Operative mechanics of Juveniles Courts Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Operative mechanics of Juveniles Courts - Essay Example Juvenile courts developed out of the need to reduce recidivism rates among child offenders. In effect, it was a kind of diversion mechanism meant to steer youth offenders away from criminality towards good citizenry devoid of criminal intents (Fox, 1970). Prior to their creation, children and adults alike were subjected to the same kind of court procedures. As such, the guilty were liable for capital punishment or life incarceration irrespective of age brackets. Notably, punishment delivered was the same both for adults and children. But, child-offender processes fell short of protective elements such the right to bail, which were only granted to adults (Conward, 1998). Thus, the process that institutionalized juvenile justice structures were mainly geared towards harmonizing justice with full recognition that children bear lesser moral as well as cognitive capacities for offenses they commit. The current Juvenile court structures are mainly rehabilitative rather punitive towards its client offenders-the children.They are specially designed with clear, basic demarcations falling under criminality, parental neglect or being out of parental control. Contrary to the hearsay admissible in adult cases, juvenile court structures have no such restrictions. Their hearings have mostly closed a door and informal. Parents and officers dealing directly with child welfare, such as probation officers, have access to the court process to ensure fair and favorable results and to guard against future recidivism.

Gender Differences in Mathematics Essay Example for Free

Gender Differences in Mathematics Essay Throughout the first half of the 20th century and into the second, women studying or working in engineering were popularly perceived as oddities at best, outcasts at worst, defying traditional gender norms. Female engineers created systems of social, psychological, and financial mutual support, through such strategies, conditions for female engineers changed noticeably over just a few decades, although many challenges remain. Engineering education in the United States has had a gendered history, one that until relatively recently prevented women from finding a place in the predominantly male technical world. For decades, Americans treated the professional study of technology as mens territory. At places where engineerings macho culture had become most ingrained, talk of women engineers seemed ridiculous (Sax, 2005). For years its been assumed that young women avoid careers in mathematics-based fields, like engineering and physics, because they lack confidence in their math skills. But a new study finds that it’s not a lack of confidence in their math skills that drives girls from those fields; its a desire to work in people-oriented professions. It has been found that young women who are strong in math tend to seek careers in the biological sciences. They value working with and for people, they dont perceive engineering as a profession that meets that need. The environment at many tech schools is hostile toward helping students achieve a degree and is more geared toward weeding out those who are struggling. Its difficult to come up with alternative engineering solutions if everybody in the room looks alike. Thats the initial reason why automakers and suppliers are busy trying to identify and hire minority and women engineers. The business case is that if more than half of an automakers customers are either female and/or people of color, which they are, then those groups need to be represented in every sector of the company. One of the most important areas for automakers to get a range of views is in product development. With that diversity mission in mind, DaimlerChrysler Corp. , Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Corp. , all have mounted aggressive programs to identify and hire minority and women engineers. At GM the story is the same. To attract minority and women engineers, the automaker proclaims that innovation comes from the people who see the world in a different way than everyone else. One women and minorities enter into the automotive engineering ranks, they need to be challenged and encouraged to develop their careers or theyll be gone (Sax, 2005). Its not just the Big Three that are working to create a more diverse engineering workforce. Suppliers and engineering support organizations such as the Society of Automotive Engineers are trying to draw more women and minorities into the profession. Faced with chronically small percentages of minorities and women in virtually every segment of engineering, companies are going to great lengths to attract them to the world of automotive engineering. Harvard President Lawrence Summers ignited a firestorm recently when he suggested more men than women are scientists because of differences between males and females in â€Å"intrinsic aptitude. † Many scientists-both men and women-expressed outrage at Summer’s remarks and blamed any lag in math among girls mainly on