What do we owe Africa?

No matter how much digging people do it seems that the roots of American racism are hard to reach. Slavery was part of the British Empire before the American colonies even existed, but sources say that British enslavement of Africans was more a matter of convenience and economy than of a stance of white superiority. This issue is certainly not dead, and cogent arguments range wide across it. Several years ago at the 2001 United Nations’ World Conference several African countries claimed that they deserved some form of reparations from the countries that mistreated their ancestors through the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade years ago (Howard-Hassman p.1). These reparations are not likely to be granted because of the ambiguity of the history of the slave trade (Howard-Hassman p.1). Even so, the argument is interesting: if these reparations were to take place, who would owe the most to the mistreated African countries? Evidence shows that although the practice of African enslavement began on the British Isles, the American colonies were the ones who actually developed a racist attitude against the African people that led to the largest forced exodus of people in the history of the world.

History is a tricky thing because it can be easily misinterpreted through the eyes of the historian who is from a different time and in a different situation than the people he is studying. This is most certainly the case with the study of American racism. Racism is, and has been, such a hot issue that historians such as Carl Deglar have had a tough time viewing the past in the context of those times without relying on the knowledge of the eventual outcome of the particular issue (Breen 25-26). In other words, it’s difficult to not view every action and law against an African slave as overt racism, because of the well-known outcome that eventuated from various actions. Author Rhoda Howard-Hassman notes that even the simplest issues dealing with racism and slavery are hard to understand. She notes that the estimates of slaves transported from Africa during the era of the slave-trade range from 12 million to about 100 million slaves forcefully taken from the continent (Howard-Hassman p.2-3). This being the case, it is much more difficult for the historians to pinpoint the exact time and place that racist attitudes emerged from the practice of slavery. It is necessary to view arguments and counter-arguments of this issue to gain the fullest understanding of the evidences and interpretations of evidences that can lead to the most realistic opinion of how and where racism developed.

Winthrop D. Jordan’s book White over Black: American Attitudes toward the Negro explores the development of racism in America from the years 1550-1812, and it is a common springboard used by other writers and historians to leap, not only into the analysis of Jordan’s work, but also into the issue of American racism in general. In his analysis of Jordan’s thesis, Karl Westhauser notes that Jordan displayed the necessary understanding of the subject by realizing “that to discover the origins of American racism, he would first have to trace the development of English attitudes toward Africans (Westhauser p. 112).” Jordan began naturally from the beginning – the British ideas of the Africans during their first encounter in 1550. The darkness of the color of the skin of the African peoples was of extreme interest the Englishmen because it was so far from anything they had ever seen. This meeting came at a time when the difference between white and black – light and dark – in the mind of the Englishmen carried heavy significance. Jordan notes that “White and black connoted purity and filthiness, virginity and sin, virtue and baseness, beauty and ugliness, beneficence and evil, God and the devil (Jordan p.7).” Jordan explains that this was not an uncommon train of thought among different peoples and cultures. This being the case, Africans naturally found themselves to be the most beautiful while the white Europeans weren’t attractive to them in the least. Their views were “inverse to the European’s (Jordan p.10).” Despite the difference in opinions regarding the beauty and meaning of different colors, the two cultures didn’t automatically regard the other as fitting a specific role – the Europeans didn’t “[prejudge] the Negro as a slave, at least not as a slave of Englishmen. Rather, Englishmen met Negroes merely as another sort of men (Jordan p.4).” The view of racism that assigned the Negro to the position as an inferior human being designated for work as a slave didn’t come along until relations between black and white men were much more developed.

From this realization Jordan researched and proved “that English ideas about black people were fluid well into the seventeenth century, grounding the rise of racism in contingency rather than the certainty of hindsight (Westhauser p.112-113).” Jordan’s interpretation of the development of racism eschews the idea that the American colonists’ attitudes were already founded upon the idea of white-supremacy when they established the colonies in America. To further the point first illustrated by Jordan, Westhauser states that the British’s practices of slavery and attitudes of racism only correlated with the development of that in the colonies to a certain degree. He notes:
Yet some doors that closed in the Americas remained open in England, creating meaningful opportunities for black people and for the development of race relations. Most importantly, no legislation establishing slavery was ever enacted in England; the laws enacted in the colonies found no parallel at home…. English courts had to decide over and over again, case by case, whether to uphold rights of property or of liberty; their decisions differed from one case to another. (Westhauser pp. 113-114)
Westhauser’s evidence buttresses Jordan’s idea by proving that in statutory law the British didn’t enact anything of the same magnitude and racial discrimination that the American colonies did. If the Americans received their racist attitudes from the British then it would have been more likely that the British would have displayed a similar amount of brutality and racism towards Africans that the Americans did.

