All posts by Abby Koehler

White Collar

For my final passion blog, I picked a show that has been one of the most commonly watched shows in my house for the past couple of years, even though I haven’t kept up with every single episode.  This show is called White Collar, and is yet another crime scene show with an interesting twist.  White Collar follows the FBI through the many cases they solve to keep the country safe.  Like many TV shows, this one has some really well developed characters that a lot of people can relate to, which I think makes the TV show more popular.  The main character, Agent Burke, is one of the senior FBI agents.  He has a whole team of associates who help him solve his crimes both in the field and back at the office.  And his very admirable wife plays a large role in the show and occasionally in the cases.

One of his most unexpected helpers is a man named Neal Caffrey, and ex-conartist.  Neal was chased for a long time by the FBI for stealing art and making counterfeit copies of famous art.  Eventually, they decided to take Neal on to give them a different perspective on their cases.  Neal has a specified amount of time that he needs to work for Agent Burke before he is let go, at which point they will remove his ankle bracelet tracking everywhere he goes.  Agent Burke also has to approve of Neal being set free, otherwise he must return to prison.

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Left to right: Burke, Burke’s wife, Neal, and, Neal’s partner in crime (literally), Mozzie

Throughout the majority of the show, Neal truly makes an effort to change into a better person, but a whole string of events leads him to start making some sketchy choices that Burke is not ok with.  It’s quite interesting to watch how sneaking and smart Neal is when he is both working to help the FBI but secretly working on one of his scandalous projects at the same time.  I definitely think this show goes way beyond what is possible in the real world.  But it’s entertaining nonetheless.  And on the bright side, this one isn’t scary or bloody, so it’s pretty much good for everyone! There are four seasons on Netflix, and like all of the other shows I reviewed, I would definitely suggest this one!

Now, since it’s the last blog of the semester, I must reveal what the chosen favorite is!  It was pretty close, and we had a lot of indecision.  The two favorites are Leverage and New Girl, and I have to say that the overall favorite is…. NEW GIRL!!!  I think we chose this show because it’s very light hearted and super funny.  It’s definitely a nice change of pace from all of the crime shows that we watch at my house!

Well, we’ve finally come to the end of our second semester of blogging! Great job everyone, and I hope you have a fantastic rest of the semester!

Keeping Music Education

Now that we’ve come to our last civic issues blog for the semester I want to leave you with some concluding thoughts on why music education is so important (sorry if it gets repetitive!).

When a child is immersed in a music program, or any arts program, they do not just gain the skills of the art that they are practicing.  The skills they learn in these environments are able to help them in every aspect of their life throughout their entire lives.  And as a bonus, they learn how to express themselves through an art form that could be a real benefit later in life.  In the academic world, students who participate in music score an average of 22% better in English and 20% better in math on standardized tests than students who do not participate in music programs.  Schools with a music program have a higher attendance rate: 93.3% as opposed to 84.9%, and they have a higher graduation rate: 90.2% compared to 72.9%.  These benefits of the music program not only make the students better students, but they also create a better community.  With more students in school, that means there’s less time for them to get into trouble. Also, schools receives more funding for better test scores, which goes towards making a better education system for their community.

For students themselves, music helps them develop their intelligence as they get older.  For instance, musicians have been proven to have better verbal memories and an easier time processing language, which makes it easier for them to learn new languages. Studies have also shown that musical training is correlated with better general intelligence skills like literacy, verbal memory, visiospacial processing, mathematics, and IQ.

Additionally, participating in music programs gives students myriad life skills like knowing how to create healthy relationships and work with others.  In a music setting, kids are forced to work together no matter what situation they are in.  In an ensemble, you have to listen to what other people are playing so that you can match their style, dynamics, and articulation.  It sounds easy, but it’s harder to pay attention to others when you already have a million other musical things running through your mind.  Furthermore, students have to work on their relationships with the people they need to work with.  In many instances, there will be conflict with how students want something to be played, and they need to come to a compromise on what is the best way to do this.  As a result, students learn to listen to others and make the best decision for the group rather than just what they want.