discrimination and socialization (Dean, 2006). They point out that girls have closed the gap in average scores on most standardized math tests in elementary and high school. Today women constitute almost half of college math majors and more than half of biology majors. But Summer’s supporters say he courageously raised a legitimate question for scientific inquiry. Indeed, in recent years some researchers have been pursuing a scientific explanation for the discrepancies in math and science aptitude and achievement among boys and girls and have found differences, including biological ones. Summer’s suggestion that women are biologically inferior in math infuriated many female scientists. Some asserted that the other two factors he mentioned were far more important in keeping women out of science: sex discrimination and the way girls are taught to view math as male territory. Some differences are well established. Girls do better on tests of content learned in class and score much higher on reading and writing tests than boys. Boys score higher on standardized tests with math and science problems not directly tied to their school curriculum. On tests of spatial awareness, boys do better on tests that involve navigation through space. Girls are better at remembering objects and landmarks. Studies show differences in brain structure and hormonal levels that appear to influence spatial reasoning. But the implications of these differences for real world math and science achievement remain unclear. â€Å"There is evidence that male and female brains differ anatomically is subtle ways, but no one knows how these anatomical differences relate to cognitive performance,† (Dean, 2006). At the heart of the current controversy is a societal implication-that the failure of an institution like Harvard to tenure even one woman mathematician can be blamed on the lack of top-flight women mathematicians, which in turn can be blamed on too-few top female minds in math. As evidence of intrinsic aptitude differences, Summers pointed out that more boys than girls receive top scores on standardized math tests. Today girls receive better grades than boys in math and science through high school, have closed the gap on average scores on most standardized math tests and take more advantage high school classes than boys in almost every category except physics and high-level calculus. In college they constitute nearly half the math majors and more than half the biology majors. Indeed, today a growing number of researchers contend boys are the ones who are shortchanged-judging by the larger proportion of boys in special-education classes and the declining proportion attending college. Women now make up 56 percent of students enrolled in college; by 2012, the Department of Education projects they will account for about 60 percent of bachelor’s degrees (2002). The fact that more boys than girls make top scores on standardized math tests is often invoked as evidence that boys possess an innate superiority in high-level math. Experts on both sides of the divide agree gender differences are real, even if they disagree bout how much is socially learned and how much biologically based. Girls do better on writing and on algebra problems, probably because algebraic equations are similar to sentences, and girls excel in language processing. Boys are better at mathematical word problems; girls are better at mathematical calculation. Boys and girls also differ on spatial skills, and experts are divided over how innate or important these differences are. A recent study of the Graduate Record Exam, for instance, found men did better on math problems where a spatially based solution was an advantage (Gallagher, Kaufman, 2005). Sex hormones have been shown in several studies to affect the ability to envision an object rotating in space. Females who take male hormones to prepare for a sex-change operation improve on tests of 3-D rotation and get worse on tests of verbal fluency, at which women typically excel. During their menstrual cycle, women do better on 3-D rotation when levels of the female hormone estrogen are low; they do better on verbal fluency when estrogen levels are high. If science be taught directly with a hands-on, inquiry-based approach, it sustains girl’s interest in science. Girls like to work in cooperative teams, a lot of science was taught in a competitive mode. Women scientists also earn less than men. But it’s only fair that women who work fewer hours face the economic consequences of lower salaries and less status. References: Dean, Cornelia. (2006). â€Å"Dismissing ‘Sexist Opinions’ About Women’s Place in Science†. A Conversation with Ben A. Barres. The New York Times. July 18, 2006, pp. 1-5. Gallagher, Ann M. , Kaufman, James M. (2005). â€Å"Gender Differences in Mathematics: An Integrative Psychological Approach. Cambridge University Press. National Center for Education Statistics, â€Å"Projections of Education Statistics To 2012†. (2002). Available on-line: http://nces. ed. gov/pubs2002/proj. 2012/ch_2. asp.. Sax, Leonard. (2005). Too Few Women- â€Å"Figure It Out†. Los Angeles Times. Jan. 23, 2005.

