Review THE HORACE MANN
Volume XXIV - December 2014
RACE & RELIGION DIVERSE PERSPECTIVES IN A MODERN WORLD
Letter From the Editor
Review THE HORACE MANN
Ikaasa Suri
Editor-in-Chief
Lauren Futter Executive Editor
Jenna Barancik Laszlo Herwitz
Managing Design and Web Directors
Matthew Harpe Adam Resheff Brett Silverstein
I
n light of Horace Mann’s first ever Unity Day, as well as recent events on both domestic and international fronts, the fourth issue of this year’s volume of The Review explores the perception of race and religion in the modern world. From the controversy surrounding the lack of indictment in both Michael Brown’s and Eric Garner’s deaths to the rise in anti-Semitism across college campuses and in Europe, the complexities of race and religion are matters that impact each and every one of us. As with many others in the Horace Mann community and beyond, my racial and religious identities have often served as inherent obstacles with distant solutions. Discussions about such multifaceted issues necessitate an understanding from all parties involved, as well as the willingness to accept differences and recognize others’ perspectives. These articles are written not only to present the diverse opinions of the Horace Mann student body, but also to open up a dialogue amongst The Review’s readership. I truly hope that each of you take the time to thoroughly consider the issues addressed in the following pieces.
Race in the United States has especially jumped out across all platforms of news and social media. The New Yorker, a magazine dedicated to its journalism on politics and social issues, has taken to its December 8th issue to hone in on the idea of America as a segregated, race-based nation. Its cover is representative of the disunity within our nation, and The Review staff looked to it for inspiration. In a world where stereotypes of the “bossy black female” or the “indigent Hispanic” run rampant, and terrorist organizations are used as the foundations for the characterization and discussion of Islam, perhaps the concept of a tolerant global community is, in fact, idealistic. Through the design of this issue’s cover, we hope to emphasize such controversies and embody the broader dialogue surrounding race and religion in today’s world. Overall, I am immensely proud of the work Review writers and editors have put in for this issue. Discussion of the features topic for Issue 4 required a great deal of research and effort to efficiently hash out, and such hard work is evident in each of the following articles. Many thanks to everyone involved, including Mr. Donadio, Dr. Kelly, Dr. Delanty, and the administration for their never-ending commitment to The Horace Mann Review.
Enjoy the Issue, and Happy Holidays!
Managing Content Editors
Emily Kramer
Senior Editor - Domestic
Neil Ahlawat Senior Editor - International
Elizabeth Xiong
Senior Editor - Features
James Megibow Mitchell Troyanovsky Senior Editor - Economics
Alexander Newman Abigail Zuckerman Senior Editor - Science and Technology
Edmund Bannister Charles Cotton James McCarthy Harry Seavey Samantha Stern Senior Contibutors
Ben Alexander Daria Balaeskoul Maria Balaeskoul Gabriel Broshy Daniel Jin Cassandra K-J
Anna Kuritzkes Natasha Moolji Anne Rosenblatt Daniel Rosenblatt Peter Shamamian Eric Stein
Junior Editors
Miranda Bannister Evan Greene Ray Fishman Alex O’Neill
Matthew Parker Aditya Ram Spencer Slagowitz Evy Verbinnen
Associate Editors
Ikaasa Suri Editor-in-Chief Volume XXIV
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Gregory Donadio Faculty Advisor The Horace Mann Review is a member of the Columbia Scholastic Press Association, the American Scholastic Press Association, and the National Scholastic Press Association. Opinions expressed in articles or illustrations are not necessarily those of the Editorial Board or of the Horace Mann School. For more information, please visit www.hmreview.org.
Table of Contents
4
Modern Islam: A Peace Religion Distorted by Generalizations
The Public School Problem Zach Gaynor
page 4
Mehr Suri & Natasha Moolji
Education Equality
DOMESTIC
Honor McCarthy
Islamic Extremism: A Threat to Muslims and Non-Muslims Alike
page 6
More Than Just a Score Elizabeth Raab
Alex Karpf page 8
Dahlia Krutkovich
Neo-Nazism and the Far Right in Modern-Day Europe
Sophie Maltby & Celestine Samaroo page 10
Eva Steinman
Capital Punishment: Justice Capital Punishment: Injustice Evan Megibow
page 16
Mass Incarceration: America’s Need for Prison Reform Daniel Lee
Why Palestine Deserves to be a Nation Annie Liu
FEATURES
Will Scherr
Sophia Fikke
Christopher Shaari
Krystian Loetscher
Henry Shapiro
page 23
page 26
Reevaluating Ferguson: Why Are We Not Surprised? Libby Langsner
page 30
Race as Seen on Television Parul Sharma
page 32
Anti-Semitism on the Rise Lexi Kanter
page 34
Christians in the Middle East: A Community Under Siege Daniel Posner
Evan Frommer
64
page 56
page 58
page 61
Edibles Emma Forman
page 64
The Future of Fusion Technology on the Horizon Stephen Phillips
page 66
NASA’s Problems Skyrocket Jacob Chae
page 70
America’s Delicate Waltz with Antifreeze Timothy Hoang
page 72
London Crime Prediction Ruthie Yankwitt
page 36
page 54
After a Steep Drop, Can Oil Prices Stay Low?