The American colonies inherited the idea of slavery from the British, but how the Americans fused all Africans to the position as slaves and thus created white-supremacist ideals requires some investigation. Perhaps it was bound to happen to some degree, because even the British developed racist attitudes toward Africans, although these attitudes weren’t near the same degree as what the Americans. However, this idea supposes that even if America was bound to develop some form of racist attitude, they still had power over how deep they would allow this racism to run in their society. Considering that the American colonies and the British differed in the extent of their racism then it also leads to the idea of the possibility that each society was actually in control of whether or not racism developed and found place in their statutes at all.

Meditation

In societies throughout the world, there are many problems emerging as a result of the downturn many economies have taken in the last several years. There is one in particular that has affected many people even though they may not even realize its influence. What is this problem? Stress. Stress and anxiety are two very well known issues which have been around since man can remember. They are unavoidable. Any kind of emotional or physical threat can cause stress or anxiety in a person, resulting in irritability, fatigue, headaches, loss of energy, or high blood pressure and heart rate. If stress is not managed properly it can have a serious affect on a person’s well-being mentally and emotionally, as well as physically. There have been many different suggestions for stress management presented by doctors, specialists, mothers, fathers and friends. Popular methods for stress reduction include exercise or medication. However, there have been alternative means of medicine that doctors have been experimenting with for many years now. One alternative to medication is meditation. Doctors have been researching its affects on high blood pressure and heart rate due to stress.
While many people still think of meditation as a bunch of “humms” and “owms” that hippies or Buddhists practice, there is much more to it than that. It is more than just sitting cross-legged on the floor. It is an intellectually based exercise to help focus and concentrate on oneself or ones conscious (Robert). Buddhist meditation is one of the oldest forms of meditation that originally was practiced for religious purposes to become closer to nature and God, and calm one’s mind. The art of Zen takes practice and discipline in order to perfect the meditative processes. (Masao 122). What doctors have been researching more recently are the actual psychological and physiological affects that meditation can have on someone. Experiments and research has led many doctors to believe that meditation can be used for more than just “finding oneself” or getting to know a god. Meditation can be a useful practice for the treatment of stress and anxiety because of its calming affects which can reduce heart rate and blood pressure. Many people may not think it is a very practical means of alternative medicine for anxiety or stress but when practiced seriously and correctly meditation can be calming for more than just the spirit of a person. It can physically and psychologically calm their body and mind (Hyuk 190).
There are many different types of meditation that are being found to be very affective for stress management. One of which is transcendental meditation. Transcendental meditation is a more modern method of meditation that was first taught by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi from India. It involves the use of a sound or “mantra” that is meant to draw ones attention back to a specific thought or idea. As the mantra is repeated it is supposed to focus the mind and awaken the less active parts of the brain (Michaels 1242). When applied by patients with anxiety this type of meditation can help them focus and take control in order to slow breathing and heart rate.

Steps Toward Socialism: The American Pilgrimage

"I believe there are more instances of the abridgement [sic] of the freedom of the people by the gradual and silent encroachment of those in power, than by violent and sudden usurpation."
President James Madison (1751-1836) speech, Virginia Convention, 1788

Eleven score and 13 years ago, our founding fathers pledged to each other their "lives, [their] fortunes and [thier] sacred honor" (Declaration of Independence) and embarked upon the great experiment known to us as The United States of America. It was to be a true republic; a government "of the people, by the people, for the people" (Gettysburg Address) guided by divine providence. It was a dream that they shed sweat, blood and tears to achieve. It was a dream defended on the battlefield, in the courthouse, and in the hearts and minds of our earliest patriots. It is a dream realized.
Today there are more than three-hundred-million people lucky enough to call themselves "Americans" and lay claim to the unparalleled heritage of our great country. People from all nationalities, races, and tongues have journeyed here just so that they too might be a part of this great dream and claim the promised blessings of "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" (Declaration of Independence) for their posterity. Through hard work, determination, and a little inspiration they let our capitalist (free) economy work for them.
I love America. I have been a student of its history, purpose, and theology since I was a boy. I feel especially blessed to be an American after the two years I spent living in the heart of Russia. I learned the Russian language, culture, customs, and history and feel so very fortunate that our country has been spared their dark heritage of tyrants, bloody revolutions, and communism.
As a student of the histories of both of these nations, it not only became apparent to me that there were reasons for the rise of the Soviet Union, but that similar trends exist in the United States today. Trends that if not halted, I'm sorry to say, will lead us down a long and destructive road toward a fate similar to our Soviet friends. Many of these trends may seem harmless, or even appealing such as "socialized medicine." But behind the campaign promises lies a threat to our hard-won liberties. Although appealing, this progressive movement toward socialism must be halted or our great nation will find itself slowly robbed of its liberties and freedoms in the name of "security" and "welfare."
It shall now be our opportunity to explore the histories of Russia and the United States in order to compare, contrast, and decide for ourselves what our future shall be. As one of our greatest presidents, Abraham Lincoln, once said, "America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves."