In many band programs, but especially in marching band, students have the opportunity to develop their leadership skills as section leaders, drum majors, and officers.  They learn how to delegate to others while making sure that they don’t just dictate.  A major part is learning how to work together for the betterment of the organization as a whole as opposed to simply trying to do your best. Foremost, students learn that there is great gratification in working hard at something you love with people you (mostly) love. All of these relationship and hard working skills then transfer over into their homework throughout high school and college and even into the work place.

In addition to learning about the people they interact with, musicians also learn how to relate to people around the world.  Music is one of few disciplines that transfers between cultures and across language barriers.  No matter where you play music, it’s going to sound generally the same (if you don’t count differences depending on the performer(s)), and there is universal notation for music so everyone can understand it.  For kids who don’t get to travel or go experience new worlds much, especially when they’re young, music can be a great vehicle for exposing them to new people.

Finally, like I mentioned in one of my previous posts, music has an importance that is way beyond what people can measure with studies and experiments.  Music and music programs have a meaning to students that makes their school experience that much better.  Music provides a place for those students who wouldn’t fit in anywhere else.  It gives them meaning, friends, and something to work for.  When these kids play music together, yes they want to sound good, but it’s about the experience and how they feel when they play together.  There aren’t any statistics to prove it, but this meaning to music is way more important than all of the ways that music makes kids smarter, and that is why we should keep music education.

Fun Facts: A study has proven that the smartest section in the band is the trombones (Go Trombones!!!), and the second smartest section is the percussionists (who would’ve thought?)

The highest represented major in medical school is the music major.

Music education actually helps reduce the neurotransmitter that is produced when some is stressed.  This can be particularly helpful for kids in abusive family situations or harsh living conditions.

Sources:

Click to access benefits_of_music.pdf

http://www.childrensmusicworkshop.com/advocacy/topteneveryone.html

Flashpoint

Another one of the shows my family always watched together is called Flashpoint.  This series is about a group of SWAT team agents who is the top SWAT team in their area.  They all work incredibly well together, and they are great at their job.  In each episode, the team is faced with an intense situation that they must try to calm down.  Often times their calls are for a hostage situation or something similar, so the leader of the team finds himself trying to talk down the criminal while the rest of the team works to find out information on the criminal that their leader can use while  he’s speaking. You would be surprised how many challenges the team has to overcome, and it makes me wonder if things like this really do occur in real life or if they’re just dramatized for television.  Many times, the situation turns out all right, and they can return to their head quarters and go home for the night.  However, sometimes the plan goes array and someone gets hurt.  More often than not it’s the criminal they’re trying to stop.

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In addition to all of these life threatening missions the team has to go on, they also face some pretty hard situations in their lives throughout the series.  At one point, they’re threatened to be stripped of their status as the top SWAT team.  Other times, there are a lot of personal issues that each individual character has to deal with.  Each character has their own strengths that they can bring to the table and their own personalities which makes the show fun to watch.  They act like a big family because, after all, that’s how close you have to be when you’re putting your life in the hands of other people.  Unfortunately, the show was cancelled in 2012, but there are still six seasons awaiting to be watched on Netflix!

Issue Brief Draft

This is a very, very rough draft.  The parentheses with all caps in them are my sources.  Sorry I haven’t put in the footnotes yet!

 

Minimum Sentencing Reform

 

Over the latter part of the 20th century, the number of both prisons and prisoners in the United States has increased greatly.  The government adopted a policy of being tough-on-crime with the hopes that the crime rates in the country would decrease, making the American people feel safer, which would hopefully result in reelecting the legislators who made that happen.

 

In order to execute this tough on crime policy, lawmakers put into effect minimum sentencing requirements for specific crimes to make a basic standard for punishment across the country.  Unfortunately, what these lawmakers did not consider was that not every single case can be evaluated in a one-size-fits-all sort of manner.  In fact, many criminals who commit petty crimes end up spending more time in prison than someone who committed a much greater crime.