Cheating on the SAT: A Broken System
page 28
page 52
Civil Forfeiture: Sanctioned Robbery
Zoe Mavrides
Interpreting the Risks Translators Face in Afghanistan
page 50
Patent Trolls
The Future of Brazil’s Economy
John Eng
page 48
Companies Pack Up and Leave
Afghan Women’s Fight for Equality
Jake Sanders
30
page 20
page 46
Mind the Gap: Wage Inequality
SCI-TECH
INTERNATIONAL
20
page 18
50 ECONOMICS
page 14
page 42
Racial Diversity in Public Schools
The Meaning of Race and Residence: Stop and Frisk
Alexis Megibow
page 38
page 74
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The Public School Problem Zachary Gaynor
H
orace Mann created the public education system in the United States after the American Revolution. These schools taught reading, writing, and arithmetic, and the fuction of these schools are very different from the public schools we have today. Reverend Samuel Reed Hall in 1823 created the first “normal school” in Vermont, which was the first stab at modern public education. Ever since then, the United States government has grown the public education system to ensure that there is at least one public school that caters to every child in the United States. Although it is one of the most developed and free countries in the world, the United States is currently ranked 36th in the world for math, reading, and science for teens behind many countries which are not nearly as developed as the United States. The public education system in America is certainly flawed. In many cases it does not allow students to reach their highest potential
due to a normalized base education across the United States, compounded with an inability for teachers to deviated from that due to lack of time and funding. An issue with the public education system is the large class sizes, which result in very little individual attention for each student. This problem occurs because it is economically infeasible to hire more teachers and make classes smaller with tax dollars that are allocated to education. According to the National Education Association, in California alone the student to teacher ratio is about 25:1 as of 2011. This lack of individual attention for students allows some students’ grades to slip, and does not provide for a positive learning environment for students. The lack of funding also puts a heavy burden on the teachers because many of them need supplies that are not given to them by the school, and they must supplement the minimal supplies given to them with supplies of their own. The cocktail of the
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lack of funding for supplies and lack of individual attention for the students creates a lot of stress among teachers who often have difficulty teaching and do not have the time to grant individual attention to their students. These teachers are trying to enable their students to attain a more comprehensive education at their own loss, so it is obvious that as Americans we should support raising wages for teachers, and raising funding for public schools in hopes of supporting the future of the United States. Moreover, the public education system is flawed in how they quantify and test results of public schools. The normal practice of the public education system is that it gives a standardized test and compares the results with other schools in the immediate area around the school and throughout the state. These tests include the Regents in New York and Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) to compare the United States
Domestic students are falling asleep in class, and if his or her students who are awake can’t focus on the material they are teaching. When this is the case many teachers will try to help each student’s well being before helping them learn the subjects in the curriculum, and therefore they do not complete the required curriculum. So, in effect, standardized testing as it stands is an inefficient way of testing how the schools are improving, and therefore give results that are flawed and not useful. This program of comparison would be better replaced with a program that compares the testing scores of students of similar socioeconomic backgrounds across state lines because they would have the most similar circumstances to compare. Public School District 5 in New York City, for example is one of the lowest scoring districts in the city due to the mass poverty in the district, but it is compared with Public School District 15 which services a very wealthy group of people in Brooklyn in which the average test score on the re-
ing an unfair advantage to those enrolled, so it is unfair to support them at all. This statement is the equivalent of saying that if the government can’t support a good program for everybody that program shouldn’t be allowed at all, that the youth of America should suffer in total for the inability to build and fund an inordinate amount of charter schools. Many critics of charter schools say that they give an unfair advantage to those attending them over public school students, so we shouldn’t have them in the first place. This argument is essentially stating that if our public schools aren’t good enough to keep up with charter schools then we should prevent everyone from going to them because it is unfair for the students who can not attend them. The real question is why wouldn’t we allow education in the country to improve for students who are given this opportunity instead of holding everyone back at a certain level? The public school system is not as bro-
As one of the most developed and free countries in the world, the United States, is currently ranked 36th in the world for math, reading, and science for teens. to the rest of the world. This process is inherently flawed because the districts could vastly vary in socioeconomic classes, therefore affecting their grades and providing innacurate comparisons. Many critics of the public education system believe that it is flawed due to the communities they cater to. These critics believe that in communities of people with lower socioeconomic status, there are inferior teachers and inferior materials. In reality, the reason for lower grades on state and national tests in these districts is due to the backgrounds the kids come from independent of the quality of their education. While schools like this have a responsibility of teaching the kids, their first responsibility is to ensure the wellbeing of the children attending the schools and provide a safe environment where students are encouraged to learn. Many children in poorer districts come to school unfed and with very little sleep, and it is not the teacher’s fault if his or her
gents is twenty points higher then that of District 5. A solution for improving the education of America’s youth is supporting charter schools both locally and federally through higher tax cuts. The Oxford English Dictionary defines a charter school as “a publicly funded independent school established by teachers, parents, or community groups under the terms of a charter with a local or national authority.” If the United States federally supported charter schools and gave tax breaks to the investors in the charter schools, not only would the children attending them have ample supplies and dedicated teachers, but also they would also be able to receive the individual attention that public schools rarely allow the opportunity for. This solves the issue of lack of attention for students in public schools, remedies the issue of lack of supplies, and takes a large financial burden off of the state, and because of this people think that it is giv-
December 2014
ken as many perceive it to be, even though many students are learning at a decreased pace. The crux of the educational divide between public schools in lower income areas and higher income areas is that teachers in lower income areas must deal with more issues that over lap from the home life of their students, including lack of food and lack of sleep. To improve the learning of children of all classes, there should be outreach programs with families to allow for a safe learning environment at school, and the government should be helping those people to provide meals and clothing for their child, so that when they go to school all they have to worry about is learning. These methods should be compounded with raising teachers salaries, and raising funding for public schools by the state, which would both bring more intelligent people to the profession of teaching and directly aid the dedicated teachers in the public school system now. HMR
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The Benefits of Standardized Testing Honor McCarthy
T
