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.

24 February 2014

GenEd Deliberation Notes

• Between 1 and 3
• What’s the point of the exploration.  Wouldn’t it make more sense to take classes that help towards what your major?
• The idea of a theme seems pointless other than connecting GenEds. How will it help in the future?
• Skills: it’s very important to learn how to communicate with others.
• Would you rather have communication emphasized or a broad knowledge emphasized?
• Option one is the closest to what we have now.  Except for the theme part.
• CONSENSUS: We prefer option number 1

EXPLORATION

• What exactly do they mean by exploration? Is it total freedom or do you get a set number of credits in each field that we need to take (like we do now).
  • Maybe they’re waiting for feedback
  • It says it would require classes outside the major.
  • This option is beneficial because employers want a well rounded person
  • Maybe they will lead you to a specialization or a minor.
• Would exploration help people challenge themselves? No, they’ll probably just look for the easiest class to take to fill the requirement.
• Exploring is going to result in easier classes because the students will be new to the topics.
• It should be more hands on/more demonstrations/more professional speakers in order to introduce the class topic of how it is in the real world.
• Are the kids going to try in the easy classes or just get confused about what they want to do?

OPTION 1 REQUIREMENTS

• Option 1 could force people to stay longer because different classes may result in different interests and changing your major/declaring major later.
  • As long as the time spent here is up to them, its ok because it’s their choice.
  • Could be beneficial for people who don’t know what they want to do yet
• How will they cut down on the number of credits you need and still have you explore?
• The less credits could provide more room for major specific classes which will help be more specialized and enter your major material earlier

THEMES

• Even though you can pick a theme, one theme might fill up and you could get stuck in something you don’t want to study for four years
  • But if all of the themes are interesting then it might not be so bad
  • You can always find an interesting aspect of the theme

26 February 2014

OPTION 2

• Would picking the theme be too confusing to choose when you’re a freshman? Some people already have a hard time deciding a major.
• How are we going to have enough faculty to oversee projects and grade them?
• One benefit: Instead of just taking random gened classes, you get to take classes that work together.
  • It gives students freedom to study a specific discipline for enjoyment instead of a degree
  • Or would they limit choice?
  • Most people don’t get much out of gened classes, they’re just to fill requirements.
  • Geneds can help determine a major, would a theme prevent that?
    • It would depend on what kind of theme it is and how broad it is
• What are some examples of what themes would be?
• If you’re already interested in something, you’re probably already majoring in it or taking classes in it.
• Would it make scheduling for so many people a lot harder?
• With the themes, the geneds could have an actual meaning
  • It wouldn’t matter to employers, it would be more useful to have a minor
  • Some employers don’t even look at your classes
  • Maybe a theme could be helpful depending on your major

• Tradeoffs: It would be too hard to have everyone do a capstone project
  • Not enough money to pay professors to supervise these small classes
  • And it’s just for a theme, it doesn’t give you any degree
  • The classes are high level, so you need to have a real professor, not just a supervisor

• 400 level classes count for the honors credits, so it could help honors students, but there aren’t very many compared to the rest of the students
  • Could it keep people from applying for the honors college because they would have to do a project and a thesis?

• What exactly is a capstone?
  • Considered a culmination/reflection of your skills, some large project, the whole class is tilted towards creating the project
  • Can be considered very similar to a thesis

• Feasibility: how would we have enough supervisors?
  • They have ways to organize it.  The class would be specific to the project, not a class with exams, etc. on top of a project
  • Logistics with scheduling
  • It could work at a small college really well
  • The idea is pretty cool, it just might not work well: the size is a major problem
  • Dr. Jo: it’s not hard to manage a reasonable number of projects like 10 or 15
• There wouldn’t be that many students per professor
• How many sections would a professor normally have? There’s a really large range
  • The sciences teach about 1 each semester
  • English is usually 2 a semester (1 undergrad, 1 grad)
  • The teachers also have a lot of other responsibilities though

• This also stretches to other campuses, and most of their capstone projects would have to be done here

• What if there was a theme without a culminating project?
  • Geneds could be more beneficial just with exploration
  • Either a theme would be so specific that it would be like a minor or it would be so broad that it would be very similar to the current system of random classes

• Benefit of capstones: it could help you work on something you’re interested in
  • It could act as a gateway to a minor

• Maybe you could petition to have classes count in your theme, but then you might as well just pick them.

• How would you incorporate a theme with Option 1 and 3?
• A theme is a minor, it would add up to the same amount of credits as a minor.
  • Like a minor across the colleges, not specific enough
  • How would someone who doesn’t like to challenge him/herself like to do something like this? Would they lack motivation?