 

Why is this a problem?  For one, running prisons is an incredibly expensive business, so the more prisons and prisoners we have, the more tax money needs to go to facilitating them.  Additionally, for those who committed lesser crimes, their suffering not only burdens them, but it also forces hardships on any family members they might have.  Overall, the quality of America could be greatly improved if the current sentencing system is evaluated and revised.

 

Prisons Today

 

Since 1980, the number of people imprisoned in the United States has tripled to almost 2 million people.  America has the largest prisoner rate of any country in the world, and state spending on the prison system has grown at six times the amount of money spent on higher education. This over spending has resulted from the country’s tough-on-crime laws, which went into effect during a very drug heavy time.  The main purpose of this change was to punish drug dealers and gangs.

 

Even though states have built more prisons to house these 2 million prisoners, the prisons are still becoming incredibly crowded. Currently, the prison system is 37% over populated. Therefore, prisoners are forced to live in tents, gymnasiums, and some are even given early release due to the lack of space. (PRISON OVERCROWDING).  In some areas, three prisoners are forced to share the same bed. (PRISON INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX). Not only are these jails horrible living conditions for humans, but they also cost a lot of tax payer money: It ranges from $21,006 to $33,930 to house a signal prisoner for one year (differences in cost depend on which level of security the prisoner is under). (COST ARTICLE).

 

As the prison system gets larger, crime rates have certainly decreased.  If you think about it, it makes perfect sense: removing criminals from society keeps them from committing crime within said society. Currently, the prison system holds roughly 150,000 armed robbers, 125,000 murderers, and 100,000 sex-offenders. No one would question that these people need to be kept from victimizing the innocent members of society.  However, the statistics show that in 1980, about half of prisoners entering the system were violent criminals.  In 1995, less than one third of prisoners were jailed for violent offenses.  Those who make up the other two thirds of the prison population are people who have committed lesser crimes. In other countries, these non-violent crimes would be given punishments of community service, fines, or drug treatment.  Yet the American justice system’s minimum sentencing laws require that they go to prison, the most expensive system of punishment. (PRISON INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX).

 

In order to start decreasing the number of people sentenced to prison, a major change would need to be made with the minimum sentence laws that require prison time for certain offenses. It may seem daunting to not put all criminals in prison, but many criminals can be punished in a different and even more effective way than going to prison for an extended period of time.

 

Minimum Sentencing Laws

 

There are three basic kinds of minimum sentencing laws.  The first kind establishes a minimum sentence, just like it would be expected to.  It states that a person accused of a crime must be imprisoned for “not less than” a specific amount of time.  For example, someone convicted of manufacturing and/or distributing drugs (each drug has a minimum measurement to be considered for this law), the offender is automatically required to do at least ten years in prison. Second, there are statutes that require a specific, flat amount of time.  Often times this type of minimum sentence is either life in prison or the death penalty. The third kind of minimum sentence are “piggyback” statutes.  These statutes add to a previous sentence depending on the specifics of the crime that occurred.

 

Not all of these requirements are entirely set in stone.  With many of them, the lawmakers left in loop holes for first-time offenders, small-time, or non-violent offenders so that they would not have to undergo a ridiculous amount of punishment for a smaller crime. (FAS).

 

In 2004, there was a perfect example of a man victimized by piggyback minimum sentencing: a man named Weldon Angelos was arrested and sentenced to 55 years in prison for selling marijuana three times.  When his drug selling was discovered, the police found that he owned a gun, though he did not use it in any way during his drug deals.  His sentence is longer than the typical sentence for crimes of: second-degree  murder and kidnapping or child rape.  It is also more than four times the length of the federal sentence for a marijuana dealer who also shoots someone during the drug deal.  The judge, Paul G. Cassell, who sentenced Angelos said the sentence was “unjust, cruel, and even irrational;” however, Cassell could not do anything to intervene due to the minimum imprisonment laws that are set. Over 60 former judges even stated that Angelos’s sentence is “extraordinary injustice,” yet Angelos was not on Obama’s most recent list of those prisoners receiving pardon.