Monitoring The Technological Economic And Social Environments Marketing Essay

Monitoring The Technological Economic And Social Environments Marketing Essay Introduction In this day and age, the technological, economic and social environments are developing at a rapid pace, also it plays a crucial role in deciding consumption. The technological, economic and social environments belong to the marketing environment. According to Kotler (2004, p. 87) marketing environment can be defined as consisting of the actors and forces outside marketing that affect markers ability to develop and maintain successful relationships with its target customers. The marketing environment offers both opportunities and threats. Some assert that the monitoring of the technological, economic and social environments greatly contributes to anticipating customer requirements. However, others consider that it is not the significant element for anticipating although it sometimes proves successful. This essay will attempt to demonstrate that the monitoring of the technological, economic and social environments greatly contributes to anticipating customer requirements, although it also brings some problems, and companies should constantly watch and adapt to the marketing environment in order to seek opportunities and ward off threats. To demonstrate this, this essay will show in three aspects, the monitoring of the technological, economic and social environments and how far they can anticipate customer requirements respectively. At the same time, the problems of the monitoring will be discussed. The monitoring of the technological environment The technological environment is perhaps one of the fastest changing factors in the marketing environment. Kotler (2004, p. 107) told about technology, as follow: Technology has released such wonders as penicillin, organ transplants, notebook computer and the Internet. It has also released such horrors as nuclear missiles, chemical weapons and assault rifles, and such mixed blessings as cars, televisions and credit cards. Some concede the significance of the technological environment but also propose that keeping pace with technological changes is becoming more challenging for companies today. For one thing, the technological life cycle is getting shorter. Take mobile phones as an example: 10 years ago, mobile phones were basically used to communicate, nowadays the functions of mobiles include Multimedia playback device, high-speed web browser, camera, Bluetooth and so on. The update pace of the technological environment is too fast to always track. For another thing, technology and innovations require heavy investment in research and development. For instance, the development of a drug is an enormously expensive process. According to the published average cost of drug development is approximately $800million (John and Ezekiel, 2005). The increasing cost of research and development makes it more difficult to master a wide range of technologies, even for big companies. However, it is a trend that technology develops faster and faster which means the development of society. Obviously, new technology would replace old technology which means that when old industries overlooked new technologies, their business declined. Hence, the companies must track technological trends and aware whether or not these changes will affect their products continued ability to satisfy customer needs. Also, there are some solutions for the high research and development budgets including collaborating with other companies to develop new products and technologies, acquiring smaller, innovative companies which cannot afford to develop and commercialise new products and technologies (Kotler, 2004, p. 108). Furthermore, the corporations may recover their expenses through charging a high price for the new products and innovation after monopolizing the market (John and Ezekiel, 2005). Consequently, it is essential for a company to stay ahead of others and update their own technology before it becomes outdated. Marketers need to understand the changing technological environment and how new technologies can satisfy customer needs. Example can be found in the case of Toyota Prius which are introduced in 2000 as their first hybrid car. As for the technologies used in Prius, Kotler wrote: The electric motor starts the car and operates at low speeds, using a nickel metal-hydride battery. At higher speeds, the Prius automatically switches to the internal combustion engine. Under normal motorway driving conditions, it should get 28 km per litre. (2004, p. 121) The Prius would get twice as many kilometres per litre of petrol, it costs about  £4,000 more than the Toyota Echo, although they are almost the same car. In spite of its high price, it has achieved great success after it was introduced. Kotler clearly highlighted the success: Between July and October 2000, Toyota sold 2,610 Priuses and had difficulty keeping up with demand. By the end of October 2000, the cars were waitlisted until January. (2004, p. 121) Toyota spend  £200 million on the whole marketing budget of the Prius in 2002, the reason why Toyota spend so much on it is competition and the new opportunities of new technology. Kotler (2004, p. 122) also pointed out that all car manufacturers have plans to move to hybrids to raise petrol mileage and lower emissions, including Ford, DaimlerChrysler and General Motors. It is clear that there are many reasons why people may want a revolutionary car. Some enthusiasts are crazy about scientific and technological advances and want the newest products. Others rebel against fuel price increase and prefer less-fuel consuming cars with hi-tech. Toyota acquired what their customers want and how new technologies can serve customer needs, as a result, it obtained significant success in the campaign of hybrid cars. To summarize, the technological environment is perhaps the most dramatic element to decide our consumption which creates both threats and new opportunities, therefore, to anticipate the customer requirements, marketers should watch the following trends in technology and try to adapt to these changes. They must stay ahead of trends so that they can make