and off as he drove. “Don’t play with fire!” As smoky started screaming! Do you smell that? And yelled “Fire!!!” But clearly. There was no fire. Smoky the bear, after all these years of being the mascot and spokesperson for anti piros and fire safety, started having a flashback. “Ahhhhh! No, no! I will not, fire!!! My forest! Ahhh!!!” he screamed to no one in particular. One must question after all these years what set smoky off. “Are those birthday candles?! Fire! I smell smoke! Where’s my shovel!! My cake!!” He screamed further. He told me that apparently at one time, the little forest animals had thrown him a birthday party and he was blindfolded. When he smelt the candles burning he thought it was a fire and started whacking the cake with his shovel. In his awareness and paranoia he had destroyed his own cake. The little forest animals became mad at him and turned their back on him. He was shunned. His only alternative was to advocate for fire safety and throw himself into his work. For over 60 years he has been doing just that and he still remembers that day. He looked at me and in a grough voice said “Ooh you smell like Nyquil! I love the green flavor the best, and I smell it on you.” “Really?” I said, shocked, he was clearly out of his mind. “Yes” said Smoky “I take it because no other cough suppressant tastes anything like it and it numbs my body and stops the aches and pains, did you know that there used to be an ingredient in Nyquil that was also in Methamphedamine? The FDA pulled it mandating that that ingredient be pulled out of it right away and any other cold and flu medicine such as Sudaphed, Robotussin and other well known cough medicines. The ironic thing is it was used to relieve sinus congestion and allergies and was never replaced after it was removed in Nyquil, but was in Sudaphed with a safer ingredient called Phenylephrine. That ingredient advertised on the side of the bottles and packages as an antihistamine was called pseudoephedrine was known to be highly addicting as meth addicts started to call Nyquil the “poor man’s crack”. It was known as an upper that would pump someone up, but was proved to be too dangerous and addictive to include in everyday over the counter medicine. Laughing manically, he said “Mmm Poor man’s crack ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!” Even in my delusional, wacked out mind, I knew that this bear was crazy. He should get some serious help.
Smoky started to drive faster, speeding around street corners at over 100 miles per hour as the back of his limo swung around wildly, nearly avoiding hitting people, knocking into buildings, swinging over sidewalks. I looked for passengers in the back to see their states, if they were ok or needed some help. I pressed the button in the front of the limo that lowered the tinted divider which separates the passengers from the driver, and to my horror, I heard a rousing chorus of “A-A-a-a-a-a-a-a Very Merry un-birthday to me? To you! A very merry unbirthday, for me? For you! So blow the candles out my dear, and make a wish come truuuuuuuuue! A V-E-R-Y MERRY UN-BIRTHDAY TO Y-OOOOOOO-UUU!! With a few beer mugs in mid air swinging side to side. I couldn’t see anyone, but I heard drunken voices singing and mugs clanking against each other as if by invisible hands. At the sight of that, My mouth dropped open aghast as the limo suddenly lurched forward and accelerated up 120 mph which crashed horrifically into a red fire hydrant on the curb of a busy street. The back door swung open as mumblings came out one by one of at least five invisible voices and the click of their shoes on the cobblestone as the hopped out of the limo. “Oy vey!” said one voice, ‘I’m gonna puke!” said another in a slurred voice, “I’m not paying him a dime” said another, as the voices trailed off. I looked at Smokey and all he said was “Only you can prevent Forest Fires…or light em up.” As he walked out of the cab, and then said “Like Billy Collins said ‘I’m going to show them how a professional does it.”
I put a hand to me head because it started throbbing and opened my eyes. I was in my own bed. Never again, I thought, would I put myself in such a comatose state that I put myself in such a long state of a semi conscious awareness. That was one wild ride that hurt.
I think people do what they do and experiment with drugs because they are trying to escape from something and they don’t realize what they have gotten into until it’s too late. Some people sell drugs, but I believe that they only do it to maintain a living such as Columbia, many people in Columbia rely on the drug trade to feed themselves. Overall, just because it is deadly, and some drugs are illegal, never judge a person’s reasoning or rational for participating in drugs or illegal behavior until you’ve walked in their shoes. I feel that sociology never takes that type of stance on why society does what they do. Sometimes, there isn’t even a definable reasoning, nor a clear experience of what someone is going through during their time with drugs or experimentation, and even why or criminal behavior. I am not someone who allocates drug use and am against it, but the overall ability to be open to emotional rationale within a drug abusers mind was what I wanted to illustrate in my story.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Doctors Without Borders - Mock Refuge Camp Reflection
Last Friday,11/7/08, the Senior Class of HTHI went to a mock refuge camp in Balboa Park, put on by the wonderful organization of Doctors Without Borders. We learned in 1st person perspective many of the trials and tribulations that refugees and occupents of third world countries go through. For example, we learned about mines and mine fields how thise refugees have to constantly remain on their guard and keep family members ever close. How simple things like the security of knowing id people around you are friend are foe goes out the window when they are on the run. How crossing borders becomes a life and death thing or how women are "bribes" in many cases.
