STOP HERE!

STUDENTS IN THE FALL 2011 ENG 099 CLASSES: DON'T ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS BELOW THIS. THESE ARE OLD ONES!

THANKS-- JOHN

Private schools--a big advantage?

There has been a lot of controversy about education lately and how the house of Reps. plan to free up money so people (whether child or adult) can continue their education, or so they don't have to close off certain funding for certain programs. But what about private schools who receive funding from private donors, and other private organizations? What about politicians who politic for more money toward public schooling and yet send their children to private institutions isolated from the public (e.g., Rahm Emmanuel and President Obama to name two)? Should politicians live in the community for which they strive to get more money, or should they be allowed to cart themselves off to high-priced private-gated communities? Should their kids go off to a private school, or should they go to the public school in which the politicians are struggling to get money for? Aren't we all American citizens? Aren't we all equal? Aren't we all constitutionally granted the right to an equal education?

My questions:

(A) Do you prefer public or private schools?

(B) Why?

(C) Should politicians live in the same community in which they serve?

(D) Should politicians' kids attend the public schools in the districts in which the politicians serve?
(E) Do you have any problem with the private funding of private schools while some public schools go broke?

Thanks for your help!

Aundrew

Do you stereotype?

Do you think too many people are victims of stereotyping? Why is it that so many people are judged by the way they look, something they do, or where they are from? You have heard of "the dumb jock" and "the computer geek"; besides these, there are many other stereotypes prevalent in our society.

Are stereotypes harmful?

Have you, or someone you know, ever been a victim of stereotyping? What do you think is the process that occurs in a person's mind that makes him or her likely to stereotype, or prejudge, others based on their appearance or background?

Ayah

When Might We Leave Our Home Planet?

When might we leave this planet? Do you ever think about what's going to happen to us if we just set here on this planet? Could something happen to suddenly make the sun go out? Or could asteroids be heading our way, even as we speak?

In fact, many of the threats that might lead us to consider off-Earth living arrangements are actually manmade, and not necessarily in the distant future. The amount we consume each year already far outstrips what our planet can sustain, and the World Wildlife Fund estimates that by 2030 we will be consuming two planets’ worth of natural resources annually. So why don't we try to find another planet faster? Is it because we are too busy using up the Earth's resources, or is it because the resources we are using up make it harder to upgrade our technology?

Given the risks humans pose to the planet, we might also someday leave Earth simply to conserve it. Do you think if humans want to survive for hundreds of thousands or millions of years that we must ultimately look for other planets or technology to stay around? Are you concerned about the Earth being able to sustain life? Why or why not?

Robert McClinton

To Clone or not to Clone?

One heated ethical topic is if it's okay to make clones. They started out with cloning one sheep. It was a success. The problem was that groups of people felt as though it was scientists trying to play God, and they didn't like that too much. As of now, there have been no humans cloned.

What I would like to know is your opinion on five questions:

(1) Do you think it's ethical that we clone humans?
(2) What do you think would be the primary benefits and main drawbacks of cloning humans? That is, what could we use them for?
(3) If we do use human clones, do you think they would think the same as their actual human counterpart . . . such as, if Hitler or Osama bin Laden was cloned, would they try to take over the world and cause terror?
(4) Would the life of a human clone be less valuable than a human life? (Would it be murder to kill a clone?)
(5) Would you want to accept organs from clones if the organs kept you alive?

Thank you for your opinion!

Alex Powers

Condom Distribution in Schools

In many schools across the nation there are debates of whether or not it is appropriate to distribute condoms in schools. There are many pros and cons to this argument, but I am asking you to choose one or the other. Should administration distribute condoms to kids that are not of age to have sex? Is this an invitation to have intercourse? Is this simply a means of protection? Do you think there is anything wrong with condoms being passed out at middle schools, or in any other level of school besides college? Should there be a source of sexual education for the kids that is mandatory before they are allowed to get the condoms? Do you have any other thoughts on this issue? Thank you!

-Tashaylee Graddy

Am I old enough in your eyes?