OPTION 3

• Like it: There should be a good balance between 1 and 3
  • 1 is what college is all about (exploration and well rounded education) but we need communication/tech skills too
• This option seems very vague
• Down side: kids will probably just try to check geneds off the list, but that’s what already happens now.
• For schreyers kids would we not have to take geneds because we already do them in advanced classes like RCL?
  • This proposal sounds very similar to classes like RCL
  • Would it just be one class, or would it be multiple classes?
  • Wouldn’t it just be like everyone taking RCL?
• English: meant to  improve analytical and writing skills
• Cas: meant to improve research and public speaking
• With RCL you can lose out on learning the details of English/Cas
  • Honors kids can work well with that, but you’re also expected to learn/teach a lot yourself, which may be difficult for some kids
  • They want everyone to deliberate because it’s an important skill
  • Maybe they’ll offer more honors versions of the class along with regular versions of RCL
• Molding english/speaking skills together would be less boring, but what about a kid who really needs to work on the basics of the skills?

CONSENSUS: Number 1 is the overall best option. (so our opinion stayed the same throughout the deliberation).

Deliberation Notes: Option 3

17 February 2014

Note Taker: Abby Koehler

• Any initial reactions for option 3?
  • Aren’t they already doing it now and it’s not working?
  • Why should they require 4 yr institutions to accept transfer students from community colleges?
  • Community college can be very beneficial for certain people instead of attending a four year institution
    • It gets such a bad reputation, but it’s a good place to at least start: saves money.
      • good for people who don’t know what they want to do yet
      • Some have really good programs
      • You have the option to go to school and work at the same time
      • teachers are often full professors
  • So, instead of encouraging 4yr college, encourage different options like community college, military, etc. for people who would be better off that way
  • Too many college degrees would maybe result in degree inflation
  • People feel as if they won’t get a job from going to a technical school, even though they could
• What about those who want a 4yr school but can’t afford it?
• The guide offers online ed, what do you think about that?
  • It could be more accessible BUT you miss out on the actual college experience
  • What about completely online school instead of just a few online classes?
    • A good option: some online classes, but it would be hard to take everything online because you wouldn’t get all of the experience necessary for true learning.
    • Hybrid classes (that use both in person and online portions) could also be beneficial, but would they be cheaper or really make a difference?
  • Online ed has a bad reputation, so how will employers view it? Probably not as favorably as an in-person education.
  • Is online ed criticized more than it should be?
  • What jobs would not require personal interaction?
    • Not many.  Some classes could work well but others might not.
  • Students can lose focus and not learn the same in an online setting.
  • We’re taught to learn in a traditional classroom setting, so maybe that’s why online classes are harder to actually learn from.
  • What about having an online class, in an actual classroom with a proctor?
    • The proctor would need to be educated enough to answer questions and help
    • But they won’t have to be as educated or as well paid since they’re not actually teaching: could be cost effective
• Should more scholarships be offered to people who need it specifically in math/science fields?
  • You can tell from a student’s application if they have the potential to do well in school, and then look at financial aid and figure it out.
  • How do you know who’s going to succeed? It would be a waste to give money to someone who wants to go to college but ends up dropping out because they don’t have the drive.
  • Scholarship should never be solely need or merit based.  You should help people but also reward those who deserve it.
• If a college accepts a student and takes their money, does the college have an obligation to do as much as they can to help the student succeed?
  • Yes, the classes should be striving to teach students, not to “weed them out”
  • If the student is trying their best, but the exams/classes are so impossible, what’s the point? The students won’t learn anything.
  • Classes should show us what exactly is expected of us.
  • Aren’t there already remedial classes? Here maybe, but not all universities are the same.
  • some of these remedial classes might not count towards a major, and if you need them, you might end up staying extra years to fit in all of the necessary major classes.
  • But we also need classes for humanities students who don’t need to take hard levels of math and science, but need to satisfy GenEd requirements.
  • At a certain point, it is totally up to the student.  we have tutoring, office hours, professors, advisors, and the students need to take their own responsibility. Classes shouldn’t be easy just to accommodate the students who are behind.
  • So colleges should provide the resources, but not force students to use them.
• Scholarships should be based on work ethic.
  • But what about students who didn’t do well and want a second chance?
  • They could go to community college and work towards a higher school
  • But good high school work ethic might not mean they’ll work hard in school
  • Is that a risk that schools should take?
• Do schools take away scholarship if you start to do poorly? They can.