he words “standardized testing” bring to mind an image of harried teenagers, college applications, and number two pencils. However, standardized testing is much more than shading in the correct bubbles, or frantically determining which letter to choose. The use of standardized testing is controversial, despite the fact that 93% of studies have found them to have a significantly positive effect on student achievement. Such testing serves as the foundation for our education system, promotes equality, and ensures the future success of students. Nationwide standardized testing provides structure and encourages collaboration between educators. Contrary to popular belief, four out of five teachers in the United States deem these tests important, and over 70% believe that they do not detract from other aspects of their lesson plans. Similarly to the Common Core, standardized tests lay the frame-
work for a well-rounded curriculum and ensure that students across the country are held to the same standards. Such testing provides an instructional outline for teachers and schools, by reducing wasted instructional time and simplifying timeline management. Because similar tests are administered to all students, this allows for comparisons between various schools, teachers, and districts. Given such information, problem areas can be identified and needs are then adequately addressed. Furthermore, because standardized testing establishes uniform lesson plans, teachers can work together in a more productive and efficient manner, promoting collaboration and the spread of ideas. Researchers find a positive relationship between widespread collaboration and achievement in math and reading. Additionally, studies find that on an individual level, students who prepare to take a standardized test as high schoolers retain math and science
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concepts more readily, are more likely to complete homework, and are prone to discuss schoolwork with their parents. Standardized testing acts as a foundation for curriculums and student achievement, fostering collaboration and equality. The constant nature of standardized testing promotes equality; because all students are assessed on and taught the same material, no student is at an inherent advantage. While assessments in school use different questions and are conducted in varying environments, the consistency of standardized tests disregards race and socioeconomic status. Such a system also prevents biases, as the computer-graded tests eliminate the possibility of “name grading.” The standards set in place by the material covered on the test statistically benefit low-income students. Looking towards Massachusetts’ charter schools, the curriculum, based off standards dictated by testing, led its low-income students
Domestic to ace the state’s Comprehensive Assessment System exams. The same trend is occurring in schools across the country. In addition to benefitting underprivileged students through consistent curriculums, standardized tests provide scholarships that can be directed towards higher education. Nation wide foreign language tests, such as the National Latin Exam, offer rewards for successful students based on academic merit. Standardized testing prepares students for future examinations and careers, and instills valuable life skills. In fact, in 1998, 66% of college professors believed “elementary and high schools expect students to learn too little.” As a rise in testing occurred over the following four years, that figure dropped to 47% in direct support of the continuation of such testing. Past the SATs or ACTs taken by high school students in the United States, those wishing to pursue prestigious careers must continue to take tests; lawyers, real-estate brokers, pilots and physicians all take highstakes standardized tests. Early exposure to the format of standardized tests and the importance of studying teaches individuals to manage healthy pressure and maintain composure in such situations, both skills that have distinct advantages outside of education. Similarly, standardized tests enforce time management, logical reasoning, and problem solving. Eliminating standardized tests compromises the future success of students, rendering them unprepared for future academic endeavors. Research has found that countries that implement standardized tests preform better both academically and economically. Such is the case in China, which the world leads in math and science. Those who oppose to standardized tests often claim testing will detract form the study of the humanities. China’s impressive academic aptitude contradicts this notion, as its rigorous testing program stands side by side to its number one rank in the world for reading. The humanities and standardized testing, as seen in China, are not mutually exclusive. Critics of the testing system also argue that the test is simply a one of memorization and guessing the right letter. However, the inherent nature of standardized tests is to highlight advanced understanding and analytical reasoning. These tests push students to determine the best application of key principles through logical argumentation. The formal writing component included in many assessments pushes stu-
dents to display their own creativity and rhetorical style. The final complaint regarding testing is that it places undue stress on students and administrators. However, today’s universities and workforce call for increased aptitude and comprehension, as well as rigorous intellectual labor. Such demands generate stress, which students taking standardized tests learn to cope with and even manipulate to their own advantage. Coupled with improvements to increase fairness, standardized tests will prepare and establish the framework for future ascendancy. Despite the multitude of benefits provided by the current format of standardized testing, the system is not yet perfect. Given time and improvements, standardized testing will continue to benefit students. Without testing, there is no method to gauge student achievement nor is their structure within our education system. Looking specifically at the SATs, a University of California study found that should colleges neglect the scores of prospective students during their admissions process, the standard high school GPA for acceptants would inflate significantly due to unrealistic expectations in order to restore the admissions process. Such a rise in standards would prevent thousands of students from receiving secondary education, threatening the success of our nation as a whole. That being said, several flaws need to be addressed to further benefit all individuals. Increasingly accessible or subsidized prepatory work, perhaps in an online format, would narrow the gap between low-income students and their fellow constituents, advancing the level of equality. To further achieve this goal, the tests should be created in such a way to minimize the use of tutors and prep classes so that no student is put at a disadvantage because of his or her socioeconomic standing. To date, no large-scale method of measuring student aptitude is a better alternative to the standardizing testing system. These tests are both an effective and efficient approach, with an average cost of less than $6 per student and less than 0.1% of total spending on kindergarten through twelfth grade education. The importance of standardized tests is seen not only on individuals, but also on a nation wide level. Despite objections to the system, achievement must be measured, and the standardized tests are the best way to do so. HMR
December 2014
4 out of 5
teachers deem standardized tests important
70% believe they do not detract from learning
93% of studies
have found they have a positive effect on academic achievement
$6 per student
to maintain these tests
0.1% of total
spending on education
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More Than Just a Score
Elizabeth Raab
S
tandardized testing has been present in the American public education system since the nineteenth century, and their use increased tremendously when the No Child Left Behind Act authorized them in every state in the U.S. This had many negative effects on the American education system. Standardized testing in our public schools hurts students, teachers, and the rest of the United States, as it destroys important parts of a public education, is not an accurate way to measure performance, increases discrimination, and weakens the education system as a whole. First, standardized tests eliminate many beneficial teaching methods and destroy the essence of what actually matters about education. Education is about receiving and learning important information, and being able to put that knowledge to use later in life. However, standardized tests, which evaluate a handful of narrow topics, cause teachers to focus on teaching students how to take these tests and only prepare them to answer the specific questions that appear on them. On Sept. 11, 2002, students at