new marketing strategies, rather than becoming outdated and suffering the business decline. The monitoring of the economic environment The economic environment consists of factors that affect consumer purchasing power and spending patterns. It is manifest that consumer purchasing power is a vital factor in economic environment. Nowadays, the financial crisis still has detrimental impacts upon varies domains. Some studies have indicated that around 50% of businesses failed in the first three years of economic crisis, and a number of business closures have been the byproduct of an uncertain economy. However, several companies have withstood the test of time, such as Banco Popular, Ford Motor Co., Coca-Cola, Johnson Johnson and Sears (Caribbean Business, 2008). In this situation, how far the monitoring of economic environment can help to anticipate the customer requirements has become a heated topic. Examples would be mentioned as follow: One example is that according to Howard and Begun (2001), the economy crisis has made bargain-hunting rage, even high-end brands are trying to lower their prices, such as The May Conde Nast Traveler featured an unprecedented list of Cheap Chic hotels. Zagat also published its first Americas Best Meal Deals. And after dying out in the rich early 90s, the Blue Light Special is booming again at Kmart with a different image. It is as thrifty as before, but now it is also prevalent among the youth. Another example is that the National Association of Resale and Thrift Shops, which represent more than 1,000 thrift, resale and consignment shop members nationwide, conducted a survey which showed that fourth-quarter 2008 sales were up an average of 30 percent in more than 71 percent of the stores (Consumers Making the Shift to Thrift, 2009). All these successful cases demonstrate that the marketers should always monitor the major trends and shift their marketing strategies to satisfy their cus tomer needs. As we can see, when countries experience an economic collapse or an economic recession, consumer purchasing power would reduce which lead to consumers spending more carefully and seeking greater value in the products and services they buy. The successful companies notice this information and take swift steps to satisfy the customer needs which make they survive the economic recession, even create new opportunities for them. Moreover, customer spending pattern is also significant in the economic environment. Hence, marketers should also watch the changes of customer spending pattern. For example, to curb its greatly increasing population, the Chinese governments make laws to limit families to one child only. As a result, Chinese children tend to be over-spoiled and fussed as never before. Several studies show that parents in the average Beijing household spend about 40 percent of their income on their cherished only child. This trend has encouraged toy companies including Denmarks Lego Group, Japans Bandai Company (known for its Mighty Morphin Power Rangers) and Americas Mattel to enter the Chinese market (Marketing: Chinas (only) children get the royal treatment, 1995). The example shows the significance of monitoring of the customer spending pattern and reveals that marketers should determine how economic trends affect spending pattern and how they translate into marketing threats and opportunities for the companies. Nevertheless, some argue that the monitoring of economic environment cannot be always valid to anticipate the customer requirements. For instance, the luxury market is insulated from the economic decline, PwC partner Guy Gillon asserted that within the wider luxury sector, only 16% of consumers said that the economic crisis had resulted in a significant decline in their expense. PwC was commissioned by Abta to carry out exclusive researches to coincide with the inaugural Luxury Travel Forum, which attracts almost 100 delegates (Buyers rich and willing but getting more savvy, 2009). Consumers who have greatest purchasing power are likely to belong to the higher-income groups, whose higher-incomes mean that their spending patterns are less susceptible to economic changes than those of lower-income groups. Therefore, it seems that the monitoring of economic environment does not have great help in this situation. It is conceded that the monitoring of economic environment is not always effective, but it is still extremely important to anticipate customer requirements. Changes in major economic variables such as income, cost of living, spending pattern have a large impact on the market. Companies watch these variables by using economic forecasting. Companies do not have to be closed down in an economic downturn or in a boom. With proper warnings, they can take advantages of changes in the economic environment. The monitoring of the social environment Social environment in this essay refers to a host of domains including demographic, political and cultural environment. Kotler (2004, p. 91) clearly defined the demographic environment: Demography is the study of human populations in terms of size, density, location, age, gender, race, occupation and other statistics. The demographic environment is of considerable interest to marketers because it involves people, and people make up markets. Demographic changing greatly influences the market requirements, such as a growing population means growing customer needs to satisfy, and then marketers are able to anticipate customer needs for some products and services. Also, marketing decisions are strongly affected by developments in the political environment. The political environment includes laws, government agencies and pressure groups that influence and limit various organizations and individuals, such as legislation regulating business, growth of public interest groups and increased emphasis on ethics and socially responsible actions (Kotler, 2004, p. 109). In addition, the cultural environment which is made up of institutions and other forces affects societys basic values, perceptions, preferences and behaviors. Individuals shape their basic beliefs and values when growing up in a certain society. The cultural environment plays a vital role in