Post Traumaic Stress Disorder

During this past year, President Obama has spent billions of dollars to stimulate the economy in order help the people our nation get back on their feet and have confidence in our government once more. For the most part, I appreciate the effort. The one thing that he left off of his list though was our soldiers that continue to fight a war, even though they have already returned home. They are fighting a battle with an illness called Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Also known as PTSD, hundreds of thousands of veterans struggle through their normal ever day lives with symptoms such as flashbacks or nightmares of the traumatic event, hyperventilation, anger or even suicidal thoughts and the list continues. What are people doing to help these veterans through their struggle? The answer is sometimes nothing. Our government has only limited resources to help. Our veterans deserve better. Although spending more money on PTSD stricken veterans would cause a greater national debt and deficit, the United States Government needs to help up those who have fought for our freedoms by providing the necessary funding for specific treatments that are proven effective for the recovery from this terrible disorder.The government has programs and treatment facilities for those with physical wounds. They will pay for disability and treatment and rehabilitation costs but what about those who come back with all of their limbs and no physical scarring but have deep emotional wounds that are not visible to the naked eye and cannot be corrected with surgery? We should be doing all that we can for these soldiers to assist them in their recovery. They shouldn’t have to suffer in silence because their wounds are not apparent to those around them.

Many people do not understand what exactly Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is and rightfully so. It is difficult to understand because the disorder can present itself differently on a case by case basis. The Mayo Clinic defines it as, “a type of anxiety disorder that's triggered by a traumatic event. You can develop post-traumatic stress disorder when you experience or witness an event that causes intense fear, helplessness or horror (Mayo). This definition however does not give specific enough symptoms or criteria to categorize someone as having the disorder. According to the American Journal of Nursing, there are six separate criteria, each with its own subcategory that one must meet in order to qualify as a PTSD patient. The criteria are: “The person has been exposed to a traumatic event; The traumatic event continues to be re-experienced; There is a persistent avoidance of stimuli associated with the trauma and numbing of general responses which were not present before the trauma; Persistent symptoms of arousal as indicated by…difficulty sleeping or an exaggerated startle response; Duration of [the previous] symptoms for more than one month; A significant distress or impairment in social, occupational or other important areas of functioning (Clark 28).” These specific criteria aid in narrowing down those who are candidates of PTSD from those with a one time response to a traumatic event. It is so important to realize the symptoms of someone with PTSD in order to help them get treatment. For veterans of older wars, PTSD was not recognized as a disorder during their service in the military and most often, those veterans have no awareness that it even exists or that they can receive help for their condition.

Currently the government has specific protocols on which diagnostic tool to use and then treatment is essentially up to the individual. The Department of Defense implements a program called the combat stress control program which educates those individuals in recognizing the early symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. This program includes a list of questions that can be asked to determine if the individual is experiencing PTSD. What they do not have however are the numbers to veterans being treated for the disorder, or how many they expect to treat in the coming years (USAO 2).”

In a report given to the Committee on Veterans Affairs in the House of Representatives, the government acknowledges that at least, “15 percent or more service members returning from [current] conflicts will develop Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (5).” With approximately 180,000 troops deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan, that is 27,000 soldiers that will come home with a debilitating mental disorder (wikipedia).

Capital What?