 

Angelos should be permitted to utilize the loophole for small-time, one-time, non-violent offenders, but because he had possession of a gun, they assumed he had the possibility to become violent, and therefore, the judge had no choice but to sentence him to incarceration.  For his gun, five years had to be added to the sentence he already received from selling marijuana.

 

Since the minimum sentence laws are not flexible for each individual situation, many people want to abolish these laws and give more control over to the discretion of the judge.  They believe that the current system is an easy way to deal with crime, but it is very harmful in some cases and not as effective as it could be. (FAMM).  On the other hand, people believe that minimum sentencing requirements are necessary to keep punishment consistent throughout the country.  They believe that it keeps people from “getting lucky” by having an easy going judge.  In addition, pro-minimum sentencing advocates believe that incarceration is the only way to ensure a reduction in crime because the criminals are kept out of society. (HERITAGE).

 

These new tough-on-crime laws have not only imprisoned Angelos for a ridiculous amount of time, but they have also done the same to thousands of criminals who did not commit any kind of violent crime. (SENTENCING REFORM).  Obviously, imprisonment keeps criminals off the street, but is there a better, less expensive way to punish those who committed non-violent crimes?

 

Alternatives to Imprisonment

 

One of the main, suggested alternatives to putting people in prison is rehabilitation.  About 70% of the nation’s inmates are illiterate and 200,000 suffer from some kind of mental illness. Additionally, 60-80% of inmates have experienced some form of substance abuse.  Drugs are obviously an issue among prisoners; in fact, often times drugs are the reason that people are arrested in the first place.  Yet, the amount of drug rehab positions has decreased by more than 50% since 1993, and only one in ten inmates who need drug treatment can receive it.  (PRISON INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX).  In New York, Michigan, and Texas crime rates still fell after prisons began to shut down, which was largely due to the start of rehab programs. (SENTENCE REFORM).  Unfortunately, the majority of offenders who are sentenced in court are not even tested for substance abuse problems before they are sentenced, so the court might not even know if they need rehab.  Rehab programs have been proven to reduce recidivism rates from 75% recidivism for people who did not attend rehab to 57% rehab for those who did. (LUXURY REHAB).

 

Experts believe that one of the main reasons that prisons do not have rehabilitation programs is due to the overcrowding.  “We have the highest recidivism rate in the country because there is no room for rehabilitation,” Former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said when commenting on California’s 173,000 inmates living in the space for 83,000.  Slowly, people have realized that these crazy prison rates need to drop, and people need to get more help rather than punishment.  In California, 70% of prisoners get re-incarcerated within only 3 years after they are released: this makes up a huge portion of those in prison.  However, with proper rehabilitation, many prisoners are able to leave prison as a changed person instead of a punished person, likely to recede to their old, illegal habits.

 

On way that this rehab is actually occurring is through drug courts.  Beginning in 1989, the government opened about 1,000 drug courts across the country so that small time offenders could be given a sentence of rehab rather than prison.  This way, rehab is actually regulated and enforced, so people get the help they need in order to quit drug use. Additionally, the Substance Abuse and Crime Prevention Act offers the option of rehab instead of incarceration for first and second-time drug offenders. This act can also reduce prison sentence and qualify some offenders for early release. (PRISON REFORM).

 

In addition to rehab, probation is another alternative to imprisonment.  The number of people on probation has grown by 29% since 1995.  By putting people on probation and parole after they are released from jail, they are able to have a second chance.  Instead of spending their time sitting in prison, they can get a job and work to support their family.  If need be, they can even go to rehab. (PROBATION).  Furthermore, community service is seen as a fantastic alternative for people who have committed very small crimes, such as unarmed theft.  This activity both punishes the offender without overcrowding prisons, and it benefits society at the same time.  The rate at which community service is completed depends on the area in question, but on average, about 80-85% of community service is completed, which is a pretty decent rate. Community service can also be a great alternative for juvenile offenders; often times teenagers are sent to a correctional facility of some kind, but community service gives them a second chance for self improvement without taking their childhood from them. (COMMUNITY SERVICE).