marketing decisions making, marketers must be aware of these cultural influenc es and how these influences might vary across societies (Kotler, 2004, p. 111). All of these elements have some impact on consumption, when marketers attempt to anticipate the customer needs, they should aware of all of these elements and how they influence the customer requirements, thereby making their marketing strategies appropriately. To demonstrate the importance of monitoring the social environment to anticipate customer needs, we take the monitoring of demographic environment as an example: According to Kotler (2004, p. 91), demographic environment refers to population size and growth trends, changing age structure of a population, the changing family, rising number of educated people and so on. Demographic shifts have important implications for marketing managers. For example, the rising ageing population will make a growing demand for healthcare products, pensions and services to cater to older consumer needs. According to Bentley and Ross (2006), the over-50s are becoming more comfortable with technology. An independent report conducted by Saga Holidays found that rather than keeping away from new media, over a quarter (27%) of the 1,000 people aged 50 and over questioned purchase goods online. The same analysis discovered that a third (37%) regularly send text messages. Meanwhile, a recent survey by Continental Research of the growth of the so-called silver surfer market revealed that in the last year, home Internet use among the over-55s has increased by more than 50%, growing from 2.9 million in 2004, to 4.4 million in 2005. The findings will remind travel companies to capture this fast-growing and affluent section of the holidaying public. Sagas website provides a good example of how travel retailers can target older travelers. At web design consultancy Foviance, director Catriona Campbell considered companies that want to capture older web users need to make their websites accessible and simple to use. To build on its brand as an over-50s specialist, Saga launched an online travel shop, SAGAtravelshop.com last month. The website makes consumers able to buy dynamically package trips as well as buy package holidays. The charity Help the Aged (Ageing Europe faces up to need for pension reform, 2003, p. 18) pointed out that now over-60s are more affluent and active, with lifestyles that are more similar to those of people in their 40s and 50s. Indeed, some companies, like Saga Holiday, are already aware of this demographic shift and adapting p roduct marketing and design to cater to older consumer demands. The changing family also plays a vital role in the demographic environment. The changing family which means the notion of the ideal family -mum, dad and two kids- has lately been changed. People are marrying later and having fewer children. Also, the number of working women is increasing including working mothers. This trend has boomed the child day-care business, cleaning and catering services, increased consumption of convenience foods, career-oriented womens clothing and many other business opportunities. For instance, Britain and America are around the top of both the convenience-food league and the working-woman league. The increasing of working women is pushing the time-saving trend and the consumption of time-saving products like convenience foods. Mark Price, who is the marketing director of Waitrose, Britains top-of-the-range supermarket, pointed out that the companys biggest item in meals at its Canary Wharf (London) branch is the ready-mixed Caesar salad in a box. It costs  £1 ($1.70) less if you buy all the ingredients and mix them yourself, however, people prefer the convenient but expensive one. Ready meals from supermarkets become increasingly popular in Britain. Ten years ago, the sector barely existed while now it is worth  £1.5 billion and is growing at 6% a year. These days, Tesco launches 1,200 new convenience products a year and the variety boosts consumption at the same time (Make it convenient, 2003). Also, it is difficult to monitoring the demographic, political and cultural environments at the same time, and it is complicated to analyze all elements to anticipate the customer requirements. Furthermore, similar to the economic environment, some cases prove that the monitoring of the social environment to anticipating customer requirements cannot be always valid, especially when some unpredictable affairs happens, Yang and Li (2008) showed that in the April of 2008, Carrefour which is a French retail firm encounter a sudden crisis in China. The crisis stems from the widely spreading posts on the BBS, with some political reasons the posts call on all Chinese people not to go shopping in Carrefour on 1st May. And this appeal achieved a huge number of netizens supports. The survey of whether or not boycott Carrefour conducted by Sina Finance showed that over 560,000 users asserted that they would not go to Carrefour in the whole month. It is not difficult to image that what a large l oss for Carrefour, however, it is cannot be monitored because Carrefour is extremely popular in China which have 73 hypermarkets, 8 supermarkets and 8 champions around the China. To conclude, although it is difficult to monitor the social environment and the monitoring is not always valid to anticipate customer requirements, there is no doubt that the monitoring of social environment greatly contributes to anticipating customer requirements. Therefore, the smart marketers know how to track the demographic trends and indicate what their target customers want, and then take swift actions to cater this situation. Conclusion In summary, this essay has attempted to demonstrate that the monitoring of the technological, economic and social environments greatly contributes to anticipating customer requirements, although it also brings some problems, and companies should constantly watch and adapt to the marketing environment in order to seek opportunities and ward off threats. However, it is difficult to imagine a time when all the problems can be resolved, the situation is certainly hopeful and suggests real developments may be made in the future.