Monterey High School in Lubbock, TX, were prevented from discussing the first anniversary of the 2001 terrorist attacks because they were too busy with standardized test preparation. Additionally, a national 2007 study by the Center on Education Policy reported that since 2001, 44% of school districts had reduced the time spent on science, social studies and the arts by an average of 145 minutes per week in order to focus on reading and math. As a result, students who excel in creative fields like art and writing and do not do as well on standardized tests, and do not get the chance to develop their skills. When students only learn how to take straightforward tests lacking any nuances or diversity in topic, a huge part of education and potential is lost. Though standardized tests appear to produce adequate results that can be used to judge students’ accomplishments, they fail to prepare these students for higher education, where other skill sets besides simple test taking are required. When students who have been brought up in an education system that depends mainly
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on standardized testing, they find themselves unprepared to the “real world,” and are unable to think creatively in the workforce. Thus, as said by Jiang Xueqin, Deputy Principal of Peking University High School, test prep in schools produce only “competent mediocrity,” and unless teachers depart from the “drill and kill” method of preparing students, the United States will find itself with workers who are unable to complete tasks requiring anything but mere competency. Second, these tests do not even accurately measure a student’s performance. Not every state or region administers the same standardized test, and different tests clearly produce different results. Thus, results for different areas of the United States and for the United States as a whole cannot be compared, and the information gained from standardized tests is utterly useless. According to a September 2010 report by the Annenberg Institute for School Reform, over 17% of Houston teachers ranked in the top category on the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills reading test were ranked among the two lowest categories
Domestic on the equivalent Stanford Achievement Test. The results were drawn from the same students, just using two different tests. Additionally, the Connecticut Mastery Test is entirely different from California’s Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) test, and while the former includes essay questions, the latter is entirely multiple-choice. Third, standardized testing is both unfair and discriminatory to many groups of people. English language learners take tests in English even when they lack enough knowledge of English to succeed, and special education students take the same tests as other children, receiving almost no accommodations. In addition, these tests are biased towards male students, who tend to adapt more successfully to the format of standardized testing. Many studies have demonstrated that females score consistently lower
on the tests. When students struggle, teachers often take matters into their own hands and correct their answers. According to USA Today, 191 teachers in 70 public schools in Washington DC were “implicated in possible testing infractions,” and nearly all the teachers at one DC elementary school “had students whose test papers showed high numbers of wrong-to-right erasures.” There were also 178 Atlanta public school teachers from 44 schools found to be cheating on tests according to a July 2011 report. And, as said in ABC News, teachers attended “weekend pizza parties” at which they corrected students’ answers together and changed answers to increase their students’ scores. It has gotten to the point where so much stress is put on standardized testing that educators practically take the tests for their students to ensure success. Not only is this immoral because
also unfair to students who get especially anxious. If there is one student in an elementary school class who feels nauseous before taking every test, it should not affect their education or their potential in the education system that they get more nervous than other students. Education, especially early on, should be an exciting, accessible process, rather than a source of anxiety and misery. Standardized testing takes away aspects of comfort from the education system as a whole. Lastly, standardized tests do not even improve student learning in the subjects with which they are concerned. The US slipped from 18th in the world in math on the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) to 31st place in 2009, with a similar drop in science and no change in reading after the No Child Left Behind Act was passed, which greatly increased standardized testing. A
If there is one student in an elementary school class who feels nauseous before taking every test, it should not affect their education or their potential for success in the education system. than males on multiple choice formatted tests. This is because men typically perform better on timed tests and are more willing to guess on tests when they are unsure of the answer. So though these tests strive for equality, there is usually a gender gap when regarding the results. Moreover, these tests discriminate against low scoring students in general. According to an Arizona State University report in the June 22, 2009, edition of the peer-reviewed International Journal of Education Policy & Leadership, low-performing students are “encouraged to stay home” on test days or “counseled to quit or be suspended” before tests are administered. The fact that standardized tests are biased towards certain groups of people limits other students’ ability to excel in the education system and make their school experience more unpleasant. This is not okay and any form of discrimination should not be tolerated, especially in the public education system. Fourth, standardized testing encourages cheating. Since students’ scores on standardized tests can be used to evaluate teachers, educators feel a lot of pressure to ensure that their students do well
of the cheating aspect, but it also prevents children from getting their honest scores. As a result, students are unable to learn from their mistakes and the entire purpose of standardized testing is undermined. Fifth, standardized testing robs students of their childhoods. When standardized tests in elementary schools hold so much importance, preparation for them can start as early as kindergarten. Research from the Alliance for Childhood collected in 2009 showed, “time for play in most public kindergartens has dwindled to the vanishing point, replaced by lengthy lessons and standardized testing.” In addition, a 2010 study by the Gesell Institute of Human Development states that emphasis on testing makes “children feel like failures now as early as PreK…” The Sacramento Bee states, “test-related jitters, especially among young students, are so common that the Stanford-9 exam comes with instructions on what to do with a test booklet in case a student vomits on it.” The fact that young students are vomiting and crying due to test induced stress before they reach double digits is alarming. It is
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May 26, 2011, National Research Council report found no evidence test-based incentive programs are working: “Despite using them for several decades, policymakers and educators do not yet know how to use test-based incentives to consistently generate positive effects on achievement and to improve education.” There is evidently no way to tell if standardized testing is even effective in increasing positive results on the actual tests. This kind of testing is therefore ineffective in increasing favorable scores in students. Standardized testing clearly does not benefit any students because it eliminates many important aspects of education, increases discrimination and cheating, and creates stress in children even before they enter middle school. Public education should not be based on a system that is inaccurate and ineffective in producing positive results. Education is about so much more than learning how to correctly fill in the bubbles for a multiple choice question, but with the stress the public school system is currently putting on standardized testing, that is what it will become. HMR
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THE MEANING OF RACE AND RESIDENCE: STOP AND FRISK
CELESTINE SAMAROO & SOPHIE MALTBY 10
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STOP AND FRISK: A REVIEW