Deliberation Day One: February 10, 2014

Notes by Emily Isaacs

Group Members: Shannon, Larissa, Sonia, Abby, Maya, Sam (moderator), Jordan

• Personal stakes
  • Maya-learn more about self at college, focus on education, everything else is supplemental, music and art is important to be exposed and learn acceptance and tolerance of interests, people should save money for college and try to think ahead
  • Shannon-filling out her tax form for college was eye-opening. College is very expensive and it needs to be lowered so that we can succeed after college without debt
  • Larissa-opportunity to attend college is an issue, such an investment so it should be a worthwhile process, general education should be modified because we should be learning more about our actual major
  • Sonia-expenses, unfair to different races, how will we progress as a country if college is creating such a divide?
  • Abby-competitive atmosphere in college, can be good and can motivate students. but we miss out on opportunity to work together—too “me” oriented
  • Jordan-Germany’s school system, not everyone has a chance, three schools there but you decide which one you will attend very early in childhood, segregates and specializes population, he likes this system because you are forced to be selective when you’re young. Far too expensive, demographic issues (low income)do need to be faced
  • People already have tried to shift society toward a more science and math base—consensus among group
  • SATs aren’t geared toward knowledge, there are tricks to help you crack the code
  • Parents are too involved in education and with monetary things
    • There’s no way to intervene in everyone’s family life
    • Families need to be pushy and gear their kids into an educational direction
    • Will this lead to child rebellion?
    • Not every family has this type of relationship
    • People aren’t driven enough to go to college
      • Is it affecting our work force? Are there jobs (garbage men, plumbers) who are going to college for an education rather than technical school because they feel pressured?
      • We need fewer college grads to do jobs that don’t require degrees.
      • This problem has really spiked in the last decade
      • STEM job market greatly increasing. 5.4 million openings in STEM fields, but not everyone is well-suited for these jobs.
        • Parents may push for STEM jobs, will you regret the job, will it be your passion?
        • Will people actually come to enjoy science and technology if they are pushed to pursue those fields?
        • Taking an array of classes helps a rounded education that you won’t get elsewhere.
          • Without having diverse, different, Gen ed. Classes, you may not fall into your passion
          • Some specific majors don’t have a lot of opportunity to take gen eds, being undecided, you have more options
          • Online education
            • Khan Academy-online education, for extrinsically motivated people
            • The future of education? People don’t seem to be in favor of no personal interaction.
            • Is it that much less expensive than college?
            • Online education should be more of an extension of classroom education
            • Missing social interaction—Skype isn’t adequate
            • Has potential but isn’t there yet, shouldn’t dismiss it completely
            • People who are educated in college would have advantage over those educated online—they have more personal skills that make them more marketable
            • Some people can’t watch videos that are meant to replace teachers
            • Maybe can be made to replace gen eds, but can it replace difficult classes?
            • Some classes aren’t beneficial if you go in person, they would be the same online
              • Depends on instructor and class though
• Flipping the classroom
  • Students watch lectures at home
  • Teachers help students with homework during class
  • Would only work with math or science
  • Should we become a more math/science oriented society?
    • A man, with a theatre major, went on to make advances in science
      • Are we forgetting that people are diverse in their abilities?
• Career surveys—are they helpful? Most are taken when we’re rather
• Problem with entering major too late
• Does college help you decide what you want to do?
  • Popular belief tends to think so, but not evident among members of the group
  • Gen eds. Don’t automatically help you decide
  • Internships are the way to go to decide majors and get hands-on experience
• Focus on figuring out where we’re going to do with our lives earlier?
  • How??
  • There’s no program that can facilitate our decision.
  • Exposing kids to a lot of things when they’re young could be helpful
    • Goes back to financial issues because not all schools can provide those opportunities
    • General education quality differs in high-schools(social studies and philosophy difficulties differ)

Wednesday February 12, 2014

Option 1:

Notes by Sam Diacont

• Maya- convinced on option one, perhaps cause it pushes engineering and science. Even though it is science and technology, it still allows room for art and creativity
• Shannon- already too much precedence set on science and math. Lower education already focuses on this, college is the place to break that shell
• Sonia- things other than math and science are viewed as settling in this option, this isn’t the way it should be
• If they did push S&T, would more people have the realization they like/have an interest for this field.
  • No, if you go into hating, you probably end up hating
  • Perhaps people will be more open to it if it is encouraged, not enforced
  • Not necessarily more important than the arts, but there should be more people just to fill society’s needs