As Americans, we view life as precious, sacred, and above all else the single most important thing to protect. But what happens when the thing we value most is stripped away from us without any sound or notice? Pain. Revenge is for seen therefore, nothing else but and eye for and eye will satisfy the demand for it. But is taking a precious life for another to justify the demands for misdeeds the correct way to perform properly? The founding fathers of the United States would have to say other wise. Upon writing the constitution, Tomas Jefferson gave all of man kind inalienable rights, rights that can never be taking away, “life liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” these three elements formed the foundation to this country and the way we view freedom. Although capital punishment, or the death penalty, justifies the demand for murder, it should be abolished because it was and will forever be unconstitutional.
To understand where we are now, we have to understand where we have been. It’s believed that King Hammurabi of Babylon, during the early 18th century B.C, was the first to establish death as an appropriate ends for punishment. This was then adopted later by many other civilizations such as the Romans with death by beating, burning, crucifixion, drowning and impalement. Although these seemed very harsh for uncivilized civilizations, it was a most common practice in the entire world. It wasn’t till about the 19th century that Henry VIII of England issued punishment for crimes small and large to be death by hanging. This “new and improved” way of capital punishment carried on into the U.S. for about two hundred years until the last hanging of 22-year-old Rainey Bethea on August 14, 1936. During this time, however, techniques to capital punishment like the electrical chair in 1889 were adopted and punishments like beheading, and burning alive was abolished due to “cruel and un usual punishment.” During the 1930’s executions in the U.S. hit an all time high with an average on 167 deaths per year. This statistic seems shocking, but fortunately, it declined until it reached 37 deaths in the year 2008. Use of the electrical chair lasted until 2008, where Nebraska, became the last and final state to abolish it due to its cruel and unusual stature. Unfortunately, this was not the end of capital punishment. Lethal injection, or death by poisonous chemicals in the blood stream, become the most common way to kill prisoners from its first appearance in 1977 to our current day (ProQuest). It was supposed to be a better alternative to hanging, the gas chamber, fireing squad and elocution that was cleaner, clinical, painless more human and therefore a more acceptable form of capital punishment. unfortunately, The controversial issue that stands today is that is lethal injection, like other capital punishment techniques used in the past, a cruel and unsafe way to execute a person?
To know where you stand on this issue, you have to understand what exactly lethal injection is and what its procedures are there of. Webster’s dictionary defines it to be a liquid that is introduced into something forcefully resulting in death. This liquid, or sometimes referred to as a “cocktail”, is currently used in almost all states in the US as a means to capital punishment. This three drug cocktail contains sodium patroulm-wich knocks the patient out resulting in unconsciousness, pancruronium bromide-which causes muscle paralysis, and potassium chloride-which stops the heart ending the person’s life due to cardiac arrest. Unfortunately potassium chloride can possibly wear off before the person’s heart stops resulting in extreme physical and mental anguish. The worst part is that because of the other two drugs used with in the cocktail, the victim is bound in a chemical straight jacket and cannot tell anyone that he or she is in pain. In fact, amnesty international notes that TX has banded the use of these chemicals on animals because of the extreme pain they can cause. This kind of mistake in procedures is not an impossible thing to occur. For example, the execution of angel Diaz added urgency to this case. Tom Head, writer for about dot com on guide to civil liberties, said, “Lethal injection executions generally end within 15 minutes, with the inmate unconscious after the first 3-5 minutes; Diaz' took 34, and he was conscious for at least the first 25. A spokesperson for the Florida Department of Corrections initially claimed that Diaz felt no pain during the execution, but a coroner's investigation belied that claim.” so was Diaz tortured to death? Head goes on to explain, “Eyewitness reports indicate that Diaz was still moving and attempting to speak (or, perhaps, scream) more than twenty minutes into the execution, suggesting that he was still conscious and in pain. Diaz would have remained partially paralyzed by the injection of pavulon, a muscle relaxant administered shortly after the pentothol. His death was almost certainly slow and excruciatingly painful--and with his body frozen by the pavulon, he would have had no way of expressing that pain.” University of Miami surgery professor Leonidas G. Koniaris added, "This raises the possibility people are being tortured and you can't see it because they are paralyzed… I'm not sure a civilized society should be doing this."