Do you think the legal age for things such as drinking and getting into bars should be lowered to 18? Kids can be enrolled in the army and sent to die for their country, but they cannot drink or club legally. Do you think this is fair or unfair? Either way, please explain your thinking to me. What are the upside and downside to legalizing drinking and clubbing for 18-year-olds? What do you think is the ideal minimum age for drinking and getting into bars?

Are some of our laws outdated? Do you think that age laws should be reformed to a more current society?

Thanks for your help.

Adrian Enriquez

Are Interracial Adoptions Different?

Do you think society today has accepted interracial adoptions the same way they accept same race adoptions? Do you believe being adopted into a family of a different race would have a good or bad effect on a child? What positive and negative issues do you think the child would have to deal with as he or she got older?

Hannah Miller

A robot took my job!

First, take a minute to check out these two sites:

http://thecomingcrisis.blogspot.com/2011/05/mcdonalds-to-replace-workers-with.html

http://articles.cnn.com/2006-04-14/tech/fs.roboticsprofile_1_personal-robots-joanne-pransky-new-technology?_s=PM:TECH

Thank you. Now please answer these questions: Do you think robots "working" in fast-food restaurants like McDonald's is a good idea? What's the upside and downside to this? Do you see this trend moving into other areas of the service industry? Will too many people lose their jobs? Or will their jobs just change to controlling the robots? Will fries , burgers , and chicken still taste the same? Will customers still attend these places even if food is not handmade? Technology is getting better every day, so it's getting more and more likely to see automated beings taking over the jobs of humans. What are your thoughts on this?

Marcus Colton

Welfare--when should people get help?

First, I apologize ahead of time for this long question! I am mainly trying to get your thoughts on the United States welfare system.

Welfare: a state-assisted program supported by the government to help needy families live a fair and healthy lifestyle. Welfare is for people who are poor or who are at or below the poverty level. Welfare might include giving these people cash, food stamps, low-income housing, school, vouchers for children, financial aid, and medical benefits. People who receive welfare are grouped into such categories as the unemployed, people with illness, people with a disability, the elderly, and veterans of the armed services.

As for people in the "elderly" category, there is often an age requirement on who can get help; in each state this limit is different. In some states, you must be at least 70 to get help; in other states the age is lower. In some cases, elderly people who are only two years younger than the state's age requirement are in desperate need of immediate health care . . . if they don’t get help, they’ll die.

Also, what about people who cannot work at all and the state finds them employable and they won’t give them any funds--how are they supposed to survive? Keep in mind they can't work--they want to, but they can't.

As caseloads for all the programs have soared, so have costs. The food stamps program has risen 80%, up to $70 billion. Welfare is up 24%, up to $22 billion.

Because of the current overwhelmed state of most of the welfare programs, they won't even help the unemployed in some cases--they won’t give you anything unless you have children. Of course, this makes people want to go have children, just to get funds.

Even in the state of Illinois, if you don’t have any children and are still employable but don’t have a job, they will only give you food stamps--no cash, and no medical. Do you think this is fair?

What about cases like this: Say a boyfriend & girlfriend or husband & wife split up or divorce. If the woman wasn’t working and decides to go to the government and ask for help, do you think they should help her?

The government usually won’t help anyone who is employable because all the funds are used up. These funds are used up, in part, by people lying on their taxes, by people who work under the table, and so on. A lot of the people who receive help from the government don’t really need the assistance; they just want to put extra money in their pockets. Is this fair to the people who are starving and have no place to live? How do we deal with this situation?

How does it make you feel when people just sit on their ass the whole day and don’t lift a finger to do any work for themselves, that they just live off the government? How does it feel as a taxpayer to pay for other people who take the system for granted, in return taking money or funds from people/children who really need it?

What do you think about people who use their welfare cash for alcohol or drugs? It means that money/ food wasn’t a necessity. How does that make you feel? They are taking food from a child’s mouth who was hungry just so they can get drunk or high?

Any other thoughts on the welfare program? Yes, the system is terribly abused, and some people take terrible advantage of it, but we can't just do away with it, right? So what can be done?

Thank you for your help!

Lori

Marijuana Legalized?