 

Conclusion

 

As a whole, the minimum sentencing laws in the United States are effective in reducing crime because they take prisoners off the streets. However, these laws are not very good for helping reform criminals to turn away from their criminal past.  Instead of changing their behavior, prison just keeps them locked up for a little while, and then they can go back to their former habits once released.  Subsequently, minimum sentences cause problems within the prisons themselves.  They lead to overcrowding which results in harsh living conditions for people and a reduction in resources that could aid the prisoners.  An increase in the number of prisoners also increases the tax money that all citizens have to pay since imprisonment is that most expensive form of punishment.  Along with these issues, minimum sentence laws can even hurt those who did not commit serious crimes by forcing them to remain in prison for much longer than necessary.

 

To fix this problem, there are many alternatives that judges could turn to instead of just incarceration.  For example, rehab has proven to have a great effect on reducing recidivism rates. These rehab programs can work in direct relation with drug courts, courts that enforce and oversee drug rehab for first or second time offenders.  Other than drug courts, probation, parole, and community service work well as punishments for those who committed small, non-violent crimes, and the community can even benefit from it.

 

All of these changes could, for one, improve the conditions of today’s prisons, so that the people who must go to prison can still live in a reasonable environment.  They could also keep people from falling victim to minimum sentence requirements by remaining in jail much longer than necessary.  In order to do this, it is suggested that minimum sentence laws be abolished and more discretion be handed over to the judges.

The Following

I’ve never really been a fan of anything scary.  I don’t like scary movies, scary books, scary TV shows, or anything like that.  Once, in fifth grade, I even stopped reading a book because I was freaking me out, and I always finish books, even if I don’t like them! That being said, the Netflix show for this week is a little creepy.  But if I can watch it, then it’s can’t be all that bad!

The show is called The Following, and, once again, it’s another crime fighting TV show ( I hope you guys like those!).  Anyway, this one is particularly gruesome.  The main character, Ryan Hardy (played by Kevin Bacon), is an ex-FBI agent whose career ended after a multi-year hunt of a former English professor gone serial killer.  When Hardy finally catches up to Joe Carroll after he just stabbed another helpless victim, Carroll proceeds to stab him too, causing sever damage to Hardy’s heart, so he is forced to retire from the FBI.  Hardy was also able to save the girl that Carroll had almost killed.

The-Following-Cast-Promotional-Photo-the-following-30825071-1950-1350

Years later, Carroll escapes from jail, which amazes the FBI.  They call Hardy back as a consultant to try to recapture Carroll.  Luckily, Carroll is back in custody by the end of the first episode, but that’s just about the only good event.  The FBI agents discover that while Carroll was allowed library privileges in prison, he had internet access and created a cult of followers working to help him kill.  He has these people wrapped so tightly around his finger that they will even kill themselves at his command.  While in prison, he also got one of the guards on his side, which aided in his escape.

I don’t want to give too much away, but one major characteristic of Carroll is that he is utterly obsessed with Edgar Allen Poe, particularly his unfinished short story “The LightHouse.” When Carroll escapes from prison, his one goal is to finish his own unfinished work, which he unfortunately completes before the FBI catches him again.

For me, this show is a little more scary and gross than some of the other ones, but it’s really not all that bad.  I just wanted to give anyone who can be squeamish a heads up.  So far, there is one season of The Following on Netflix, and season 2 resumed January 19th and will end in a few weeks on April 28th.