The Affects of NAFTA on the Mexican worker/farmer

For as long as its existence as a nation, the United States has always been advanced, both economically and technologically. It was here that the first telephone rang, the first light bulb gave light, and here where planes first left the ground. As time moves on, and Americans progress, it would makes sense that jobs would as well. The U.S. farmer became the industry worker, who moved up to business man, who will continue to strive for advancements. Somehow, over time, our ideas of what a working man is composed of has changed, and somehow the hard working American man began to be looked down upon. As educational advancements become more conceivable for many Americans, citizens of America are sill in need of jobs, whether agricultural, industrial, or other. Unfortunately for many of these Americans, jobs in the workforce (especially Industrial), have become scarce. This is because some Americans have become “smarter” and discovered how using people less fortunate than themselves can work to their advantage. So they began coming up with ways to use workers from countries with less developed economies (such as Mexico) to their advantage- because they have become accustomed to having what they want, at the cheapest price available. To help those in favor of sending the American man’s job out of the country, businessmen and government officials created an easy way to transport goods in and out of America: The North American Free Trade Agreement. Thanks to NAFTA, U.S. factory jobs have been taken across the border and handed to Mexican men, women, and children; all of whom work for no set minimum wage. Thanks to NAFTA, Mexican farmers are going out of business because Mexicans can now import their food from huge American corporations with no tax. The overall affect: NAFTA has been harmful to the workers and farmers of Mexico.
Ratified by the U.S. Senate in 1994, NAFTA, “Was designed to remove barriers and increase trade among the United States, Canada, and Mexico… [which would] promote free trade between the United States and other nations,” (ABC-CLIO). Critics of this agreement saw its creation with both favors and flaws. With globalization becoming more and more popular, economist and national leaders liked the idea of lower trade tariffs and barriers. Gregory Mankiw, a professor of economics, took part in pushing NAFTA through to the senate. On the subject, Mankiw said, “Outsourcing is a new way of doing International Trade…I think outsourcing is a growing phenomenon, but it’s something that we should realize is probably a plus for the economy in the long run”. This bold statement made by Mankiw leads to one obvious question: How long is “the long run”? It has been thirteen years since NAFTA came into effect, and we don’t even seem close to reaching the “long run”.
Exploitation of cheap labor in Mexico has been an ongoing reality, and with extinct tariffs, the practice is becoming quite common. In fact, one of the main reason people opposed the validity of NAFTA was because they said, “the pact would result only in a massive transfer of U.S. and Canadian jobs to lower-paid Mexican workers” (Grolier). It’s true that NAFTA created many more jobs for the Mexican worker, but was this really to his or her advantage? Working for no set minimum wage, but only a price that would never be allowed in the United States, Mexican workers work in sweat shops for hours at a time, hoping the work they put in will pay off enough to feed their family. Personally, the idea of feeding impoverished families is great, but at what cost are these families being fed, and has having new jobs given them that heads up? The answer is no. A study conducted by the Labor University of Mexico, concluded that the purchasing power of Mexican citizens has been declining ever since 1994, the year that NAFTA was put into effect. NAFTA not only significantly decreased their purchasing power, but also contributed to an increase of unemployment in agriculture and small businesses because those fields could not compete with U.S. imports (American Decades). This means that not only has NAFTA shifted the United States’ economy, but also the Mexican economy, and none for the better. While companies can afford more products, this isn’t necessarily a good thing. It just confirms that American companies are cashing in on the hard manual labor of poor factory workers, who slave away and ridiculously low prices. And why do they get to slave away? Because companies know that they can get away with it, because there is no minimum wage enforcement in Mexico as there is in the U.S.

International Adoption

International Adoption
Orphanages have been on the earth since 1729 when Ursuline nuns began an orphanage in North America after Indians killed all adults in Natchez, Mississippi (ProQuest). Ever since then adopting a child has become more known by U.S citizens. In the year 1949 author Pearl S. Buck began the very first adoption agency to deal with international and interracial adoption. American families adopt 20,000 children from former countries every year (Spivack). This agency which was known as “Welcome House” promoted and pushed for the adoption of Asian Children (ProQuest). International adoption began in the 1950’s after the Korean war. Americans began to adopt children who were known as Amerasian due to the fact they were half American from men of the military. International adoption sparked again after disturbing photos were released of Romanian orphanages, and it began an effort to save children there(Spivack). If international adoption was promoted in the 1950’s it should be even more so promoted in this 21st century.

Beth Nonte Russell is the founder of Big Mind Publishing and expressed her concern that even though China claims to be concerned about the ratio of boys to girls there is still an odd overwhelming number of girls in orphanages (Russell). Going back to the “one child law” this could be the reason for the great number of females in orphanages. Members of the Chinese society are only allowed one child. In China it is more honorable to have a son, therefore parents give up their child if it is a female. Russell goes on to state, “It seems that China is more concerned with its image than the welfare of its children.” Also due to this one-child policy “missing” girls, as Russell calls it approaches five million each year. Russell said pertaining to the high rate of abortions each year in China and 70 percent of them estimating to be females that, “National pride is more important than getting these children into loving homes.”
International adoption has so many opportunities and benefits. First off it gives a child the opportunity to be part of a loving and permanent family. It has been proven and many experts agree that institutionalism is harmful to a child’s physical, emotional, and intellectual development. Even highly funded orphanages can not offer the nourishment and development that permanent homes can. Statistics have also proven that children who grow up in institutionalism, also known as an orphanage, has a higher rate of suicide and drug abuse (Spivack). International adoption really does give these children opportunities that they would never even dream about. There is no alternative that can give the same opportunities for a child then having a real family that will help them reach their potential. Spivack says it best when she approaches the topic of international adoption when she states, “it is important to reinforce the notion that a child needs far more than a roof over his head to grow and flourish in his life-children need families who will love and nurture them-in order to grow into secure, productive and happy adults.” As one can see international adoption has never ending benefits yet some still believe international adoption is risky.
Spivack explains the risks of adopting from overseas and it becoming more difficult, expensive, and potentially heartbreaking. Foreign adoption brings its own difficulties. First one being mainly that the parents must meet the legal requirements of two countries. Spivack stated, “The most daunting and potentially devastating, hurdle in international adoption is assessing a child’s health in the face of incomplete or faulty medical information.” Most of the children coming to the United States come from countries with poor medical systems and where pregnant women lack prenatal care. Also some believe that the lack of individual care in an orphanage causes many of the delays of physical and mental developments (Spivack). All these statements are true and heartbreaking but is this a good enough reason to stay away from international adoption? Isn’t this more reason to adopt foreign to help this child in need? Yes, in some instances parents are lied to and adopt a child that needs more care then expected but in more situations than not , through international adoption the child you receive is one that you will help grow strong, healthy, and feel loved.