I found it extremely fascinating how long they travel, the conditions in which they have to walk and move, the least amount of supplies they must travel, and how much aid they receive and short amount of supplies they live on. I also found it extremely amazing how refuge camps and small communities around the world can easily develop Cholera and Malaria. That although the symtoms mimic each other, the tests are very different. That the treatment for Diarrea is extremea and the treatment with certain cots. i also find it interesting how food rations as well as water rations are very small.
If Doctors Without Borders should change anything, it should be that they should inform more. I felt very informed but they should include information about how to volunteer for Doctors Without Borders. Overall I LOVED it and fel inspired to become involved in the medical field, where before I had my doubts.
I found it extremely fascinating how long they travel, the conditions in which they have to walk and move, the least amount of supplies they must travel, and how much aid they receive and short amount of supplies they live on. I also found it extremely amazing how refuge camps and small communities around the world can easily develop Cholera and Malaria. That although the symtoms mimic each other, the tests are very different. That the treatment for Diarrea is extremea and the treatment with certain cots. i also find it interesting how food rations as well as water rations are very small.
If Doctors Without Borders should change anything, it should be that they should inform more. I felt very informed but they should include information about how to volunteer for Doctors Without Borders. Overall I LOVED it and fel inspired to become involved in the medical field, where before I had my doubts.
Friday, November 7, 2008
PSA!!! and Missing POSTS
http://jakk-govclass.blogspot.com/ - I had a bad computer so I couldn't access student share. So I posted the link to Jakk's blog who has our group psa on PROP 8.
Journal: Three Issues that mean the most to me: The Three issues that mean the most to me in the goverenment are. Abortion Rights, Environmental concerns such as air quality, cars etc, and Education as in funding for schools.
My political Party of choice: I am not sure. I believe that I like the Peace and Freedom Party. AND A MIX OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY Because they believe in a small amount of government yet also run by the people, and they still believe in structure. The Peace and Freedom Party, founded in 1967, is committed to socialism, democracy, ecology, feminism and racial equality. We represent the working class, those without capital in a capitalist society. We organize toward a world where cooperation replaces competition, a world where all people are well fed, clothed and housed; where all women and men have equal status; where all individuals may freely endeavor to fulfill their own talents and desires; a world of freedom and peace where every community retains its cultural integrity and lives with all others in harmony. We offer this summary of our immediate and long-range goals:
Socialism
We support social ownership and democratic management of industry and natural resources. Under capitalism, the proceeds of labor go to the profits of the wealthy few. With socialism, production is planned to meet human needs.
To us, socialism is workers' democracy, including the principle that all officials are elected, recallable at any time, and none receives more than a worker's wage. Socialism can only be brought about when we, the working class, unite and act as a body in our own interests. Our goals cannot be achieved by electoral means alone. We participate in mass organization and direct action in neighborhoods, workplaces, unions and the armed forces everywhere.
While organizing for the future, we work in the present, challenging the system with the following immediate and transitional goals:
Journal: Three Issues that mean the most to me: The Three issues that mean the most to me in the goverenment are. Abortion Rights, Environmental concerns such as air quality, cars etc, and Education as in funding for schools.
My political Party of choice: I am not sure. I believe that I like the Peace and Freedom Party. AND A MIX OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY Because they believe in a small amount of government yet also run by the people, and they still believe in structure. The Peace and Freedom Party, founded in 1967, is committed to socialism, democracy, ecology, feminism and racial equality. We represent the working class, those without capital in a capitalist society. We organize toward a world where cooperation replaces competition, a world where all people are well fed, clothed and housed; where all women and men have equal status; where all individuals may freely endeavor to fulfill their own talents and desires; a world of freedom and peace where every community retains its cultural integrity and lives with all others in harmony. We offer this summary of our immediate and long-range goals:
Socialism
We support social ownership and democratic management of industry and natural resources. Under capitalism, the proceeds of labor go to the profits of the wealthy few. With socialism, production is planned to meet human needs.
To us, socialism is workers' democracy, including the principle that all officials are elected, recallable at any time, and none receives more than a worker's wage. Socialism can only be brought about when we, the working class, unite and act as a body in our own interests. Our goals cannot be achieved by electoral means alone. We participate in mass organization and direct action in neighborhoods, workplaces, unions and the armed forces everywhere.
While organizing for the future, we work in the present, challenging the system with the following immediate and transitional goals:
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Republican Party
Identify your group with a quick history of the party, name, animal symbol, slogans, site for the convention, an issues platform, famous party candidate/individual, and a three-minute (3-5 minutes) opening speech for your convention...We will present first thing next class...
The platform is the stand that the party takes on certain issues.
Your opening speech should include the following: a welcome, use of slogans, talk of issues, hopes for the future, encouragement to voters, and closing statements.
Republican Party "Republican Party Elephant" logo
Party Chairman Mike Duncan
Senate Leader Mitch McConnell
(R KY)
Richard Cheney
(R WY)
House Leader John Boehner
(R OH)
Founded 1854
Headquarters 310 First Street SE
Washington, D.C.