Teachers

• Typically the teachers that teach math and science are not very good at teaching, don’t inspire their students
• SINGING GRAM
• How the government is requiring S&M to be taught is not one that is interesting to the students
  • Art classes frequently are smaller, more personable
  • S&M are less personal, less teacher relation
    • Perhaps because of the shortage of academics in this field
    • Lack of expertise of teachers with quality expertise and experience
    • Teaching degree isn’t enough of a qualification
    • Should we redefine the standards for keeping teachers hired?
    • After all, the teachers are the ones responsible for the youth, and are frequently are the influences to what students ultimately do
    • We should focus on developing good teachers in certain fields
    • Improve teachers though teaching programs
    • Increase the visual aids
    • Teaching teachers how learners learn
    • Help teachers develop their social skills because they need to interact
    • Teaching the same subject all the time, you can just assume the students will learn rather than putting the effort in
      • Refreshing teachers, more energy
      • But they need the experience to understand the material and how they learn
      • Just hire better teachers, more difficult to obtain a degree
      • More classes for teachers on how to teach, not solely about subject
      • Student teacher programs
        • Pair student-teachers up with only the best teachers, so we can encourage the next generation of teachers to be better
        • There used to be a higher standard for teachers, professors
        • If we encouraged Math and Science, there would be more math and science teachers, but perhaps leaving us with a lack of teachers in other fields

• Some colleges seem to be encouraging students to drop out of the tough majors through harder introductory classes

Drop out Rates

• Don’t think it will effect the drop out rate
• Most people that come to college have already made the commitment and are there because they want to be

• Engineering has such a challenging stigma, discourages
• Engineering merely just teaches you to think, you can do anything afterwards
  • We need to communicate this to students
  • There are also a variety of engineering degrees
  • Maybe we should just focus on the analytical skills of engineering/sciences?
    • No, we should focus on human creativity
    • Things computers can’t do, replace

China, India Competition

• Definitely a concern
• Exporting jobs is a problem, we should try to keep our talented individuals, not export their expertise, keep the investment we put into them
• Foreigners coming here to receive their education, then potentially going back
• Majors that there is a great foreign disparity
• Nothing wrong with coming here for a better opportunity, education
  • But are we losing
  • China pushes math so much for the SATs
  • If they are more qualified, they probably should get the position in college
  • Reputation for coming here learning, and leaving, not getting immersed and benefitting us
  • We need a better system, push for engineering, M&S within US
  • We have the tools, maybe we should focus it on our society

Public Reaction

• Would people be outraged if we started to push M&S?
• Yes, just look at the comment Obama made and the great backlash
• This is a country where people are proud to be able to do what they want
• Perhaps we could encourage intro to engineering, sciences within high schools
• Making science math more workshop
• More hands on experiments, wean away from the lectures
• Diversifying curriculum
• No way you would take a physics class if you were a liberal arts major
• Moving money away from unneeded purposes, pushing it towards labs
• Where does investing to sports team come into play, whole another issue

Focused Scholarships

• Could we encourage more M&S students by offering more scholarships in these fields?
• Yes, as long as we don’t take this money from other fields, this could upset people
• If it is done in the right way, pushing people towards sciences could be helpful

• Enriching science and technology can ultimately help everyone, makes society better off, trickles down to everyone
• Disagree with packet that it may enrich the people that are already doing well

Younger Age

• Make science exciting at a younger age
• Hands on, fun experiment to kids
• Math could be awesome if it is taught the correct right way
• Even though this entire discussion is about higher education, we keep going back to lower ed.
  • After all this the foundation for everything, where problems and solutions stem from
  • Perhaps a bottom up revolution is best

In Conclusion

• Since technology is changing so much, we can encourage S&M to diversify and help our society, but its hard because we want to encourage individuality and allow people to pursue what they want

14 January 2014

When it comes to higher education, I feel as if I am not in a position to comment on it as a whole.  Since I’m majoring in music education, my classes are a lot different than the typical college classes: most of them revolve around learning how to play a new instrument and making music instead of critical thinking and problem solving (although we do use those skills so some extent).  I think, while there are certainly changes that need to be made based on major, there are also some general changes that can be made across the board.  For instance, I’ve noticed that a main theme in education these days is competition.  Just today, I had a friend tell me that he’s a better trombone player than another simply because he knew the answer to a question before the other kid did.  To me, that just shows that everything is viewed as a competition, but I don’t think that is helping our education system or society.  In some ways, competition can be very motivating and beneficial, but for the most part it just forces people into a rivalry instead of promoting collaboration.  We’ve all heard the saying “two heads are better than one,” and in a lot of cases I think that’s true, and we should be working together to make collaboration more common because it could benefit society greatly.  I also think it would be greatly helpful to further this collaboration to people and higher education systems outside of the school and/or outside of the country.  With technology these days, there are plenty of ways that people can interact over long distances, and even though it will  never be as good as working together in person, it could still be a form of learning and collaborating that could benefit the entire world.