ADHD: Medication vs. Behavioral Treatment for Children

According to The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), 3% to 5% of children suffer from ADHD, but many experts claim that statistic is actually closer to 8 to 10%. This means that in a standard classroom of 20 children, 2 of those students would be likely to exhibit symptoms of Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder. It is an issue that is becoming more and more prevalent with each generation, and parents are at a loss of what to do to help their children. While ADHD cannot be cured, many methods of treatment have surfaced that have had success in helping these hyperactive individuals function better in social settings. The two main options for the alleviation of symptoms are, A.) a variety of stimulant, non-stimulant, anti-depressant, and high-blood pressure drug medications , and B.) behavioral therapy. While drug medications have many potentially risky side effects (which has pushed many outside the medical field to strongly advocate behavioral treatment), I believe that a combination of drug medication and behavioral therapy is the best way to encourage a child’s self esteem, performance in school, ability to make friends, and success in the future.
In order to decipher the best option for treating a disorder, it is obviously important to be very knowledgeable of the condition itself. After years of research and testing, what exactly causes ADHD is still a factor of obscurity. Studies have shown that ADHD has a strong genetic component; children are more likely to develop the disorder if one or both of their parents have it (or had symptoms in their childhood years). A staggering one-third of all fathers who had ADHD in their youth have children with ADHD. It is also known that in many cases of ADHD, the root of the probably seems to stem from a neurological perspective; the affected children tend to have dysregulation of neurotransmitters, which are chemicals that are used to transmit messages between nerve cells in the brain. In addition, there can be abnormal functioning in the nerve pathways that regulate behavior, and particular sections of the brain may be smaller or less active than normal. It is also suggested that other external and environmental factors can contribute to the development of ADHD. It is not uncommon for this behavior disorder to be diagnosed in children who had a low birth weight, a head injury to the frontal lobe during infancy, whose mothers smoked or drank alcohol during pregnancy, or who were exposed to lead or other various environmental toxins.
The most common symptoms in children are: inability to concentrate, easily bored/frustrated with tasks, constantly moving/restless, impulsive, forgetful, disorganized, avoid activities that necessitate a sustained effort, excessive talking, defiance, and problems with anger management. Because of these symptoms, many children have trouble with schoolwork, and are unable to thrive in social situations (they struggle to make friends, and have a hard time maintaining healthy relationships with family members and mentors).
Many speculate that ADHD is not a real disorder, that it is simply a fabrication of everyday characteristics and typical childlike behaviors. I know from experience, however, that this is not the case. My younger brother, who just turned 7 years old a few months ago, was diagnosed with ADHD this past year. Since the age of one and a half, he was a handful for my mother and father, and I’m not talking about the normal “terrible toddler” stage that every child goes through. He was constantly running to a fro; even with a large family of six of us to look after him, we could never seem to keep tabs on where he was. At night, getting him to sleep was an impossible task. After hours of trying to calm him down, we had to resort to getting locks for the outside of his room in hopes that he would stop sneaking out and eventually fall asleep. But he would just scream endlessly and kick the door so loud that we were getting complaints from the neighbors who could hear his tantrums through the night. In church, he could not sit still for even five minutes during a meeting. His Sunday school teachers could not handle him; he would fidget excessively, make a mess of the room, and talk excessively and blurt out things during the lesson. It was the same scenario at school but worse, because with a classroom of at least 20 kids, it was nearly impossible for his kindergarten teacher to pay as much attention to him individually as his behavior demanded. The first day of school he was sent to the assistant principal’s office, and nearly every day following that for the entire year. Sometimes he would even spend the entire week in ISS (In-School-Suspension) because he was so out of control. It got to the point where the school called my mother and requested that he be removed from public school and enrolled somewhere else where there were other children with Landon’s unusual “special needs”. Because he could not sit and focus, and long tasks were daunting to him, he was unable to learn to read and became increasingly behind the other children academically. Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder is real. It is not an exaggeration, a result of bad parenting, or a lack of discipline. It is a true struggle that kids and their parents are going through across the country and all over the world. As I have watched my mother, I have seen how difficult it is to decide how to help your ADHD child, especially when there are so many options out there each with their own set of pros and cons) while simultaneously being judged and told she was a bad parent with no control over her own son.
When it comes to drug medication for ADHD, the most commonly prescribed (and typically most effective) are stimulants such as Ritalin, Adderall, Dexedrine, Concerta, Focaline, Metadate, Methylin, and Vyvanse. These medications have been used for the longest amount of time and therefore have the most research to back up their effectiveness. These drugs are believed to work by increasing dopamine (the neurotransmitter associated with motivation, pleasure, attention, and movement) levels in the brain. They help ADHD symptoms by increasing the ability to concentrate in addition to suppressing hyperactivity and impulsive actions.
While stimulants can be effective, for some patients the side effects outweigh the benefits. Some common side effects are loss of appetite (capable of causing unhealthy weight loss), headaches, upset stomach, irritability/mood swings, depression, dizziness, racing heartbeat, and tics. A few of these became apparent in the case of my brother, particularly the loss of appetite (he started to lose so much weight that my mom had to take him off the medication during the weekends so he would eat), as well the upset stomach and some minor tics. Also, stimulant medications may also cause changes in personality. Some children are become withdrawn, listless, rigid, develop obsessive-compulsive habits, or are less free-spirited and talkative.
It is crucial that an extensive medical exam (specifically an electrocardiogram) be performed before prematurely being prescribed to any stimulant medication. Because if your child has a heart defect/disease, high blood pressure, hyperthyroidism, glaucoma, or high levels of anxiety, they are at risk for even more serious side effects and even death.