The Amateur Scientist :: essays research papers

I was on my way to work, when I started to read this interesting story and I don't deny that I was a little sceptical in the beginning. But the more I read, the more I wanted to know about this man and his unique ways to define Science. I finished reading it in about 15 minutes, it literally sucked me in. This is an attempt to analyze and explain to the "audience," what my personal point of view is regarding this great genius, great mind, great scientist Richard Feynman. Defined by his colleagues as the "The brightest mind since Einstein," he explains how he used everyday tools to make scientific discoveries. How he describes his methods in a simple way makes science enjoyable and understandable, even to the average reader. I enjoyed reading the essay entitled "The Amateur Scientist," by Nobel prize-winning physicist Richard Feynman (1918-1988). I found it to be very interesting and felt that Mr. Feynman was very thoughtful. Rather than explain in technical detail about his work in physics, Feynman instead related interesting anecdotes throughout his life, as a college student and graduate student at Princeton University, that gave to the reader an understanding of his work as a scientist. The writing won my attention because his stories about his youth and his days at Princeton fascinated me. He was always exploring his environment to learn new things about science, especially how things worked. Feynman's thirst for clever things to do and clever ways to do ordinary things were remarkable. One of the best anecdotes that illustrate this point, was his experience at Princeton detailing ants' behavior. Feynman was constantly searching for the connection between hypothesis and truth, so one day at Princeton he started to observe the ants' that were coming out on his windowsill. The experiment with the ants is a reflection of this man's mind, always in search for an answer. In this anecdote Feynman explains how, with only a bit of sugar, and a couple of pieces of paper, he was able to find out many things about ants' behaviors. Feynman compares his study on the ants with the same kind of "experiment" he performed in Brazil, observing leaf-cutting ants. The author pointed out that, although the Brazilian ants seemed to be smarter, there are still some affinities with domestic ants. It is remarkable how Feynman discovered that ants have no sense of "geometry," the goal of his experiment was to determine whether or not ants have some kind of communication a nd if they have the ability to find their way back where the "food" was.

Tkam Theme Essay

Kiah Lyons Mrs. Farrands Honors English II 30 October 2012 As children, we are taught simply that something whether it is a person, object, or belief is simply good or bad. We can classify or identify what is good or bad using three sources. Typically our beliefs are primarily based on what our household says. Society also has a large role in our views as well. If something is illegal, outlawed, or even frowned upon by society it is considered bad. However, saying something is acceptable or not acceptable is something completely different from what our actions say. Many parents use the saying: Do as I say, not as I do.Sometimes we know something goes against what is right or against or morals but we do it regardless. Scout sees that in most instances; what those in her household tell her, what society tells her, and what her family and society does do not all coincide. This is evident when analyzing two main topics of the book which are race and Boo Radley. Atticus always tells Scout and Jem the importance of treating colored people equally if not better. While talking to Mr. Raymond, Scout tells him that Atticus told her â€Å"cheatin’ a colored man is ten times worse than cheatin’ a white man, Says it’s the worst thing you can do† (Lee 205).While defending Tom Robinson, Atticus told the court: â€Å"The truth is this: some Negroes lie, some Negroes are immoral, some Negro men are not to be trusted around women-black or white. But this is a truth that applies to the human race and to no particular race of men† showing his strong belief of equality among all men no matter what their skin color may be (Lee 208). Even though Atticus strongly believes in the quote from Thomas Jefferson that â€Å"All men are created equal†, Aunt Alexandra tended to have a different perspective regarding colored men and women (Lee 208).This is strongly evident in the way she treats and talks about Calpurnia. When Aunt Alexandra first arrive d, instead of a cordial greeting she tells Calpurnia right away â€Å"Put my bag in the front bedroom, Calpurnia† which shows that Aunt Alexandra views Calpurnia of a different class and has no respect for her. Aunt Alexandra disapproved of practically everything that Calpurnia did, and if it could be avoided, she