On a completely different note, I also believe that the typical 4 year institution should not be encouraged for every single student out there.  There are some people who just aren’t meant to go to college, and they shouldn’t have to waist their time and money doing something that isn’t going to benefit them in the long run.  However, I do believe that no matter what a person chooses as their career path, they should be able to receive training in order to be successful.  Whether it’s through community college, apprenticeship, or vocational school, there are myriad other ways that people can be trained for the career they wish to pursue.  So when we think about higher education, I think these other forms should also fall under the category, and they probably need as much improving as the typical universities and colleges do.  I could go on and on about my opinions on education reform, but I’ll just leave it at that since we’re going to deliberate about education soon anyway.

For my This I Believe Essay I went with an idea that is different from the two ideas that I posted about last week, so hopefully this one worked out well.  Sorry, it’s a little long…

I believe in breathing. Not the typical circulation of breathing and exhaling, that almost all beings do naturally.  The breathing I believe in is different and can have effects way beyond only sustaining life.  Fortunately, I practice this type of “special” breathing often, usually more than once a week, but on Friday mornings between 9 and 10am, I know I will use my special breath more times than I can count.

Following my 8am music theory class, I dread ascending the stairs of the music building to my weekly trombone lesson.  Occasionally, the sound of a violin or clarinet will slide through the minimal cracks between the door and its frame, livening the atmosphere of the unpopulated hallway, but at this point, nothing can change my sour mood. At the end of the hallway, I arrive at the office of Mark L. Lusk, Professor of Trombone.  I momentarily rest in the solitary chair across from Mark’s office, and my gaze wanders to the programs clumsily pinned to the bulletin board.  Usually, a fleeting thought that, “someone should decorate our bulletin board like the other professors have done with theirs,” passes through my mind, but this idea quickly escapes my focus as I begin to wonder: what kinds of criticizing and critiquing will I undergo today?  Will I be the next contestant on the never ending season of “Waste Half Your Lesson Trying to Read Mark’s Mind?” Or will he be in a helpful mood and decide to give hints for the answers to his ambiguous questions?  With Mark, the path of a lesson is never certain, which can be rather daunting at times.

When he’s ready, Mark, a very large, southern man who always wears a Penn State baseball cap, opens the door, and welcomes me into his office.  I put my shiny, new trombone together, and we go through a fifteen minute warm up that involves playing along with a CD whose narrator has a souther accent like Mark’s.  The CD shuts off, and then it begins: the silence.  A maddening silence that allows my thoughts to storm through my mind; each time the storm’s lightning strikes, it propels another idea to the the forefront of my thoughts. Posture! Tone! Rhythm! Musicality! Breathing! Breathing! Breathing! And finally, Mark says in his way too matter-of-fact tone, “You need to breath and blow more.”  After fifteen weeks of Mark’s lessons, I can pretty much guarantee that at some point, he will tell me to breath and blow in my lesson. This phrase simply means to fill your lungs, from bottom to top, and use all your air to blow a consistent stream of fast air through your horn.  It’s easier said than done.  For a lot of people, myself included, using your lungs to their full potential instead of just the 10 or 20% we use for normal every day breathing, can be quite dizzying.  I struggle with this part of trombone playing the most, and Mark acts as if it’s the easiest task in the world.  Usually, when this “breathing and blowing” part of my lesson rolls around, I can feel the frustration building up inside, almost to the point of tears.

Then, I do exactly what he wants. Well… almost.  I take a deep, deep breath, but not the kind of breath that will help me play long, musical phrases.  I take this deep breath, and then I let it out before I position my trombone anywhere near my face.  When the air escapes my lungs, I feel all of the frustration leave with it, and again I feel up for the challenge of working to get better at this aspect of music.  It’s amazing what such a simple, mundane habit with a slight exaggeration can accomplish. I believe in breathing.  Not normal, every day breathing.  And not breathing with the full capacity of my lungs.  I believe in taking the time to take a deep, cleansing breath because this simple act can renew strength and propel you through the rough moments of life.

For my This I Believe podcast ideas I’ve been considering discussing the importance of being kind to others.  I know it sounds a little generic, but I think that many people today (especially middle school and high school aged kids) tend to put on a defensive mask and are continually rude and sarcastic with one other because it’s portrayed as cool or funny.  Often, kids are bullied or ignored by their peers, and I believe that it’s totally unnecessary to treat people that way, and that small acts of kindness, that don’t take that much effort, can really go a long way.  Second, I’m thinking about talking about the importance of reading for people of any age, but especially for children.  Technology is so prominent these days that most kids, and a lot of adults, constantly use their devises to communicate with people or to play video games, and I think a lot is lost from spending so much time in the digital world.  Almost everyone has a favorite childhood book that his or her parents read before bed, and what about the first chapter book that you finished as a kid?  On top of that, tons of books can open kids up to a range of possibilities and ideas.  They give kids perspective on the world around them instead of just their small sliver of it, and they teach kids to have an imagination and to think for themselves.