asiem Walters, a high school senior from Flatbush, Brooklyn was stopped and frisked for the first time at the age of 13. Walters recounted his story in a video documentary called Where Am I Going about stop and frisk. The first of countless times he was harassed by the police, Walter was standing outside his friend’s house to go to school with him. The police came up to him, and after asking what he was doing, searched his backpack and threw it to the ground, then patted him down, yanking at his clothing and eventually throwing him to the ground. “The first thing I felt was fear,” Kaseim said. From then on, he worried when leaving his house, not because of a fear that he would be robbed or an insecurity about his neighborhood, but a fear of the police, the one institution that is supposed to protect him. “That’s something I shouldn’t have to be scared about” Kaseim said. Kaseim’s story is not an irregularity in his world; his family and other members of his community have undergone the same stress: the fear that they are going to be attacked by the police. They are always wired and alert if the police are near. “I had friends who were high-fiving, and the police stopped them because they thought it was a drug deal” Kaseim said. Instances that most of us can count on as a part of everyday life are things that Kasiem and his friends have to be weary of. Stop, question, and frisk - the New York Police Department’s tactic to obstruct domestic terrorism by stopping, and frisking people they deemed “suspicious”- has sparked controversy since it was first popularized in New York in the early 2000’s for singling out low income communities. Not only does the practice racially profile its victims, but also unfairly treats immi-
grants, members of religious minorities, youth, and the low-income population. Reverend Samuel Cruz of Sunset Park, Brooklyn, is always telling his congregation about the horror of stop and frisk. “I shouldn’t have to tell my nephews not to wear hoodies or not to walk a certain way,” Cruz said Where Am I Going. His neighborhood is one of the highest targeted neighborhoods for stop and frisk, and the impact the practice has had on the neighborhood has been detrimental. Cruz has traveled around New York talking about the issue. A frequent guest on MSNBC, Cruz tries to communicate the voice of his neighborhood, telling stories of those in his congregation who have been victimized by the practice. Stop and frisk is a police tactic used to lower crime by patting down the outside of an individual’s clothing whom the cops believe is an immediate danger to surrounding community, either believing that they are about to do something illegal or have already engaged in illicit activities. The police can only frisk a person who they believe is extremely suspicious or if the suspect is thought to be armed and poses a threat to the community by being dangerous. Based on the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution, which states that each person can be protected from “unreasonable searches and seizures,” police can only conduct these stops on the basis that an individual is a threat, not on his or her race. The police abuse their power and tend to racially profile suspects, and frisk people who actually don’t pose a risk to the community, an appalling reality. The NYPD targets two main races containing many innocent victims of stop and frisk: Hispanics and African Americans. The practice is completely superfluous; according
JUNE 1968 STOP AND FRISK LEGAL PRECEDENT ESTABLISHED IN TERRY V. OHIO
to The Daily News in 2014 the murder rate dropped from 203 to 179 from 2013, and the overall crime rate dropped 3.6% proving that the stop and frisk does not to decrease the crime rate in NYC, numbers completely unrelated to the stop and frisk victims, as most of these stops and searches prove fruitless. Policeman Adhyl Polanco grew up with the constant crime and shootings of Washington Heights and always dreamt of becoming one of the “good guys.” After the “one arrest, 20 summons, and five stop and frisks” monthly policy was mandated by the NYPD in 2009, Polanco reached a turning point in his career that compelled him to choose between his career and his morals, ultimately quitting his job at the NYPD. Polanco now advocates for protection rights to which everyone is entitled, including those in low-income communities. Along with Reverend Cruz, he makes sure that the voices of these people are heard, ensuring that they have equal opportunities in the supposed meritocracy that is our nation, easing their fear of the police that makes them feel like they are unable to succeeed. Stop and frisk became a known NYPD tactic in the early 2000’s solely based on the goal of lowering crime by stopping and questioning individuals the police believed were in possession of illegal or dangerous items. The first stop and frisk law was passed in 1964 by Julius Volker, a member of the New York State assembly, as a way to lower crime as well as increase public safety in the New York City area. Stop and frisk was not limited to only New York, since the US supreme court addressed the idea in 1968 in the Terry v. Ohio case, which came to the conclusion that stop and frisk is constitutional under
DECEMBER 2003 NYPD ORDERED TO MAKE AN ANTIPROFILING POLICY SEPTEMBER 1971 THE TERRY LAW GOES INTO EFFECT. FIRST REAL EMERGENCE OF LEGAL STOP AND FRISKING December 2014
MAY 2008 NYPD ORDERED TO TURN OVER STOP AND FRISK DATA 11
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FEBRUARY 2012 RECORD-SETTING YEAR FOR STOP AND FRISKS
JANUARY 2013 JUDGE: NYPD MUST HALT SUSPICION-LESS BRONX STOPS
JULY 2012 NY COURT REVERESES STOP AND FRISK ACTION the condition that an individual is engaging in illicit activity. Terry and his accomplice Chilton acted suspiciously, causing Detective Martin McFadden to stop and frisk them, thus finding their concealed weapons, precipitating their arrest. This case set the basis and the guidelines for the stop and frisk of an individual, since Terry and Chilton were convicted for carrying weaponry without a license in public, and the government deemed it lawful to stop and frisk an individual if they exhibit skeptical behavior. The justice system of the United States proves to be judgemental by deeming suspicious behavior unlawful, and sets the ground for a stop and frisk. Although the Terry case was successful in the protection of individuals of a community, it should not allow the government to institutionalize stop and frisk as a police tactic. While in this case the suspects proved to be guilty, in most cases the accused are innocent victims of racial prejudice. In more recent years blatant corruption in the system has become ubiquitous. The numbers speak for themselves. While police are not required to give the public access to their records, some are made available. This begs the question that if the small amount of records we are given access to still frames the NYPD poorly, what are the rest like? In 2009 police failed to cite a legitimate reason for a stopping someone, leading to the meaningless harassment of that victim. According to the Daily News, in 2012 about 50% of stops conducted by police were unnecessary, yet the courts did nothing to prevent this. Additionally, they found a widespread pattern of stop and frisk in African American and Hispanic communities. In 2002, of the 97,296 stops, a mere 12% actually led to arrests. Comparably, in 2011 there were 685,724 stops conducted and
88% of these stops led to no summoning or arrest. Within the 685,724 stops, more than half of the individuals were African American, and 34% were Hispanic. Hispanic and African Americans are usually the victims of stop and frisk attacks solely based on the color of their skin or where they live, and while the stops used to be all across the city, they have become more concentrated in smaller numbers in low-income areas with a high minority population: upper Manhattan and the outer boroughs. Aside from the targeted racial groups we also see a trend in the targeted age group ranging from 14-24 years old. African American and Hispanic men make up only 4.7% of that group, yet they made up 41.6% of these attacks. Of these Hispanic and African American males stopped, less than 10% were found guilty. At its peak in 2012, when in January stops reached 16,000 a week, African Americans made up 52% of all of the stops, when the percentage of the race in New York city is only 23%. Contrary to this, while whites make up 34% of the population, they comprised only 10% of all stops. In August of 2013, Federal Judge Shira A. Scheindlin rejected New York’s stop and frisk policy, deeming it unconstitutional. This institution seemed constitutional in 1963, but since then it has evolved into a race-based persecution of minorities. The stop and frisk policy directly conflicts with with the Fourth and the Fourteenth Amendments, defending Scheindlin’s point of proving it unlawful. She also argued that NYPD was to quick to decipher behavior as suspicious even if it was just casual behavior. The stops weren’t the only problem, since the police officers conducted pat downs without any legal grounds to do so. In recent years the number of stop and