20003
Political ideology Historical:
Abolitionism
Classical liberalism
Progressivism
Paleoconservatism
Modern:
Conservatism
Social conservatism
Neoconservatism
Political position Fiscal: Center-right
Social: Center-right
International affiliation International Democrat Union
Seats in the Senate
Seats in the House of Representatives
Color(s) Red (unofficial)
Website www.gop.com
United States
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The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. It is often referred to as the Grand Old Party or the GOP. Founded in 1854 by anti-slavery expansion activists and modernizers, the Republican Party quickly surpassed the Whig Party as the principal opposition to the Democratic Party. It first came to power in 1860 with the election of Abraham Lincoln to the presidency and presided over the American Civil War and Reconstruction. Today, the party supports a conservative platform (from an American political perspective), with further foundations in supply-side fiscal policies, and social conservatism.
The Republican Party is currently the second largest party with 55 million registered voters as of 2004, encompassing roughly one-third of the electorate.[1] The current U.S. President, George W. Bush, is the 19th Republican to hold that office. Republicans currently fill a minority of seats in both the United States Senate and the House of Representatives, hold a minority of state governorships, and control a minority of state legislatures.
The party's nominee for President in the upcoming 2008 election is Senator John McCain of Arizona, and the party's nominee for Vice-President is Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska.
Contents
[hide]
* 1 Current structure and composition
* 2 Current ideology
o 2.1 Separation of powers and balance of powers
o 2.2 Economic policies
o 2.3 Environmental policies
o 2.4 Social policies
o 2.5 National defense and military spending
o 2.6 Other international policies
o 2.7 Political status of Puerto Rico
* 3 Voter base
* 4 Future trends
* 5 History
* 6 Name and symbols
* 7 State and territorial parties
* 8 See also
* 9 Footnotes
* 10 References
* 11 External links
Current structure and composition
Further information: Politics of the United States#Organization of American political parties
The Republican National Committee (RNC) is responsible for promoting Republican campaign activities. It is responsible for developing and promoting the Republican political platform, as well as coordinating fundraising and election strategy. Its current chairman is Mike Duncan. The chairman of the RNC is chosen by the President when the Republicans have the White House or otherwise by the Party's state committees. The RNC, under the direction of the party's presidential candidate, supervises the Republican National Convention, raises funds, and coordinates campaign strategy. On the local level there are similar state committees in every state and most large cities, counties and legislative districts, but they have far less money and influence than the national body.
The Republican House and Senate caucuses have separate fundraising and strategy committees. The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) assists in House races, and the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) in Senate races. They each raise over $100 million per election cycle, and play important roles in recruiting strong state candidates. The Republican Governors Association (RGA) is a discussion group that seldom funds state races; it is currently chaired by Governor Rick Perry of Texas.
Current ideology
Further information: Factions in the Republican Party (United States)
For comparison with other parties, see Political parties in the United States#Politics comparison.
The Republican Party includes fiscal conservatives, social conservatives, and libertarians.
Separation of powers and balance of powers
The Republican Party believes that making law is the province of the legislature and that judges, especially the Supreme Court, should not "legislate from the bench." Most Republicans point to Roe v. Wade as a case of judicial activism, where the court overturned most laws restricting abortion on the basis of a right to privacy inferred from the Bill of Rights and the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. Some Republicans have actively sought to block judges whom they see as being activist judges and they have sought the appointment of judges who claim to practice judicial restraint. Other Republicans, though, argue that it is the right of judges to extend the interpretation of the Constitution and judge actions by the legislative or executive branches as legal or unconstitutional on previously unarticulated grounds.
The Republican party has supported various bills within the last decade to strip some or all federal courts of the ability to hear certain types of cases, in an attempt to limit judicial review. These jurisdiction stripping laws have included removing federal review of the recognition of same-sex marriage with the Marriage Protection Act,[2] the constitutionality of the Pledge of Allegiance with the Pledge Protection Act, and the rights of detainees in Guantanamo Bay in the Detainee Treatment Act. The last of these limitations was overruled by the Supreme Court in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld.
Compared with Democrats, many Republicans believe in a more robust version of federalism with greater limitations placed upon federal power and a larger role reserved for the States. Following this view on federalism, Republicans often take a less expansive reading of congressional power under the Commerce Clause, such as in the opinion of William Rehnquist in United States v. Lopez. Many Republicans on the more libertarian wing wish for a more dramatic narrowing of Commerce Clause power by revisiting, among other cases, Wickard v. Filburn, a case that held that growing wheat on a farm for consumption on the same farm fell under congressional power to "regulate commerce ... among the several States".
President George W. Bush is a proponent of the unitary executive theory and has cited it within his signing statements about legislation passed by Congress.[3] The administration's interpretation of the unitary executive theory was called seriously into question by Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, where the Supreme Court ruled 5-3 that the President does not have sweeping powers to override or ignore laws through his power as commander in chief,[4] stating "the Executive is bound to comply with the Rule of Law that prevails."[5] Following the ruling, the Bush administration has sought Congressional authorization for programs started only on executive mandate, as was the case with the Military Commissions Act, or abandoned illegal programs it had previously asserted executive authority to enact, in the case of the National Security Agency domestic wiretapping program.