For my civic issues blog, I would to write about how important music education (and other forms of art education) are important for children and their learning and growth throughout the year.  Many people rearticulate the same reasons why music is important over and over again, (these reasons include teaching kids independence and helping them develop an ear for languages, etc.) but there is a lot of new research as to further reasons why music education can be so beneficial.  The other topic I am considering is feminism.  I am taking a literature class on women writers that also doubles as a women’s studies class, so we are going to be discussing a lot about women’s perspectives on issues in novels, short readings, and poems.  I think it could be very interesting to see how feminism has changed over the years and  what its role is in today’s society.

For my passion blog, my first idea is to write about books, kind of like book reviews.  I really love reading, but I don’t always get to discuss books with others because not everyone reads the same ones.  So I think it would be enjoyable for me to talk about the books I like, but also if anyone is looking for reading suggestions, they can consider one of the books I write about.  Next, my friend and I have started watching the first episode of multiple TV shows (I think we’re up to 4 so far) on Netflix with the goal of discovering the best TV show.  So for my blog, I would write about the TV shows (reviewing them, which is kind of similar to the book idea), and at the end we can decide which show wins.  I also thought this blog would be helpful because many people now have Netflix, and they can see what sounds interesting and then watch it if they so desire.

Ted Talk

Overall, I think my ted talk went decently well.  I was slightly nervous like I am for every speech, but I had practiced this speech much more than I practiced the civic artifact speech, so I wasn’t as worried about how it would go.  It was definitely hard to memorize the entire speech.  After the intro I lost my train of thought and had a slight hiccup, but I was able to get back on track to keep discussing my topic.  The one thing that I wish I had done was make a visual.  I didn’t think that a powerpoint would be very effective for my speech since there aren’t many pictures that really go along with how technology effects the personal relationships in the classroom, but looking back on it, I think I could have come up with at least a short power point or presentation of some kind.  While I don’t think visuals are completely necessary for a ted talk, I think one would have been very helpful to keep myself from losing my train of thought, and it also gives the audience something to look at.

All of the ted talks that I saw were very successful, and they all had certain characteristics in common.  Everyone was very calm and relaxed when they spoke, and they didn’t seem like they had to rush through their information.  In addition, they all had visuals that complimented what they were discussing but didn’t take attention away from what they were saying. Finally, everyone’s topics were very interesting, and they had new interesting ideas that went along with them.  Congrats to everyone on such awesome presentations!

For my ted talk I will be discussing the shift to using more technology in the classroom and the effects it has on education, specifically the effect that technology has on the personal relationships between students and teachers and students and their peers.  To begin the presentation I plan on telling a short narrative about an experience with one of my teachers as a (hopefully) interesting and relatable example of the impact that they can have on their students.

As far as visuals go, I’m not entirely sure what I am going to use.  I would like to make a Power Point or Prezi; however, I am not really sure what I can put in it to reinforce the topic that I am discussing.  Maybe some quotes, pictures of friends and students with their teachers, or graphed statistics if I can find some.  I think pictures of the technology in use would work as well, but none of these things really show the relationship between people.  I guess this problem also shows that the personal relationships are something special that can’t be exactly replicated through technology, pictures, or words. If you have any suggestions on visuals, definitely let me know!

I think a very important aspect of this presentation is to practice and time yourself during each run through.  Since we can’t use notes, we definitely need to be comfortable with the material we are discussing so that it we can talk about it naturally and with ease.  Knowing the materials thoroughly will help us relax and hopefully keep us from omitting any necessary details.  Using the timer consistently will also help get an accurate ball park range for how long our presentations will be.  If you only time it once, it could be slightly off, so you may not have an accurate representation of how long your presentation will take.  Once all of the outlining and Power Point making is finished, I think the main thing to do in preparation for the presentation is to simply practice, and hopefully the presentations will go as planned.

Throughout my thirteen-year public school adventure I have had countless teachers who have made an impact on me.  For the most part,  the good ones are the ones that have stuck with me.  For example, my twelfth grade psychology teacher was one of the most fantastic ones I have had.  He explained concepts with such a great clarity, and he almost always had answers to students questions whether they were relevant to the lesson or not.  Furthermore, he truly cared about his students and how we were doing, in and out of the classroom.  Additionally, one of my high school marching band directors is one of the people that I admire the most.  Like my psychology teacher, she truly cared about her students, but what really stands out about her is that she is always trying to learn.  She continues to take trumpet lessons so that she can be the best musician possible, and she always explores new and improved ways to teach her students.  I do not think I have met someone who was so invested in their job and who worked so hard to continue to get better at it.  These two people have shown me the definition of what a good teacher is like, which is incredibly important to me since I would like to be a teacher one day.  Along with the good, there is always the bad, and I have certainly learned from some teachers what kind of teacher I do not want to be.  Whether they were confusing or disorganized or simply unfair, these teachers made my life significantly more difficult throughout my school career, and I could not resist thinking of ways that these teachers could improve upon they profession that they had been working at for so long.  I am also not the only one that has had the thought of changing teachers’ methods cross my mind.  For years, education has been changed and reformed, and more recently, a new aspect of education has been slowly sneaking its way into classrooms across the country: technology.  The use of technology can have a big impact on how and what children learn in the classroom, and its effects can extend to people other than just the students, like the teachers.  This shift towards using more technology in the education of children is a significant event, and its impact can be both positive and negative.