Origins of Racism in Colonial America

My topic explores how racism took shape as white-supremacy in the American colonies. I want to know specifically if white-supremacy existed in such a strong state before slavery was passed as statutory law. I think that it's possible that racism could have developed as a way to justify slavery in respect to the Constitution. My argument is kairotic because many people are still unfamiliar with the origins of racism in the colonies. Racism is an issue that Americans still deal with everyday, and I think that exploring the origins of this issue is an important thing to do.

I think that statistics from the time period will be helpful in my argument. If I can find statistics about African-Americans landowners and slaves, I may be able to incorporate that into my argument. Statistics in history often legitimize a claim or argument.

Comparison by degree will also be helpful to me in my argument. I plan on going through the history of colonial American beginning at about 1600 in order to compare the degrees of racism that were apparent from that point until slavery was made lawful. This will give me the proper insight and credibility in my argument because my issue specifically deals with events in relation to time.

North Korea's nuclear agenda

I decided to do my issues paper over the issue within N. Korea's nuclear agenda. They have been rebelling against the rest of the world reguarding their nuclear weapons program for years and they need to be humbled. This issue is very important to other countries around the globe because they sense N. Korea is a threat.

Deaf Schools in the US

My topic is about deaf schools and their capabilities on helping their students be able to grow in a hearing world after graduation. The major issues in my topic is the fact that some of the deaf schools in the US are being closed because of budget cuts. My argument is kairotic because there has been a lot of debate around the subject of the deaf school's closing and I think that if I can prove that the capabilities of the deaf schools truly help those who are deaf then the school's might not shut down. I will also be comparing the school's in the US to those in possibly the UK but I have not been able to find very much information on that front yet.

The three types of arguments that I am going to use are: definition by class or category, statistics, and cause and effect.

I think that the definition of exactly what a successful deaf school is would be very helpful so that people can be aware that they are very successful which would be backed up by my statistics and then I would use cause and effect to show how the closing of some of the deaf school's has been traumatic for the kids and how the kids who have been able to continue through the deaf school programs have been able to excel.

September 11, 2001: Adrienne

I decided to research whether the Sept. 11 attack on the World Trade Center justified the US attack on Iraq. I knew that i wanted to do one about the attacks but wasn't really sure how to narrow it. I finally decided to research if it was reason enough to attack Iraq. I will be able to argue by using cause and effect, authority, and antecent and consequence.

racism on radio

For my issues paper I decided to go with is: should radio speech be restricted by the U.S. government. I chose to do this with recent speculation of critics regarding Don Imus' attacks on the Rutgers girls basketball team. This is narrowed because I originally went with Racism is still very much alive in the U.S., and that's pretty broad. Major issues are: people choosing to get offended, and speech being free. This is very much an issue, and it's a bad one, because limiting freedom of speech is a slippery slope nobody wants to go down. This will help because it is a controversial issue.