Economic policies
Republicans emphasize the role of corporate and personal decision making in fostering economic prosperity. They support the idea of individuals being economically responsible for their own actions and decisions. They favor a free market, policies supporting business, economic liberalism, and fiscal conservatism but with higher spending on the military. A leading economic theory advocated by modern Republicans is supply-side economics. Some fiscal policies influenced by this theory were popularly known as "Reaganomics," a term popularized during the Presidential administrations of Ronald Reagan. This theory holds that reduced income tax rates increase GDP growth and thereby generate the same or more revenue for the government from the smaller tax on the extra growth. This belief is reflected, in part, by the party's long-term advocacy of tax cuts, a major Republican theme since the 1920s. Republicans believe that a series of income tax cuts since 2001 have bolstered the economy.[6] Many Republicans consider the income tax system to be inherently inefficient and oppose graduated tax rates, which they believe are unfairly targeted at those who create jobs and wealth. They believe private spending is usually more efficient than government spending.
Most Republicans agree there should be a "safety net" to assist the less fortunate; however, they tend to believe the private sector is more effective in helping the poor than government is; as a result, Republicans support giving government grants to faith-based and other private charitable organizations to supplant welfare spending. Members of the GOP also believe that limits on eligibility and benefits must be in place to ensure the safety net is not abused. Republicans introduced and strongly supported the welfare reform of 1996, which was signed into law by Democratic President Clinton, and which limited eligibility for welfare, successfully leading to many former welfare recipients finding jobs.[7]
The party opposes a single-payer universal health care system, believing such a system constitutes "socialized medicine" and is in favor of a personal or employer-based system of insurance, supplemented by Medicare for the elderly and Medicaid for the poor. The GOP has a mixed record of supporting the historically popular Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid programs, all of which Republicans initially opposed. On the one hand, congressional Republicans and the Bush administration supported a reduction in Medicaid's growth rate.[8] On the other hand, congressional Republicans expanded Medicare, supporting a new drug plan for seniors starting in 2006.
Republicans are generally opposed by labor union management and members, and have supported various legislation on the state and federal levels, including right to work legislation and the Taft-Hartley Act, which gives workers the right not to participate in unions, as opposed to a closed shop, which prohibits workers from choosing not to join unions in workplaces. Republicans generally oppose increases in the minimum wage, believing that minimum wage increases hurt many businesses by forcing them to cut jobs and services as well as raise the prices of goods to compensate for the decrease in profit.
Environmental policies
Most Republicans believe that strict environmental standards hurt businesses and therefore support reductions in environmental regulations based on the principle of laissez-faire economics. In the past, many Republicans were skeptical of anthropogenic global warming and questioned scientific studies on impact of human activity on climate change, instead asserting that global warming is part of "natural" cyclical phenomenon.[citation needed] This is slowly changing due to more scientific research and increasing pressure from the international community, and in July 2008 the Bush administration acknowledged, at least in principle, the need to act on the issue of climate change.[citation needed] John McCain, the Republican nominee for president, is a strong advocate of legislation to regulate the emission of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.
Historically, the Republican Party has made several contributions to the protection of the environment. Republican President Theodore Roosevelt was a prominent conservationist whose policies eventually led to the creation of the modern U.S. National Park Service.[9] Also, President Richard Nixon was responsible for establishing the Environmental Protection Agency in 1970.[10] More recently, California Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, with the support of 16 other states, sued the Federal Government and the United States Environmental Protection Agency for the right to set vehicle emission standards higher than the Federal Standard,[11] a right to which California is entitled under the Clean Air Act.
On the other hand, President George W. Bush has publicly opposed ratification of the Kyoto Protocols on the grounds that they unfairly targeted Western industrialized nations such as the United States while giving developing Third World polluters such as China and India a pass.[12]
In 2000, the Republican Party adopted as part of its platform support for the development of market-based solutions to environmental problems. According to the platform, "economic prosperity and environmental protection must advance together, environmental regulations should be based on science, the government’s role should be to provide market-based incentives to develop the technologies to meet environmental standards, we should ensure that environmental policy meets the needs of localities, and environmental policy should focus on achieving results processes."[13] Although this platform was created for the Republican National Convention, emphasis on these issues within the Republican Party has diminished in the past few years.[14]
Currently the Bush administration,[15] along with several of the candidates that sought the Republican Presidential nomination in 2008,[16][17][18] supports increased Federal investment into the development of clean alternative fuels such as ethanol as a way of helping the U.S. achieve energy independence. McCain supports the cap-and-trade policy, a policy that is quite popular among Democrats but much less so among other Republicans. Most Republicans support increased oil drilling in currently protected areas such as the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, a position that has drawn sharp criticism from many environmental activists.
Social policies
The 2004 Republican platform expressed support for the Federal Marriage Amendment to the United States Constitution to define marriage as exclusively between one man and one woman. A majority of the GOP's national and state candidates are pro-life and oppose abortion on religious or moral grounds, and favor faith-based initiatives. There are some exceptions, though, especially in the Northeast and Pacific Coast states. They are generally against affirmative action for women and minorities often describing it as a quota system, believing that it is not meritocratic and that is counter-productive socially by only further promoting discrimination.[19][20] Most of the GOP's membership favors capital punishment and stricter punishments as a means to prevent crime. Republicans in rural areas generally support gun ownership rights and oppose laws regulating guns, although Republicans in urban areas sometimes favor limited restrictions on the grounds that they are necessary to protect safety in large cities.
Most Republicans support school choice through charter schools and school vouchers for private schools; many have denounced the performance of the public school system and the teachers' unions. The party has insisted on a system of greater accountability for public schools, most prominently in recent years with the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. Many Republicans, however, opposed the creation of the United States Department of Education when it was initially created in 1979.