 

The Creativity of Music

We favor the inclusion of music in the curriculum on an equality with other basic subjects. We believe that with the growing complexity of civilization, more attention must be given to the arts, and that music offers possibilities as yet but partially realized for developing an appreciation of the finer things of life.
—First Resolution of the Dallas Meeting of The Department of Superintendence, 1927

This quote states exactly why music education is important, even to people who do not turn music into a career.  And it was written all the way back in 1927.  The date of this quote really surprised me because I thought that the studies on the benefits of music education began when schools started cutting music programs.  Obviously, I was wrong, and people have cared about music education for much longer than I thought.

Like I’ve mentioned in previous posts, and like I’m sure I’ll mention again, there are hundreds of reason for why music education benefits students. Academically, students score higher, and they do better in life as a whole.  But this quote touches on an aspect of music that I never even thought of associating with the importance of music education.  Then last line of the quote talks about using music to appreciate the finer things in life.  Right now, I’m learning how to appreciate the finer parts of music.   As students, we’re constantly told exactly how to play our instruments.  Both physically how to play them, and stylistically how to make music.  Yet when you become a music major, your professors start pointing out that you won’t have a teacher forever, so you need to start learning how to do things on your own.  The way that music professors go about doing this is teaching us very strict rules and regulations about how music works, so that in the future, we will have a solid foundation for music making.  This allows us to break the rules and incorporate our own musical creativity in a tasteful way.

I believe that this idea of building a foundation and then spring boarding off of it is incredibly important both in music and in life in general.  I’m sure that music isn’t the only subject that uses this method of learning.  For instance, mathematicians can use their basis of prior knowledge to create a new formula that solves a math mystery.

The faster that kids realize this and the more the practice it, the more likely they will be to use this method in their lives and careers, whether they do music for the rest of their lives or not.  I think this aspect of music ed is extremely important because it teaches kids to think for themselves.  Music is a pretty easy subject in the younger years, so anyone has the chance to participate in it.  Students can use their experiences from music and translate them over to their career when they get older.  So, in essence, music education can improve the creativity of every other subject out there.

I know that other subjects can also do the same, but music can start at such a young age, and it’s something that almost all kids love.  While all of the statistics about how music students score higher on standardized tests are great, in the long run, standardized tests don’t matter as much as making a difference in the world through creativity, and music is a fantastic place for students to begin practicing that creativity.

To switch gears a little, the creativity of music can be utilized with other people besides students.  A new, developing field, music therapy is taking off and requires a ton of creativity too.  Music has proven to help elderly people greatly.  For example, studies have shown that people with moderate music music training (4-14 years) had the highest neural timing between the ages of 55-76 years old.  None of the participants continued musical training into adulthood.  Just like how exercising in your youth will benefit your physical health in the future, music can benefit your mental health in the future.

Additionally, it can also made a large impact on elderly people in their old age.  This video of a man hearing music from his youth makes a massive change in his life.

Video Link

When musicians use their creativity and break the rules every once in a while, they can branch out and form something new and fantastic.  This is just a revolutionary example in the field of music.  Imagine how many other improvements are going on in all kinds of fields that early training in music may support.

 

Sources:

http://www.trustmeimascientist.com/2014/02/03/why-better-music-education-really-matters/

http://www.psmag.com/blogs/news-blog/need-speak-slowly-took-music-lessons-kid-69524/

 

Supernatural

When I was growing up (and still today) I always loved reading fairy tales and fantasy books.  I’ve always loved reading in general, but the best books are always the ones that take you to a completely different world than your own.  Of course, I have some favorites, like Harry Potter, The Hunger Games, and The Divergent Trilogy (the list could go on and on), but I really enjoy reading books that are interesting, yet teach you something new at the same time.  I don’t know if you’ve ever heard of the books called Percy Jackson and the Olympians, but they are the perfect example of a didactic fantasy series.  Despite the fact that these books are intended for 12 year olds, I love reading about Percy, his other demigod friends, and their Greek god/goddess parents.  But what you might not realize until later is that while you’re going on a journey all around the world, fighting off scary monsters, you’re also learning a lot about Greek mythology.  For me that’s a really interesting topic, so I absolutely love reading these books.