did not want Scout and Jem spending any extra time with her. Although Scout looks forward to going to Calpurnia, Aunt Alexandra is not fond of the idea, and actually encourages Atticus to fire Cal.She believes Cal is not a good role mole which leads her to tell Atticus to â€Å"face it sooner or later [†¦] We don’t need her now† (Lee 138). Aunt Alexandra felt that just because Calpurnia was black, she was not suited as a mother figure, and allowed her assumptions about blacks affect her view of Calpurnia. Throughout the summer, Jem, Scout, and Dill love to reenact Boo Radley’s life and play games which include messing with the house, which Atticus does not approve of. When he caught the kids he told them that â€Å"what Mr. Radley did was his own business. If he wanted to come out, he would† (Lee 50).Although the rest of his family may not have the same beliefs as Atticus, he takes highly his standards and morals of treating men of all types and colors with respect and equality. It is clear that Maycomb’s society does not agree with Atticus defending Tom Robinson. Scout does not realize that she would face this opposition until a few members of Maycomb make remarks about Atticus to her, not having the guts to say anything to Atticus’ face. In school, Scout faces her first opposition from Cecil Jacobs when he says: â€Å"Scout Finch’s daddy defended niggers† (Lee 77).Even some of her family disapproves of Atticus defending Tom. Francis, only repeating what his grandmother says, tells Scout that Atticus â€Å"is a nigger-lover† and â€Å"we’ll never be able to walk the s treets of Maycomb agin. He’s ruinin’ the family†, which of course leads to Scout punching Francis (Lee 85-87). Passing by Mrs. Dubose, Scout and Jem get more of the usual harassment when she says makes a condescending remark about a Finch â€Å"in the courthouse lawing for niggers† and that Atticus is â€Å"no better than the niggers and trash he works for† (Lee 105).As for Boo Radley, most everyone in Maycomb has a different story for Boo Radley and why he stays at home all day. Stephanie Crawford even claims â€Å"she woke up in the middle of the night one time and saw him looking straight through the window at her† (Lee 13). Jem said that Boo â€Å"dined on raw squirrels and any cats he could catch, [†¦] his eyes popped, and he drooled most of the time†, obviously a tale but no one said anything different. (Lee 13). It would be easy for Scout to fall in line with what the majority of what people think so that she would be accep ted.The characters’ actions throughout the book show if they actually live by what they preach. For example, Atticus knows that he will face disapproval defending Tom Robinson. He tells Jack that â€Å"reasonable people go stark raving mad when anything involving a Negro comes up† (Lee 91). Knowing that he cannot go against what he believes, he defends Tom despite the opposition. He also defends Calpurnia when Aunt Alexandra talks negatively about her saying â€Å"Calpurnia is not leaving this house until she wants to. You may think otherwise, but I couldn’t have got along without her all these years.She’s a faithful member of this family and you’ll simply have to accept things the way they are† later adding â€Å"She tried to bring them up according to her lights, and Cal’s lights are pretty good ? and another thing, the children love her† (Lee 138). Atticus could have easily taken his sister’s side, but he really appre ciates everything that Cal has done for his family. Society believes that black people are of a lesser class which is the focal point of the Tom Robinson case. Even though Tom had more evidence to prove him innocent than the plaintiff had to prove him guilty, his race was what ultimately convicted Tom.Atticus makes the statement in front of the court that the â€Å"case is not a difficult one [†¦] It should have never come to trial. This case is as simple as black and white† (Lee 207). Regarding Boo Radley, no one attempts to make an effort to stand up against the unruly rumors such as that Boo â€Å" went out at night when the moon was down, and peeped in windows. When people’s azaleas froze in a cold snap, it was because he had breathed on them. † and the â€Å"Radley pecans would kill you† (Lee 9). It was more important to have a good story, than to have the not-so lively truth.Their actions showed their true beliefs. We can be molded into good pe ople by taking the good and bad from each source, or we can be brainwashed into one source. Each source has their pros and cons, which is why it is important to take what people say with a grain of salt, before immediately adapting their views. Regardless, we can all learn things from our household’s beliefs, what society says, and what peoples’ actions say. As we grow as a people and we gain experience, we gain a better understanding of what is good and bad, right and wrong.