The religious wing of the party tends to support organized prayer in public schools and the inclusion of teaching creationism or intelligent design alongside evolution. Although the GOP has voted for increases in government funding of scientific research, some members actively oppose the federal funding of embryonic stem cell research because it involves the harvesting and destruction of human embryos (which many consider ethically equivalent to abortion), while arguing for applying research money into adult stem cell or amniotic stem cell research. The stem cell issue has garnered two once-rare vetoes on research funding bills from President Bush, who said the research "crossed a moral boundary."
National defense and military spending
The Republican Party has always advocated a strong national defense; however, up until recently they tended to disapprove of interventionist foreign policy actions. Republicans opposed Woodrow Wilson's intervention in World War I and his subsequent attempt to create the League of Nations. Many Republicans opposed the creation of NATO. Even in the 1990s, although George H. W. Bush orchestrated the Gulf War, Republicans opposed the intervention of the United States in Somalia and the Balkans. However, in 2000, George W. Bush ran on a platform that opposed these types of involvement in foreign conflicts.
Today, the Republican Party supports unilateralism in issues of national security, believing in the ability and right of the United States to act without external or international support in its own self-interest. In general, Republican defense and international thinking is heavily influenced by the theories of neorealism and realism, characterizing the conflicts between nations as great struggles between faceless forces of international structure, as opposed to the result of individual leaders, their ideas, and their actions. The realist school's influence shows in Reagan's Evil Empire stance on the Soviet Union and George W. Bush's Axis of evil.
Republicans secured gains in the 2002 and 2004 elections with the "War on Terrorism" being one of the top issues favoring them. Since the September 11, 2001 attacks, the party supports neoconservative policies with regard to the "War on Terror", including the 2001 war in Afghanistan and the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
The doctrine of preemptive war, wars to disarm and destroy military foes before they can act, has been advocated by prominent members of the Bush administration, but the war within Iraq has undercut the influence of this doctrine within the Republican Party. Rudy Giuliani, the former mayor of New York during the time of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, and a once prominent Republican presidential candidate for the 2008 presidential election, has stated that America must keep itself "on the offensive" against terrorists, stating his support of that policy.
The Bush administration supports the position that the Geneva Conventions do not apply to unlawful combatants, using the premise that they apply to soldiers serving in the armies of nation states and not terrorist organizations such as Al-Qaeda. The Supreme Court overruled this position in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, which held that the Geneva Conventions were legally binding and must be followed in regards to all enemy combatants.
Other international policies
Republicans support attempts for the democratization of Middle Eastern countries currently under the rule of dictatorships.
The party, through former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton, has advocated reforms in the United Nations to halt corruption such as that which afflicted the Oil-for-Food Programme. As previously stated, some Republicans including Bush oppose the Kyoto Protocol (although there is a section that supports it within the party). The party strongly promotes free trade agreements, most notably NAFTA, CAFTA and now an effort to go further south to Brazil, Peru and Colombia.
Republicans are divided on how to confront illegal immigration between a moderate business-friendly platform that allows for migrant workers and easing citizenship guidelines, and enforcement-first nationalist approach. The Bush administration has made appeals to immigrants a high priority long-term political goal, but that goal is not a high priority in most local GOP entities. In general, pro-growth advocates within the Republican Party support more immigration, and traditional or populist conservatives oppose it. In 2006, the White House supported and Senate passed comprehensive immigration reform that would eventually allow millions of illegal immigrants to become citizens, but the House, taking an enforcement-first approach, refused to go along.[21]
Political status of Puerto Rico
The Republican Party has expressed its support for Puerto Ricans to exercise their right to decolonization. The following are the appropriate section from the 2004 and 2008 party platforms:
Republican Party 2008 Platform
We support the right of the United States citizens of Puerto Rico to be admitted to the Union as a fully sovereign state after they freely so determine. We recognize that Congress has the final authority to define the constitutionally valid options for Puerto Rico to achieve a permanent non-territorial status with government by consent and full enfranchisement. As long as Puerto Rico is not a state, however, the will of its people regarding their political status should be ascertained by means of a general right of referendum or specific referenda sponsored by the U.S. government.[22]
Republican Party 2004 Platform
We support the right of the United States citizens of Puerto Rico to be admitted to the Union as a fully sovereign state after they freely so determine. We recognize that Congress has the final authority to define the Constitutionally valid options for Puerto Rico to achieve a permanent non-territorial status with government by consent and full enfranchisement. As long as Puerto Rico is not a state, however, the will of its people regarding their political status should be ascertained by means of a general right of referendum or specific referenda sponsored by the United States government.[23]
Voter base
Registered Democrats, Republicans and Independents in millions as of 2004.