First, there is a lot of history that goes into the ways that education has changed in the past.  Plato was one of the first to hypothesize about how children learn.  He believed that children would only be capable of learning if they had the desire to do it.  Obviously, that is not entirely true since students learn all the time when they would rather be playing or doing something fun, but Plato definitely had a point.  It is much easier for people, not just children, to learn if they are interested in the subject and want to know more about it.  Jumping forward a very long time, the idea of “education reform” only began when compulsory education, the idea that education should be required for a certain period of time for everyone, became popular.  For the United States Massachusetts was the first to adopt a policy of required education in 1852.  Over the years, many changes were made to the education system, but the most significant one was when Outcome- Based learning became popular in the 1990’s.  This transferred the focus on education from how children are taught to what they can prove that they have learned.  As a result, a larger emphasis was placed on testing and myriad projects that would showcase the knowledge that the student now has.  Of course, the government always has to get involved in some way.  The more important ways were the National Education Goals that were set in the 1990’s.  These goals focused on Outcome-Based learning, and were not reached by 2000.  Then, the infamous No Child Left Behind Act was started in 2001.  We all know the effects of this system: a ridiculous amount of testing and an over-exaggerated emphasis placed on these exams.  This is just a brief overview of the changes that have been made in education, but it is evident that these changes have made an impact throughout the education system.

One of the newest changes in education is the move to the flipped classroom, which is only made possible with technology.  This innovative idea on how to structure a course involves the instructor making videos of the lecture and the students watching it at home for homework instead of sitting through it in school.  Then, the students come into class and work on what would normally be considered homework so that the teacher can help students if they struggle.  Depending on the type of class, some teachers might even go more into depth on the subject of the video lecture.  This method of teaching can have numerous benefits.  Most simply, the video can be replayed over and over again, which can help significantly if the student is taking notes and misses something that the instructor said.  This allows students the luxury of learning at their own pace without the pressure of trying to keep up or wait for a whole spectrum of learners to end up on the same page.  The students are also able to return to the lecture whenever they want if they want its help for studying or to clear up a concept or for any other reason.  Subsequently, the lecture will be delivered in a timely and efficient manner because there are no outside interruptions, like students with questions or fire drills, to stop the flow of the instructor’s speech.  The flipped classroom setup also lets teachers have more one-on-one time with their students.  If the students are doing their work in class, the students are able to ask for help right away, instead of struggling over something on their own.  The opportunity for teachers to talk to their students, whether it is school related or not, is also presented since the teacher does not need to worry about squeezing the lesson into a very specific amount of time.

Along with all of the benefits of the flipped classroom, there are also some down sides.  The change to recording lectures might be very difficult for teachers since they are used to teaching a certain way.  It may take them some time to get used to this new way of teaching, so, at first, their videos may not be as informative or effective as a tradition lecture.   In addition, technology does not always work correctly, so the class may run into some glitches along the way.  For the most part, that should not create too much of a problem, but if technical difficulties occur often, the flow of the class might be interrupted and valuable time can be wasted trying to fix the problems and make up for the delay.  This lack of structure may also make it hard for some students to learn and stay organized.  Finally, since the lectures are recorded, students can not ask questions of their professors as the lecture is progressing.  This may not create a problem since students can always ask questions in class the following day, but if the student does not understand a concept that the rest of the lecture builds off of, a problem may present itself.  These few disadvantages could possibly make a flipped classroom difficult in some ways, but there is an abundance of benefits that could revolutionize the way student learn, and none of it would be possible without the use of technology.

Another way that technology has changed education is through cyber school.  There are now many programs that offer a complete school program over the computer, so the students do not have to leave their homes in order to receive an education.  Overall, this option can be very attractive and beneficial for individuals and the community because it provides the opportunity for education to all of those people who are unable to engage in a traditional education system.  It allows people to go to school on their own time and at their own pace, which can be very useful for people with learning, mental, or physical disabilities or for people who have to work or take care of a child.  In addition, a lot of families choose to home school their children for religious reasons or simply because they do not want their kids exposed to public school, and private school may be too expensive.  Cyber school is then an appealing alternative because the kids can still learn from qualified instructors, instead of just from their mothers and fathers who might not know enough about the subjects.  Even though most of the interaction with instructors would be over the computer, a lot of programs also offer face-to-face contact for their students, like at a learning center.  Then, if a student is truly struggling, he or she always has an alternative way to get help.