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AUGUST 2013- JUDGE RULES NYPD STOP AND FRISK UNCONSTITUTIONAL frisk cases have doubled leading to the general public taking notice and criticizing the government for allowing these race-based cases to take place. This institution has taken ages to be deemed unconstitutional, because of the rise of more stop and frisks taking place in addition to the patterns of the prejudice based systems on which these individuals are frisked. Mayor Michael Bloomberg advocated that the stop and frisk benefited the city even though there was no direct correlation to it lowering the crime or gun rate in New York City. He declared that stop and frisk could save the lives of many innocent people by taking guns off the streets, yet this proves to be false more often than not. Not only are the majority (82%) of victims found innocent, but also occasionally the police brutality injures an innocent victim, and in rare occasions inflicts death as seen in the Trayvon Martin case, for example. Stop and frisk is not a localized issue. It impacts the entire nation. In other places such as Baltimore, California, and Detroit we see the same pattern emerging, since only minorities feel the effects of these random stops. Some states prefer to define stop and frisk as “investigative stops” to justify the association with racial prejudice that stop and frisk carries. In Baltimore, out of almost 500 searches conducted, only one knife, nine guns, and ten incidents of drugs were intercepted. The civilians fear that the police engage in unjustified extra-legal charges, since police forces use this tactic at their own discretion even when it is not necessary. In Detroit, where 95% of the city’s population is African American, it makes sense that most of the stops conducted are of people of African descent, whereas in New York 52% of all stops being conducted are on
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African Americans even though they are a minority race in New York City. In Oakland, California police officers subjugated and targeted the city’s minorities resulting in the “Riders” case. Delphine Allen v. City of Oakland was a civil lawsuit regarding police misconduct. Four veteran officers allegedly beat and kidnapped citizens, and ex-rookie officer plaintiff was expected to turn a blind eye to their misconduct. Despite the fact that stop and frisk activities have decreased, they are still going on. The percentage of African Americans and other minorities stopped has increased. While the intention of the practice is good, one fifth of police officers have used force even if it was not required, and some people did not pose any kind of threat. Similarly, of the 27,527 people stopped in 2013, 24,223 were innocent, further demonstrating not only how offensive and prejudice-based the system is, but also how inefficient it is. According to the New York Times, since more than 75% of the 27,527 individuals were found innocent it is safe to say that stop and frisk is solely based on appearance and race, and not on suspicion, although the deeply rooted prejudice causes for officers to believe that the victims are instead perpetrators. Stop and frisk is not only in America, as Canada has implemented a carding system
where the police stop, question and demand documents during non-criminal encounters on the streets. Statics in Canada’s carding system prove that African Americans were more likely to be targeted rather than caucasians, meaning that the government must reform their system of attacking minorities. Carding rates in Canada are higher in diverse and racialized communities, and this is also true in America as well, proving that racial profiling occurs on an international level as well. Of the 76 New York City Police Precincts, 72 of them have Hispanics and Africancan Americans accounted for 50% of stops, and in 34 precincts they accounted for as much as 90% of the stops, reinforcing the notion that police target low-income, outerborough neighborhoods where minorities tend to live. 16% of the wrongfully frisked minorities had force used against them even though they did not pose a threat to the community proving that the system is not only race based, but dangerous as well. Stop and frisk is morally incorrect, since the NYPD typically frisk people of African- American or Hispanic descent even if they aren’t deemed suspicious, directly violating his or her privacy rights. The percentage of minorities that are stopped and frisked have gone up, yet the overall number of stop and frisks have gone down.
2002: 97,296 NEW YORKERS WERE STOPPED... 80,176 WERE INNOCENT 2004 313,523 NEW YORKERS WERE STOPPED... 278, 933 WERE INNOCENT 2006: 506,491 NEW YORKERS WERE STOPPED... 457,163 WERE INNOCENT 2008: 540,302 NEW YORKERS WERE STOPPED... 474,387 WERE INNOCENT 2010: 601,285 NEW YORKERS WERE STOPPED... 518,849 WERE INNOCENT
Kaseim has been stopped at least nine times. “If it happens to you once, you won’t get it, if it happens to you under a random circumstance, you won’t get it. You have to understand that there are people that have been stopped over ten times, there are people that have been stopped over twenty times, and it’s something dehumanizing.” The majority of the times Kaseim has been stopped and frisked has occurred after the Supreme Court hearing of 2013, illustrating that the problem is anything but gone, despite what many news outlets would like their viewers to believe. Kaseim believes that the problem can be solved if the police get to know the communities, and if they understand the problems with the practice, the embarrassment and shame that the victims feel. “Being stopped instills a fear in you, forcing you to believe that you are a criminal.” Evidently, the institution is immoral and has undesired and converse effects on the communities in which it is prevalent. While its intentions are to rid the city of crime, the tension between communities and the police is ubiquitous, instilling fear in the individuals who need should be able to rely on the police to protect their neighborhoods. HMR
STOP AND FRISK: BY THE NUMBERS 2012: 532,911 NEW YORKERS WERE STOPPED... 473,644 WERE INNOCENT HALF OF
27,527 NEW YORKERS WERE STOPPED... 22,862 WERE INNOCENT
2014: December 2014
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Capital Punishment Alexis Megibow
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pponents of capital punishment have blood on their hands. The government has the responsibility and the right to protect its people from known criminals. Those criminals, by virtue of their committed crimes, have chosen to sacrifice their rights. It would be unjust to subject the public to such crimes when the government has the power to avoid further felon-caused destruction by exercising the death penalty. The death penalty serves as the ultimate warning for potential criminals. The threat that committing murder could result in one’s own death deters prospective murderers. A person is more likely to kill when the maximum sentence is life imprisonment as opposed to capital punishment. One study shows that criminals, by a 5:1 ratio, are convinced that capital punishment is a consequence significant enough to dissuade them from killing their victims. The death penalty also discourages the prisoner, who is serving a life sentence, to behave unlawfully. Without the death penalty there would be no incentive to hold back since no further punishment could be administered. The penalty acts as a deterrent for less extreme crimes, such as burglary. If a potential criminal knows that the judiciary system would stop at nothing to preserve justice and would willing employ the death penalty, the system appears more draconian. Although the individual may not have been planning on killing
Domestic death row after killing two girls. Decades after being freed, he proceeded to repeat his actions by killing his mother. Had California employed capital punishment at that time, Stanworth’s mother’s life would have been saved. It is unjust to release someone with such an enormous, known threat back into the world where he or she is free to commit more crimes. Those opposed to the death penalty may argue that