Registered Democrats, Republicans and Independents in millions as of 2004.[1]
Business community. The GOP is usually seen as the traditionally pro-business party and it garners major support from a wide variety of industries from the financial sector to small businesses. This may relate to the fact that Republicans are about 50 percent more likely to be self-employed, and are more likely to work in the area of management.[24]
Gender. Since 1980 a "gender gap" has seen slightly stronger support for the GOP among men than among women. In the 2006 House races, 43% of women voted for GOP, while 47% of men did so.[25]
Race. Since 1964, the GOP has been weakly represented among African Americans, winning under 15% of the black vote in recent national elections (1980 to 2004). The party has recently nominated African American candidates for senator or governor in Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland, though none were successful. The Republican Party supported the abolition of slavery under Abraham Lincoln, and from the Civil War until the Great Depression of the 1930s, blacks voted for Republican candidates by an overwhelming margin; in the Southern states, they were often not allowed to vote, but received Federal patronage appointments from the Republicans. The majority of black Americans switched to the Democratic Party in the 1930s when the New Deal offered them governmental support for civil rights. In the South, blacks were able to vote in large numbers after 1965, when a bipartisan coalition passed the Voting Rights Act, and ever since have formed a significant portion (ranging from 20% to 50% depending on the state) of the Democratic vote in that region.[26]
In recent decades, the party has been more successful in gaining support from Hispanic and Asian American voters than from African Americans. George W. Bush, who campaigned significantly for Hispanic votes, received 35% of their vote in 2000 and 44% in 2004. In 2004, 44% of Asian Americans voted for Bush.[27] The party's strong anti-communist stance has made it popular among some minority groups from current and former Communist states, in particular Cuban Americans and Vietnamese Americans. In the 2006 House races, the GOP won 51% of white votes, 37% of Asian votes, and 30% of Hispanic votes, while winning only 10% of African American votes.[25]
For decades, a greater percentage of white (caucasian) voters self-identified as Democrats, rather than Republicans. However, since the mid-1990s whites have been more likely to self-identify as Republicans than Democrats.[28]
Family status. In recent elections, Republicans have found their greatest support among whites from married couples with children living at home.[29] Unmarried and divorced women were far more likely to vote for Kerry in 2004.[30]
Income. Poorer voters tend favor the Democratic Party while wealthier voters tend to support the Republican Party. Bush won 41% of the poorest 20% of voters in 2004, 55% of the richest twenty percent, and 53% of those in between. In the 2006 House races, the voters with incomes over $50,000 were 49% Republican, while those under were 38%.[25]
Military. Republicans hold a large majority in the armed services, with 57% of active military personnel and 66% of officers identified as Republican in 2003.[31]
Education. Self-identified Republicans are significantly more likely than Democrats to have 4-year college degrees. The trends for the years 1955 through 2004 are shown by gender in the graphs below, reproduced with permission from Democrats and Republicans — Rhetoric and Reality, a book published in 2008 by Joseph Fried.[32] These graphs depict results obtained by Fried from the National Election Studies (NES) data base.
Regarding graduate-level degrees (masters or doctorate), there is a rough parity between Democrats and Republicans. According to the Gallup Organization: "[B]oth Democrats and Republicans have equal numbers of Americans at the upper end of the educational spectrum — that is, with post graduate degrees..."[33] Fried provides a slightly more detailed analysis, noting that Republican men are more likely than Democratic men to have advanced degrees, but Democratic women are now more likely than Republican women to have advanced degrees.[34]
Republicans remain a small minority in academia, with 15% of full-time faculty identifying as conservative.[35]
Age. The Democrats do better among younger Americans and Republicans among older Americans. In 2006, the GOP won only 38% of the voters aged 18–29.[25]
Sexual Orientation. Exit polls conducted in 2000, 2004 and 2006 indicate that 23–25% of gay and lesbian Americans voted for the GOP. In recent years, the party has opposed same-sex marriage, adoption by same-sex couples, inclusion of sexual orientation in hate crimes laws, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, while supporting the use of the don't ask, don't tell policy within the military.[36] The opposition to gay rights found in the Republican Party largely comes from the very religious and socially conservative portion of the party.[37]
Religion. Religion has always played a major role for both parties but, in the course of a century, the parties' religious compositions have changed. Religion was a major dividing line between the parties before 1960, with Catholics, Jews, and Southern Protestants heavily Democratic, and Northeastern Protestants heavily Republican. Most of the old differences faded away after the realignment of the late 1960s that undercut the New Deal coalition. Voters who attend church weekly gave 61% of their votes to Bush in 2004; those who attend occasionally gave him only 47%, while those who never attend gave him 36%. 59% of Protestants voted for Bush, along with 52% of Catholics (even though Kerry was Catholic). Since 1980, large majorities of evangelicals have voted Republican; 70–80% voted for Bush in 2000 and 2004, and 70% for GOP House candidates in 2006. Jews continue to vote 70–80% Democratic. Democrats have close links with the African American churches, especially the National Baptists, while their historic dominance among Catholic voters has eroded to 50-50. The main line traditional Protestants (Methodists, Lutherans, Presbyterians, Episcopalians) have dropped to about 55% Republican (in contrast to 75% before 1968). Their church membership have dropped in that time as well, and the conservative evangelical rivals have grown.[38]
Region. Since 1980, geographically the Republican "base" ("red states") is strongest in the South and West, and weakest in the Northeast and the Pacific Coast. The Northeast actually does well for the GOP in state contests but not in presidential ones (except New Hampshire). The Midwest has been roughly balanced since 1854, with Illinois becoming more Democratic due to the City of Chicago and Minnesota and Wisconsin more Republican since 1990. Since the 1930s the Democrats have dominated most central cities, the Republicans now dominate rural areas, and the majority of suburbs.[39]
The South has become solidly Republican in national elections since 1980, and has been trending Republican at the state level since then at a slower pace.[40] In 2004 Bush led Kerry by 70%-30% among Southern whites, who made up 71% of the Southern electorate. Kerry had a 70-30 lead among the 29% of the voters who were black or Hispanic. One-third of these Southern voters said they were white evangelicals; they voted for Bush by 80-20; but were only 72% Republican in 2006.[27][25]
The Republican Party's strongest focus of political influence lies in the Great Plains states, particularly Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, and North Dakota and in the western states of Idaho, Wyoming, and Utah (Utah gave George W. Bush more than 70% of the popular vote in 2004). These states are sparsely populated, have very few urban centers, and have overwhelmingly White populations, making it extremely difficult for Democrats to create a sustainable voter base there. Unlike the South, these areas have been strongly Republican since before the party realignments of the 1960s. The Great Plains states were one of the few areas of the country where Republicans had any significant support during the Great Depression. However, these areas also have very few electoral votes or House seats, making them of limited political utility relative to more populous states. On the other hand, these Great Plains and Mountain West states provide the Republican Party with a solid electoral base in Presidential elections on which to build.