Laws That Protect Your Right to Vote

Laws That Protect Your Right to Vote No American who is qualified to vote should ever be denied the right and opportunity to do so. That seems so simple. So basic. How can government by the people work if certain groups of the people are not allowed to vote? Unfortunately, in our nations history, some people have been, either intentionally or unintentionally, denied their right to vote. Today, four federal laws, all enforced by the U.S. Department of Justice, work in concert to ensure that all Americans are allowed to register to vote and enjoy an equal opportunity to cast a ballot on election day. Preventing Racial Discrimination in Voting For many years some states enforced laws clearly intended to prevent minority citizens from voting. Laws requiring voters to pass reading or intelligence tests, or pay a poll-tax denied the right to vote the most basic right in our form of democracy to untold thousands of citizens until the enactment of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Also See: How to Report Voter Rights Violations The Voting Rights Act protects every American against racial discrimination in voting. It also ensures the right to vote to people for whom English is a second language. The Voting Rights Act applies to elections for any political office or ballot issue held anywhere in the nation. Most recently, the federal courts have used the Voting Rights Act to end practices amounting to racial discrimination in the way some states elected their legislative bodies, and chose their election judges and other polling place officials. Voter Photo ID Laws Twelve states now have laws requiring voters to show some form of photo identification in order to vote, with about 13 more considering similar laws. The federal courts are currently struggling to decide whether some or all of these laws violate the Voting Rights Act. More states moved to adopt photo ID voting laws in 2013, after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Voting Rights Act did not allow the U.S. Department of Justice to automatically apply federal oversight of new election laws in states with histories of racial discrimination. While supporters of photo voter ID laws argue that they help prevent voter fraud, critics like the American Civil Liberties Union, cite studies showing that up to 11% of Americans lack an acceptable form of photo ID. Persons most likely to not have acceptable photo ID include minorities, elderly and disabled persons, and financially disadvantaged persons. State photo voter ID laws come in two forms: strict and non-strict. In strict photo ID law states, voters without an accepted form photo ID – driver’s license, state ID, passport, etc. are not allowed to cast a valid ballot. Instead, they are allowed to fill out â€Å"provisional† ballots, which remain uncounted until they are able to produce an accepted ID. If the voter does not produce a an accepted ID within a short period of time after the election, their ballot is never counted. In non-strict photo ID law states, voters without an accepted form photo ID are allowed to use alternative types of validation, such as signing an affidavit swearing to their identification or having a poll worker or election official vouch for them. In August 2015, a federal appeals court ruled that a Texas strict voter ID law discriminated against black and Hispanic voters and thus violated the Voting Rights Act. One of the strictest in the nation, the law required voters to produce a Texas driver’s license; U.S. passport; a concealed-handgun permit; or an election identification certificate issued by the State Department of Public Safety. While the Voting Rights Act still prohibits states from enacting laws intended to disenfranchise minority voters, whether photo ID laws do so or not, remains to be determined by the courts. Gerrymandering Gerrymandering is the process of employing the process of â€Å"apportionment† to improperly redraw the boundaries of state and local election districts in a way that tends to predetermine the results of elections by diluting the voting power of certain groups of people. For example, gerrymandering has been used in the past to â€Å"break up† election districts populated by mainly black voters, thus lessening the chances of black candidates being elected to local and state offices. Unlike photo ID laws, gerrymandering almost always violates the Voting Rights Act, because it typically targets minority voters. Equal Access to the Polls for Disabled Voters Approximately 1 in five eligible American voters has a disability. Failing to provide disabled persons easy and equal access to polling places is against the law. The  Help America Vote Act of 2002  requires the states to ensure that voting systems, including voting machines and ballots, and polling places are accessible to people with disabilities. In addition, the law require that assistance at the polling place is available to people with limited English skills. As of Jan. 1, 2006, every voting precinct in the nation is required to have at least one voting machine available and accessible to persons with disabilities. Equal access is defined as providing persons with disabilities the same opportunity for participation in voting, including privacy, independence and assistance, afforded other voters. To help in evaluating a precincts compliance with the Help America Vote Act of 2002, the Justice Department provides this handy  checklist for polling places. Voter Registration Made Easy The National Voter Registration Act of 1993, also called the Motor Voter law, requires all states to offer voter registration and assistance at all offices where people apply for drivers licenses, public benefits or other government services. The law also prohibits the states from removing voters from the registration rolls simply because they have not voted. The states are also required to ensure the timeliness of their voter registration rolls by regularly removing voters who have died or moved. Our Soldiers Right to Vote The Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act of 1986 requires the states to ensure that all members of the U.S. armed forces who are stationed away from home, and citizens who are living overseas, can register and vote absentee in federal elections.