“Dennis Stanworth was paroled from death row after killing two girls and repeated his actions by killing his mother.” such criminals should be imprisoned for life without parole. However, he or she could still kill an officer, prison guard, or other convict. Capital punishment eliminates this risk completely. Furthermore, the families of the victims of these vicious murderers should not have to live knowing that a killer with innocent blood on his or her hands is still alive. The death penalty provides the closure and justice that these families deserve. It is terrible enough that their loved one has died. The additional pain they feel from knowing that the murder remains alive is the government’s fault for not properly punishing the guilty individual. Frederick A. Roma-
“The death penalty serves as the ultimate warning for potential criminals.” anyone while stealing, he or she will be more apprehensive about the ensuing consequences. Without the death penalty, the individual would know that if he or she were caught, he or she would serve time for the robbery regardless of the crime’s severity. The only additional punishment for murder would be more time in jail. The government is responsible for maintaining public safety and eliminating any known threats to said security. Although they are imprisoned, convicted murderers still pose a threat to society and to countless, innocent lives. Astonishingly, many of these killers are released on parole. For example, following California’s ruling that the death penalty was unconstitutional in 1972, Dennis Stanworth was paroled from
more cost-effective than life imprisonment. The cost of maintaining an incarcerated person’s life exceeds that of execution. The average defense cost per case for a death penalty trial is $395,762, while that of a non death penalty trial is $98,963. Initially, it seems as though the cost for the death penalty is greater than that of life without parole, however the price for incarceration must be taken into consid-
no’s sister had been brutally murdered along with two other women. When he finally found out that the serial killer, Steven Howard Oken was to receive the death penalty, he felt tremendous relief. He said, “It’s justice. It’s not revenge.” His wife, Vicki, elaborated by declaring that, “Revenge would be going out and killing [one of the murderer’s] family members. The death penalty isn’t revenge. It’s the law.” Romano later said that the problem with eradicating the penalty on the grounds that it is too harsh is that oppositionists would then argue that life without parole is too harsh. Eventually, our government would grant killers their freedom and give them the opportunity to kill again. Economically, capital punishment is
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eration. The $296,799 difference pales in comparison to the cost of life without parole in prison. The average convicted murderer spends about 20 years in jail, and therefore the cost of sustaining his or her life amounts to almost $1 million. Although some current studies show that the cost of the death penalty are more extreme due to the price of court hearings and trials, these studies do not accurately depict the long-term economic effects. As the practice becomes more common and routine, this cost is expected to dramatically decrease. Those who oppose the death penalty often argue that there is a chance that innocent people are wrongly put to death. In order to avoid this situation, the threshold for evidence and proof to warrant the penalty is extremely high and death row prisoners are provided with an adequate amount of time for additional hearings. Even in the instance that there are mistakes, there are innocent people who are put in jail for crimes that they did not commit. Nevertheless, we have not eliminated our system of imprisonment. Regardless, there is infinitely more verification and certainty required to sentence one to capital punishment rather than to incarceration, as there should be. By enforcing the death penalty, the government successfully fulfills its duty to protect its citizens from those who refuse to respect the law. Capital punishment acts as a deterrent for potential criminals who commit crimes of varying severity. It provides closure for and a sense of security within families and people throughout the country. As it turns out, the death penalty is a lifesaver. HMR
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Capital Punishment Evan Megibow
http://www.all-hd-wallpapers.com
INJUSTICE CON 16
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he government should be held to the same moral code as the people, and last time I checked murder was a crime. Our judicial system believes it can teach people not to murder, but with 48 killings in 2013, our judicial system killed far more people than any one criminal did. It is a weak culture that kills everything it fears with humanity and morality as mere afterthoughts. These executions have failed to deter murderers. As study after study shows there is no correlation between the death penalty and crime rates, but both state governments and the federal government have continued to adopt the death penalty. According to a recent study by the University of Colorado, 88% of criminologists agree that the death penalty has no effect on crime rates. The number of those who do believe capital punishment deters crime has been sliced in half over the past twelve years, and currently, only 5% of criminologists conclude the death penalty protects the people. Humane punishment for high-level criminal offenders generally consists of life without parole, avoiding solitary confinement if possible. When a person sees the government killing, he or she may perceive murder as socially acceptable. Criminals do not think of the punishments when they decide to murder, and most murders are not premeditated but instead happen in the spur of the moment. Murderers are not creating pro con lists to decide whether or not to kill, but instead homicide normally happens in fits of rage or in intoxicated states of mind. Since these murders are not premeditated, it is not feasible that the death penalty acts as a deterrent. Capital punishment costs exponentially more than incarceration for life, yet both methods remove the criminal from civilization. In the state of California, thirteen executions have taken place since 1976. These executions used more than four billion taxpayer dollars, according to the Los Angeles Times. This money is being spent on legal council, proceedings, appeal processes, and the physical execution itself. The removal of any one of these costs would destroy the system by causing a higher conviction rate for innocent defendants. In death penalty cases, defendants need high quality counseling and a full set of appeals to promote fairness in order to withhold our belief of innocent until proven guilty. This means that the cost cannot be reduced in the future without giving up basic judicial principles. This potential decrease in
Domestic the quality of legal council or the quantity of appeals would lead to an increased number of wrongful executions within a process that should already be begging to repent its sins. Thus, over 307 million dollars is spent in each individual case. According to the Pew Research Center, each individual execution costs the state nearly as much as paying every corrections officer in California for an entire year. It costs the state less than $20,000 per inmate per year in the state prisons. Even if the inmate were held for a full thirty-year period, life without parole would cost taxpayers less than $600,000. Thus, people pay 311 times more money per individual case to finance capital punishment than they would otherwise pay to fund incarceration for life, even though both approaches permanently remove criminals from society. The amount of money spent on attorneys directly impacts the likelihood of being ex-
ing cannot be justified. At least four people have been wrongfully executed under death penalty laws. The only difference between these people and those who were exonerated from death row is that these innocent people had unlucky timing and were killed before the evidence came to fruition. These were innocent people who were murdered by their government. In one case innocence was proven after all appeals had be exhausted, but before the execution. The man was still executed because the judicial system was unsuccessful in protecting the innocent. The death penalty is used for a wide array of crimes much less severe than murder including perjury, treason, kidnapping, burglary, arson, robbery, escape, and resisting arrest. Federally, a person can legally be put to death for trafficking drugs if a single judge, not a jury, determines it to be appropriate. The Eighth Amendment clearly