Conservatives and Moderates. The Republican coalition is quite diverse, and numerous factions compete to frame platforms and select candidates. The "conservatives" are strongest in the South, where they draw support from religious conservatives. The "moderates" tend to dominate the party in New England, and used to be well represented in all states. From the 1940s to the 1970s under such leaders as Thomas E. Dewey, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Nelson Rockefeller, and Richard Nixon, they usually dominated the presidential wing of the party. Since the 1970s they have been less powerful, though they are always represented in the cabinets of Republican presidents. In the 2006 elections, Rhode Island Senator Lincoln Chafee, arguably the last moderate-to-liberal Northeastern Republican of major prominence, lost his re-election bid. New Hampshire's two Republican congressmen lost to their Democratic opponents. In Vermont, Jim Jeffords, a Republican Senator became an independent in 2001 due to growing disagreement with President Bush and the party leadership.
Since the 1980s, talk radio audiences and successful hosts have tended to be conservative, and typically favor the Republicans. Some well known radio hosts include Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, Neal Boortz, Laura Ingraham, Michael Reagan, Howie Carr, and Michael Savage.
Future trends
Republican Karl Rove and other commentators had speculated about a permanent political realignment in favor of the GOP along the lines of the presidential election of 1896, in which Mark Hanna helped William McKinley construct a Republican majority that lasted for the next 36 years. While the American political sphere is relatively evenly divided in terms of ideology,[41] the Republican Party trails the Democrats by 17 million registered members.[1]
Democratic commentators Ruy Teixeira and John Judis,[42] on the other hand, say non-geographic social indicators show a trend toward Democrats. They point to the rapid increase in college graduates (who are trending Democratic), and the possible decrease in white and rural Republican bases. They also point to an increasing Democratic presence in formerly Republican strongholds such as Montana, which as of the November 2006 elections has two Democratic senators, a Democratic governor, and Democratic control of the state senate.
Skeptics ask whether the Republican Party can simultaneously contain both libertarians and social conservatives, or whether it can contain a business community that may use illegal immigrants as employees, and Hispanic voters. Republican optimists also point to the success of Roosevelt's Democratic coalition, which held together even more disparate elements. For the most part until 2007, the Republican Party has remained fairly cohesive, as both strong economic libertarians and strong social conservatives are opposed to the Democrats, whom they see as both the party of bigger and more secular, progressive government.[43] Yet, libertarians are increasingly dissatisfied with the party's social policy and support for corporate welfare and national debt, which some believe has grown increasingly restrictive of personal liberties, and with the Bush Administration greatly increasing the federal debt.[44] Some[who?] social conservatives are also growing increasingly dissatisfied with the party's support for economic policies that they see as contradictory to their moral values.[45] Presidential candidate Mike Huckabee has remarked that "If it was all about the money ... then we might as well put the presidency up on eBay."[45]
History
Main article: History of the United States Republican Party
Abraham Lincoln was the first Republican president. (1861–1865)
Abraham Lincoln was the first Republican president. (1861–1865)
The Republican Party was created in 1854 in opposition to the Kansas-Nebraska Act that would have allowed the expansion of slavery into Kansas. Besides opposition to slavery, the new party put forward a progressive vision of modernizing the United States — emphasizing higher education, banking, railroads, industry and cities, while promising free homesteads to farmers. In this way, their economic philosophy was similar to the Whig Party's. Its initial base was in the Northeast and Midwest. The Party nominated Abraham Lincoln and ascended to power in the election of 1860. The party fought for the Union in the American Civil War and presided over Reconstruction. The party rejected Lincoln for the election of 1864. Lincoln ran under the National Union Party; the Republican Party had chosen John C. Fremont as its presidential candidate. The party's success spawned factionalism within the party in the 1870s. Those disturbed by Ulysses S. Grant ran Horace Greeley for the presidency against him. The Stalwarts defended the spoils system; the Half-Breeds pushed for reform of the civil service. The GOP supported big business generally, hard money (i.e., the gold standard), high tariffs, and generous pensions for Union veterans, and the annexation of Hawaii. The Republicans supported the Protestants who demanded Prohibition. As the Northern post-bellum economy boomed with heavy and light industry, railroads, mines, fast-growing cities and prosperous agriculture, the Republicans took credit and promoted policies to sustain the fast growth. But by 1890, the Republicans had agreed to the Sherman Antitrust Act and the Interstate Commerce Commission in response to complaints from owners of small businesses and farmers. The high McKinley Tariff of 1890 hurt the party and the Democrats swept to a landslide in the off-year elections, even defeating McKinley himself.