Cyber school can also have a positive impact on the communities that offer it.  A lot of students who would normally drop out of high school because they need to work, take care of a child, or simply because school is not engaging or rewarding for them have turned to cyber school so that they can still get an education and still do what their life requires of them.  Communities are aided because they have less high school drop outs getting into trouble and causing problems with all of their free time.  Cyber schooling can also financially help the school districts that supply it.  In many areas, schools are granted money depending on how many students it has, and if students are being cyber schooled through a program offered by a public school, that school can receive funding for those students too.  As a result, the money benefits the school, and the cyber school program, and better schools are also sought after.  The benefits of cyber schooling are very great, and once again, only made possible through the use of technology.

Similar to cyber school, online classes in general are also becoming more popular.  Now, many colleges and some high schools offer online classes, and some high schools even require that students take a minimum number of online classes in order to graduate.  These online classes can be very beneficial for some of the same reason as cyber schooling: they are more accessible to a larger number of people, and they are flexible for people who have busy and outlandish schedules.  They also create a wider array of classes available to students, so they can be exposed to something they otherwise would not have the opportunity to explore.  These classes can even be helpful for subjects outside the traditional school day.  For example, online SAT preparation courses can be very helpful to those who cannot attend one in person or who do not have them offered near bye.  On the other hand, online classes may not always be the right option for some people.  Students are not presented with an instructor that they see on a regular basis; the work and pace of the class is completely up to the student, which may be somewhat daunting.  It is also easier to push online work aside in order to complete work for traditional classes since those ones will usually be more strict.  Furthermore, the atmosphere of being in an actual class with actual people is lost online.  The student is more alone in their work, and they do not have other students to interact with and to get help from.  This aspect can teach students independence, but it can also isolate people from help.  The option for online classes can be very helpful and beneficial in many ways; however, it definitely cannot replace traditional school, and it may be hard to keep up with both online and traditional classes.

In addition, technology has a big effect on the personal connections that go on in the classroom.  In a lot of ways, like cyber school and online classes, it removes the person to person interaction almost completely.  Some students may be able to work well with this change, but others may have a harder time.  The personal connection can even be taken out of a traditional classroom with the use of technology.  Many classes use computers or other programs within their classes, and more often teachers are able to tell their students to go to a certain website and work on the activities it provides, taking away from the time that teachers spend actually instructing their students.  In some cases, like the flipped classroom, time may be opened up for more communication between students and teachers, but as a whole, technology can cut off students from their teachers and from interaction with other students.  In life in general, technology is such a huge part.  Almost everywhere you go, people are on cell phones or computers or some other device, and school is the one place that students have the opportunity to be free from all of that.  Unquestionably, technology is very useful in the classroom, and it can help in numerous ways, but the amount of time that it is used should be monitored so that it does not completely take away human to human contact.  After all, a lot of learning simply comes from interacting with people.

The use of technology is also capable of having a huge impact on the teachers that use it.  FIrst, technology can be used to replace teachers.  There are programs now that can teach simple concepts like adding and subtracting and spelling that students can use and learn just as much as they would with a human teacher.  This may benefit school districts because they can cut down on the amount of teachers they have, therefore reducing the amount of money spent to pay teachers.  But it also costs a lot of people their jobs.  Second, teachers will have to learn how to effectively teach with technology.  Most teachers did not grow up with what we have now, and they may not know how to use it or put it to good use in the classroom.  This will require a lot of extra work on the teachers‘ part to figure out how they will do their job in a new and improved way.  In addition, technology will also add to some of the skills that are looked for in potential teachers to hire.  Employers are now going to look for candidates who know how to use technology and who are willing to learn more and incorporate it into their classrooms.  The use of technology can have a major effect on not only the students, but also the teachers.

Overall, technology is an increasingly important part of education today, and its importance is rising.  For changes like the flipped classroom and added opportunities like cyber schooling and online classes, technology is necessary and it creates many opportunities that students would not have otherwise.  However, the use of technology still has to be watched so that it is not used so much that it cuts out the personal aspect of learning from teachers and other students.  Many technological changes affect the students, but they can also affect teachers by replacing them completely or by changing how they need to teach and forcing them to explore new options.  The use of technology in education is growing more and more every day, and while it can be incredibly helpful, we are all responsible for making sure that it does not take over traditional learning in the future.