On Netflix, there is a series that’s somewhat similar to the Percy Jackson books because it is also didactic.  This show is called Supernatural and it involves just what you think it would: the Supernatural.  Throughout the series there are different mythological characters included that teach about the mythology of many different cultures.  For instance, the first episode involves a myth from right here in the US.  In a small town, a woman fell off a bridge and died, and the town inhabitants believe that this woman’s ghost haunts single men and keeps them from finding love.

Supernatural_S3_Poster_02

A show like this, to me, is incredibly interesting and exciting.  Not only do you get a lot of adventure, but you also get to learn something without even trying.  There are currently 8 seasons on Netflix, so there’s plenty to watch, and the 9th season ends in May of this year.  For anyone who has ever watched Gilmore Girls, the actor who played Dean is now on Supernatural, and his brother on the show is named Dean, so it gets confusing sometimes!

Anyway, Supernatural is a fantastic fantasy show that I would suggest to anyone who enjoys fantasy books/movies.

Numb3rs

Like I said in one of my previous posts, I have grown up watching crime scene investigation shows with my mom.  Another one that I briefly remember watching is called Numb3rs.  It began in 2005 and aired for 6 seasons, all of which are on Netflix.  I don’t remember much of this show since I watched it so long ago, so it’s fun to watch the episodes over again because it’s like watching them for the first time.

For the most part, Numb3rs is similar to the majority of crime shows: there’s one mystery per episode, and the FBI always ends up catching the bad guys in the end.  The difference with this show is that the brother of one of the FBI agents is an incredible mathematician. The actor who plays the mathematician, David Krumholtz, is actually Charlie, the head elf from the very first Santa Clause movie.  I was in middle school when this show was popular in my house hold, so Charlie the elf is really all that I remember from this show.   His name is even Charlie on Numb3rs too!

numb3rsIn the first episode, the FBI is searching for a killer, but they can’t seem to figure out a pattern with his killings.  Without this pattern, the agents can’t make any conclusions about when he’ll kill next or where he might be living.  Charlie then shows his FBI agent brother, Don, that he can use a mathematical equation to predict the area where the killer might live.  So Charlie works day and night to find a solution for this equation, and they end up catching the killer before he can strike again!  After Charlie proves how helpful math can be to the FBI, Don’s squad within the FBI takes him on as a consultant to help with future crimes.

The interesting part of this show is seeing how math can solve problems with humans.  Usually I only think of math as being useful in engineering and other math-heavy fields.   So the prospect that math can actually predict human behavior from a set of data is incredibly cool!  Charlie is also very quirky, almost savant like, which makes him fun to watch.  I’m only on the second episode, but it appears that an interesting story line is developing with the personal lives of the characters in addition to their crime fighting.

 

The Cost of Music Ed

As I’ve said before, when schools suffer budget cuts, music and the arts are usually the first to go.  These classes are viewed as much less important than the typical academic classes, but in my last post I outlined reasons why music ed can be very beneficial to students in many ways.  However, music ed doesn’t cost as much as one may think.

Music programs do need to buy materials, just like when conventional classes buy text books, equipment for experiments, etc.  In the case of a music program, teachers will usually buy school instruments for those students who play a large instrument like a tuba, euphonium, percussion, string bass, or cello.  These school instruments will last a long time if you take good care of them.  Other than those, students are required to either rent or buy their own instrument.  Often times music stores sell quality, used instruments at pretty low prices so that students can afford them. In addition, band and orchestra teachers buy music stands, but those are also a one time cost.  Obviously, after many, many years they might need to get more music stands, but they do last a pretty long time. Another cost is the that of sheet music.  Chorus programs only need sheet music and no instruments, so that’s pretty simple.  In elementary band and orchestra, students are usually asked to buy their own methods books that cost about $10, but they use those for two years.  From then on, pretty much all music is lent out for the students to use for the year, and they return it at the end of the year.  Elementary teachers are even starting to do that with their methods books in order to cut out that cost.  Obviously, it’s very important that students take care of these materials so that they last longer.  For high school, that definitely happens more easily than with younger kids, but you would be surprised how willing young kids are to take care of their materials when you tell them that it’s very important.