After the two terms of Democrat Grover Cleveland, the election of William McKinley in 1896 is widely seen as a resurgence of Republican dominance and is sometimes cited as a realigning election. McKinley promised that high tariffs would end the severe hardship caused by the Panic of 1893, and that the GOP would guarantee a sort of pluralism in which all groups would benefit. The Republicans were cemented as the party of business, though mitigated by the succession of Theodore Roosevelt who embraced trust-busting. He later ran of a third party ticket of the Progressive Party and challenged his previous successor William Howard Taft. The party controlled the presidency throughout the 1920s, running on a platform of opposition to the League of Nations, high tariffs, and promotion of business interests. Warren G. Harding, Calvin Coolidge and Herbert Hoover were resoundingly elected in 1920, 1924, and 1928 respectively. The Teapot Dome scandal threatened to hurt the party but Harding died and Coolidge blamed everything on him, as the opposition splintered in 1924. The pro-business policies of the decade seemed to produce an unprecedented prosperity — until the Wall Street Crash of 1929 heralded the Great Depression.
The New Deal coalition of Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt controlled American politics for most of the next three decades, excepting the two-term presidency of Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower. African Americans began moving toward favoring the Democratic Party during Roosevelt's time. After Roosevelt took office in 1933, New Deal legislation sailed through Congress at lightning speed. In the 1934 midterm elections, 10 Republican senators went down to defeat, leaving them with only 25 against 71 Democrats. The House of Representatives was split in a similar ratio. The "Second New Deal" was heavily criticized by the Republicans in Congress, who likened it to class warfare and socialism. The volume of legislation, and the inability of the Republicans to block it, soon made the opposition to Roosevelt develop into bitterness. Conservative Democrats, mostly from the South, joined with Republicans led by Senator Robert Taft to create the conservative coalition, which dominated domestic issues in Congress until 1964.
The second half of the 20th century saw election of Republican presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower, Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, and George W. Bush. The Republican Party, led by House Republican Minority Whip Newt Gingrich campaigning on a Contract with America, were elected to majorities to both houses of Congress in the Republican Revolution of 1994. Their majorities were generally held until the Democrats regained control in the mid-term election of 2006. In the 21st century the Republican Party is defined by social conservatism, an aggressive foreign policy attempting to defeat terrorism and promote global democracy,[citation needed] a more powerful executive branch, tax cuts, and deregulation and subsidization of industry.
Name and symbols
1874 Nast cartoon featuring the first notable appearance of the Republican elephant
1874 Nast cartoon featuring the first notable appearance of the Republican elephant[46]
The party's founding members chose the name "Republican Party" in the mid-1850s in part as an homage to Thomas Jefferson (it was the name initially used by his party).[47][48] The name echoed the 1776 republican values of civic virtue and opposition to aristocracy and corruption.[49] It is the second-oldest continuing political party in the United States.
The term "Grand Old Party" is a traditional nickname for the Republican Party, and the initialism "G.O.P." (or "GOP") is a commonly used designation. According to the Republican Party, the term "gallant old party" was used in 1875.[50] According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the first known reference to the Republican Party as the "grand old party" came in 1876. The first use of the abbreviation GOP is dated 1884. Some media have stopped using the term GOP because they think it's confusing.[51] More facetiously, the abbreviation is sometimes held to stand for "God's own party", in reference to the party's constituency of conservative evangelical Christians.[52] In 2008, the new Washington state top two primary had Republican candidates competing against GOP candidates in the same races.[53][54]
The traditional mascot of the party is the elephant. A political cartoon by Thomas Nast, published in Harper's Weekly on November 7, 1874, is considered the first important use of the symbol.[55] In the early 20th century, the usual symbol of the Republican Party in Midwestern states such as Indiana and Ohio was the eagle, as opposed to the Democratic rooster. This symbol still appears on Indiana ballots.
After the 2000 election, the color red became associated with the GOP, although it has not been officially adopted by the party. That election night, for the first time, all of the major broadcast networks used the same color scheme for the electoral map: states won by Republican nominee George W. Bush were colored red, and states won by Democratic nominee Al Gore were colored blue. Although the assignation of colors to political parties is unofficial and informal, they have come to be widely recognized by the media and the public to represent the respective political parties (see Political colour and Red states and blue states for more details).
Lincoln Day, Reagan Day, or Lincoln-Reagan Day, is the primary annual fundraising celebration held by many state and county organizations of the Republican Party. The events are named after Republican Presidents Abraham Lincoln and Ronald Reagan.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Election Issues 2008
The right to Abortion is very important to me. I am not pro life or really pro abortion. I am pro-choice. This is the most important topic to me.
The second what the means so much to me is Trade and the third is security.
As well as the economic stimulus and iports and exports in regards to protection of our ports.
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