Many people, mostly those of the older generation, are completely against legalizing marijuana for any reason, but why? It's known to be safer than Alcohol and Cigarettes, and doesn't pose any sort of danger or risk, but is still illegal in most of the U.S.A. The fact that it is labeled as a "drug" is enough to scare many people into outlawing it, but Alcohol and even Caffeine are some lesser known "drugs." Would making Marijuana legal be enough to pull America out of it's recession like many people say? Or would it truly cause more problems that it solves?

Would you be for or against legalizing Marijuana, and why?

Jan Johnson

To spank or not to spank a child?

Do you think that there should be some kind of disciplinary action in the school system like there was in the older days? Is it ok for children to come to class and be rude and violent towards the teacher? Do you think that the disciplinary actions that are in effect in today's school systems are resulting in positive feedback from a disobedient child? What are some effective ways to discipline a child without it being considered child abuse?

Makeisha Riley

Should There Be an Age Limit on Social Networks?

Did you know that 43% of online sexual solicitors were identified as being adolescents (under 18), 30% were adults between the ages of 18 and 21, and 9% were adults over the age of 21. That means that almost half of the sexual solicitors could be taken off the internet if there was a mandatory age limit for social networking. What do you think? Should there be a mandatory age limit on social networking web pages such as facebook, twitter, and myspace? Are you involved in social networking yourself? Would you like social networking pages more or less if there was an age limit involved? Social networking can often be important for real world issues, such as elections. In 2008, President Obama had almost 3 times as many followers as McCain on facebook and myspace. Do you think this played a role in the elections?

So what do you think? Would you be alright with having to verify your age to show that you are allowed on social networking web sites? Or would you rather have everyone, regardless of age, be allowed on these web sites?

Jake Bock

Should bully breeds be banned?

In the 1950s, bully breeds were America's dogs, but today "dangerous dog" laws and breed restrictions are in place in many states and counties.

What do you think is a dangerous dog? What kind of dogs do you think fall under the breed restrictions? Why do you think so?

The ASPCA's position is to oppose any state or local law to regulate or ban dogs based on breed. Do you agree or disagree with the ASPCA? Why or why not? The ASPCA favors effective enforcement of breed neutral laws that include, enhanced enforcement of dog license laws--making sure dogs are properly licensed in each county within a specified amount of time, enhanced enforcement of leash/dog-at-large laws, focus on the behaviors of owners and dogs--obedience training, muzzling, supervision and etc, laws that hold owners financially and criminally liable for failure to follow animal control laws and laws that prohibit chaining or tethering.

Do you think that imposing these laws would decrease the fear of the bully breed? Why or why not? Do you think if these laws were imposed in our state it would make bully breed owners more responsible? Why or why not? Do you think insurance companies should be allowed to deny homeowners insurance to people who own a dog from the bully breed category? Why or why not? You can find information on the ASPCA positions and policies at the following link;

http://www.aspca.org/about-us/policy-positions/

Policies on Dangerous Dogs

Thanks for your thoughts!

Amber

Motor cycle safety

Do you think that everyone who rides a motorcycle should have to go through a safety course and be limited to the size of motorcycle they ride until they are able to test into the size of motorcycle and classification they want to ride? Do you think the helmet law should be passed in Illinois?

Kevin Hall

Illinois Smoking Ban in Bars

Do you think the smoking ban in bars in the state of Illinois should be lifted? Why or why not? Do you feel this law violates or infringes on the rights of people one way or the other? Do you feel this law has helped or hurt the bar business?


Buddy Carpenter

The Earth is Our Responsibility

For over two hundred years now, especially since the industrial revolution, mankind has contributed to the pollution of the earth. This mass pollution has devastated our water ways and other natural resources. We are dependent upon oil, and we have a need for alternative energy sources, which will enable us to shift our uses of energy to cleaner more renewable sources of energy.

What do you feel can be done in order to clean up the earth, and do you feel that mankind and all nations have a responsibility to invest in cleaning up the earth? Do you think this should be a priority, and should the largest nations do more than smaller ones?

How do you think an effort to clean up the earth, and step up the use of alternative energy sources would affect the job market?

You may feel that we can just go on with the level of concern and effort to clean up the earth that we presently have. If so, speak on it.

Khattab