Homosexuality in the political process

I was going to do the effects of Barak Obamas candidacy on the passage of prop 8. I had to narrow it to focus on the effects of differing racial views on homosexuality as regaurds to politics. I belive that I can argue using definition by class or caatagorey. i can also use comparison by difference.

Depression in Teenage Girls

The topic for my paper is going to be on how the media affects depression in teenage girls. I had original just wanted to do a paper on the affects of the media on teenage girls, but that was to big of a subject. I would like to take the stance that the media has a very negative affect on how girls view themselves and then puts them at higher risk for depression. I am still doing research so I haven't come up with all of the arguments yet, because I haven't had a lot of time to do research, but I would love to look at if the affect that the media has in America is different then in another country, like England. I just feel like this could be fascinating if I really do the research right.

College Napping: Scott

My research topic is College Napping. I was just going to do the art of napping however that is much too broad so i narrowed it down to focus on bus college students and napping. The major issues on my topic are simply are naps good or bad. I have found many articles that show the pros and cons of napping so there is a lot of information to look at for both sides of the argument. This is a popular topic and many have different views about short naps. Some arguments i can make it that if you take a short nap a day than you will be more attentive and do better in you school work. Another argument is that a short nap makes you more tired and groggy and doesnt help for catching up for lost sleep.

My general topic is NAFTA. To narrow it, I am either going to focus on the negative affects on Mexican farmers, or the negative affects on U.S. factory workers. Critics of NAFTA say it has caused U.S. companies to send jobs from the U.S. to Mexico, because labor is much cheaper there. So businesses are taking advantage of Mexicans, and many jobs have been taken away from low wage jobs in the U.S. Also, small Mexican farms have suffered because of businesses.
I could argue that moving your business to a country that has no minimum wage is morally wrong and should be a punishable thing. I could also argue that NAFTA has caused American jobs to be lost, and wages to lower at jobs that could have been transferred across the border

My Research Topic

For my topic I knew wanted to do something about meditation, but I was having a hard time focusing that into an arguable issue, so I decided to make the main issue about alternative medicine and more specifically meditation. There is still some controversy about whether or not meditation can be a physiological cure or treatment and thats what I'll be focusing my argument on. A few types of arguments I could make would be a contradiction: either meditation is useful as a type of alternative medicine, or it isn't, or comparison by degree: meditation could be a useful treatment for some issues but not all, or I could argue about the definition by class or category: meditation is just one means of alternative medicine that could be helpful. All of those types of arguments are kind of what I want to focus on in my thesis and could be important arguments in my paper.

PTSD

My topic is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and how the U.S. Government needs to better recognize the signs and symptoms in order to diagnose and treat war veterans. What I want to do is talk about the history of PTSD in the military and narrow it down by coming up with a specific treatment that I think is the best and argue that the government should provide funding and rehabilitation. As of right now PTSD is too narrowly defined which makes it hard for veterans to receive treatment for it. I also want to argue that they need screenings for all soldiers when they return home from war. As of right now, there are too many soldiers who go without treatment because they either do not understand what PTSD is exactly or that they are nervous that if they have it, they will not be able to return to active duty. The different arguments I think that i will use are testimony, authority and cause and effect. I think that this will be really effective in arguing my point.

Weed

My research topic is about swimming more than anything else. I may need to broaden it to athletes in general but for now i want to go with swimming because as a swimmer I have knowledge of the sport and what could be conducive to excellence. I want to emphasis, indtead of the rising problem with marijuana in athletes, the properties of the drug that may in fact help athletes improve especially in respect to technique. Obviously I will be including health concerns that go along with it as well as the moral issues behind breaking the law. Word of Wisdom may also play a part but that depends on the prospective audience. Arguments could be a moral issue over performance enhancers or a comparison between users and not.

Capital What?

I’ve decided to do my issues paper on capital punishment and how it’s unconstitutional. Unfortunately, I think I need to better narrow my topic because of how broad it is. The three major issues this topic faces today is, does it go against our unalienable rights, is it morally sound, and is there a better solution to this problem. Some of the argument is that it prevents the taking of an innocent lives, it in fact does not make society safer, and that it’s a just consequence for those who choose evil. I think because I have so much research to work with that the difficulty of this paper can go ether way: easy because it helps me look at all points to the issue, or hard because the overwhelming amount and how broad it is. Also, because the church of Jesus Christ for later day saints “neither promote nor oppose capital punishment (go to http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/public-issues/capital-punishment)” I find that this topic will be very interesting to research because the choice I am now presented.