All of these costs add up and amount to roughly $187 per student per year, which really isn’t that much.  To put it into perspective, here’s a chart that represents the costs of other subjects:

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Cost of each subject per student per year

 

As you can see, music ed really isn’t all that expensive in comparison to other subjects.

I know that not matter what, there will still be cuts in education funding.  Unfortunately it’s something we just have to deal with.  In my opinion, it’s extremely important to cut funding to every aspect of the school.  To an extent, it’s hard to do that because sometimes money is donated specifically for a certain area, so there isn’t anything we can do to change that.  But I don’t think that any one subject area should be cut completely to make up for the budget deficits.  I’m not going to go into all of the ways that money can be saved in schools, but there are definitely simple ways to save.  For example, in my school district, they leave the computers on all summer.  If they were to turn them off for the summer and then start turning them on it groups a few weeks before school begins again, they could save so much money on electricity.  This is just one example of silly ways that schools waste money.  If we fix these little things, then cuts wouldn’t have to be made as much to every subject, not just the arts.

I know it would be fair to make cuts to all subjects, but people usually believe that music and art education are not as important as the core subjects, so they should receive the most of the budget cuts.  However, if you refer to my last post, I outlined a lot of reasons that music education can be so important to the development of young children.  These benefits are so great, that even the president of Cornell University commented on it: “Training in the arts prepares a growing child just as well for a scientific or technical career as [does] training in STEM subjects, if not better.”  One way that this can be exemplified is that training on a piano can actually help students in math.  After all, intervals between notes are just numbers, and a piano presents a very good visual for that.  Overall, music education really isn’t all that expensive, and it’s possible to include it by making sure that budget cuts are even among all students.  Additionally, there are many reasons that people should want to save music education because it can be extremely beneficial to their children.

 

Sources:

http://www.takepart.com/article/2012/08/30/music-education-why-does-not-have-expensive-why-should-stay-schools

http://educationnext.org/breaking-down-school-budgets-2/

http://www.artsjournal.com/slippeddisc/2014/01/cornell-president-young-scientists-must-be-taught-the-arts.html

 

Mr. Caruso??

I’m not going to go into a whole lot of detail for this one because I think a lot of people have already seen it, but one of the other new shows my friend and I have started watching is Breaking Bad.  I know  everyone probably hasn’t seen it, after all, I’ve only seen four episodes or so, but I think most people at least know what it’s about! If you don’t know, here’s a quick summary:  The main character, Walter White, is a high school chemistry teacher with a wife and a son with special needs.  Walter works both at the school and at a car wash in order to try to make ends meet for his family, especially since his wife is due do have their second child in a few months.  He also starts to realize that he’s had a chronic cough that just won’t seem to go away, so he goes to the doctor to get it checked out and discovers that he actually has lung cancer.  He applies for a loan from the bank in order to pay for health insurance, but they deny him.  So Walter has the bright idea to call up one of his former students who he knew did drugs, and he offers to start helping him cook meth in order to make money.  Obviously, this probably wasn’t one of Walters finest decisions, and it ends up causing some serious issues for him.  Like I said, I’m only a few episodes in, so I don’t know much of what happens, but I figure it can only go down hill from here.

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I’ve heard so many great reviews of this TV show, so I’m really looking forward to seeing what all of the hype is about.  Although, I have to say that one of the best parts of the show for me is that Walter White looks eerily similar to my 12th grade English teacher, Mr. Caruso.  Although Mr. C definitely looks a little happier and less menacing than Walter White… We used to tease him about it in class, and he would always yell at us saying that he would never cook meth!  That English class is definitely one of the things I miss most about high school, so seeing Walter White always reminds me of the fond memories I have.

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Walter White

 

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Mr. Caruso and some students from my class

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

See the resemblance???

Well, I hope everyone has a good break! And if your bored, you can always check out some new Netflix TV shows!