“The death penalty fails to deter murderers” ecuted. In recent federal cases, defendants in the bottom third of attorney spending ($320,000 or less) have received capital punishment 44% of the time. Wealthier defendants whose attorney charges have been in the top of spending (more than $320,000) have received the death penalty only 19% of the time. No decision should be made based on socioeconomic class. When matters of life and death are affected by income, we must question if the death penalty is truly just. Race remains a pivotal factor in a jury’s decision to employ the death penalty. In Washington State, juries were three times more likely to recommend the death penalty to African American defendants than to white defendants. All other variables concerning the evidence were almost identical including the nature of the crime and the suspect’ remorse. The only way to prevent racism from effecting death penalty cases is to abolish capital punishment altogether. Innocent people are placed on death row, where they await their turn to die. Since 1976, 144 people have been exonerated from death row. This means that the court found a defendant guilty and sentenced him or her to death, yet since the jury’s verdict was read, the case’s evidence has been revised and the defendant has been proven innocent. On average these innocent people rotted on death row for over ten years before exoneration. When there is anything less than 100% certainty of guilt, kill-
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protects the people from cruel and unusual punishment, and the situation described above is even more egregious than an eye for an eye. Not only does this circumstance violate our Eighth Amendment and therefore our Bill of Rights, but it can also result in people abusing power. Many drug offenders are legally allowed to be given the death penalty but instead receive no time in jail at all. Thus, the United States government withholds the right to employ a huge range of punishments and to administer them arbitrarily. Those tasked with executing their fellow citizens have fallen ill and have often become suicidal. The job of watching, injecting, or electrocuting a person regardless of his or her past crimes is a traumatizing experience that creates mental health issues. Two executioners from New York and New Jersey have committed suicide recently. Though it may be tempting to simply focus on those killed by executions, people surrounding the death penalty are hurt. The United State’s government unconstitutionally employs the death penalty to control people by instilling fear within them. While capital punishment may benefit the government, it is not humane, nor is it the most efficient way to isolate people from society. People who are innocent have been executed, a situation that any United States citizen could potentially be placed in. Capital punishment does not achieve its goals; it simply ends lives. HMR
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Mass Incarceration: Daniel Lee
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he critical impacts of the United States criminal justice system stem from the clear correlation between poverty and incarceration. In recent years, state governments, as well as the federal government have continued to pass policies and regulations that keep prisoners and ex-convicts from accessing the necessities for rebuilding their lives and becoming productive and autonomous members of society. In past decades, immoral and destitute conditions at U.S prisons have become commonplace, particularly with the rise of the prison industrial complex and for-profit prisons. At this point, the privatization of the prison industry, with the prospect of using prison labor to generate economic wealth, only incentivizes further incarceration as well as arrests from state and city police officers. Besides the dehumanization of American prisoners that is currently taking place, there has also been a trend towards disproportionally incarcerating minorities. According to Drug War Facts, African-American males are nine times as likely to be imprisoned than white males, and Latinos are three times as likely. What remains problematic is the fact that 26.6% of all Latinos, and 28.4% of all African-Americans in the United States are living under the nationally established poverty line, rates of impoverishment far greater than
any other racial group currently experiences in the United States. As a result, the increase in endeavors to incarcerate more individuals directly correlates to repressing members of poorer social classes and racial minority groups. As long as that the U.S Criminal Justice system continues to favor retribution cutting off ex-criminals from venues to rehabilitation, and rejects reformation to prevent overcrowding of prisons, it will continue to marginalize a large portion of the population, and perpetuate social and racial inequality in our country. Moreover, the general issue of inhumane prison conditions is still yet to be addressed. According to the United States Bureau of Justice’s latest surveys, in 2011 and 2012, 3.2% of all people in jail, 4.0% of state and federal prisoners, and 9.5% of those held in juvenile detention reported having been sexually abused in their current facility during the within the past year. Also disturbing are the ramifications of solitary confinement, which constitute the second aspect of the immorality of our incarceration even in the modern day. Currently, an estimated 44 states have facilities confining more than 30,000 people. As prisoners are often confined for months or even years for 23 hours per day spent in a 6 foot by 8 foot cell, with some spending more than 25 years in solitary confinement, they face
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the risks of leaving the prisons in an even worsened psychological state, if they are eventually paroled or released. In 2006, an independent study found that 64% of all prisoners in solitary confinement were already afflicted by mental illnesses before the confinement, indicating that isolation of these individuals was wrongly being implemented as a method to resolve psychological ailments. According to findings by the American Psychological Association, methods involving solitary confinement increase the probability of committing suicide, developing post-traumatic stress disorder, and insomnia. The constant increase in violence and sexual abuse cases continues to yield greater health risks for American prisoners, and denotes the major irresponsibility on the part of regulating activity inside prisons in order to ensure their constitutional rights. Thus, revising our current criminal justice system to fit a more rehabilitative context, and instating properly trained, responsible guards and staff is the only solution to protecting all prisoners from cruel and unusual punishment, as granted by the Eighth Amendment. However, incarceration is essentially perpetuated through our culture’s tendency to isolate ex-felons, thus restricting ex-prisoners’ civil rights and extending the consequences of retribution. Legal restrictions, licensing requirements, oc-
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America’s Need for Prison Reform
cupational bars, discrimination practices, and the cultural stigma prevent many people from obtaining services or basic needs, namely voting, education, public housing, employment, public benefits, and so on, incentivizing ex-prisoners to again resort to criminal means to survive. This process very much increases the probability of recidivism, and obstructs lower-class constituents from re-entering the productive sectors of society. According to the New York Times, from 1980 to 2000, the number of children with fathers in prison rose from 350,000 to 2.1 million. As a result, the children of these prisoners, having depended on them as the main breadwinner of the family, are also afflicted by more critical socio-
economic conditions, and are therefore more likely to engage in illegal trades to earn easy profits themselves. As this cycle continues, we essentially criminalize the sectors of the U.S most plagued by poverty and unemployment, and rather than solving for the pressing matter of root cause of poverty, the U.S government has continued to choose to displace crime. As reported by the American Civil Liberties Union, the United States has only 5% of the world’s population, yet 25% of the world’s prison population. Resolving the issue of mass incarceration mandates that the U.S Criminal Justice System take the necessary measures to recognize its prisoners as unconditionally equal citizens, in addition to accommodating mentally ill felons. Ending the vigorous
cycle of poverty and crime requires not a radical change in legislation, but a radical shift in mindset. It is crucial for the United States government to provide more rehabilitative services to ex-convicts for psychiatric recovery and job training, in addition to implementing retributive laws with less damaging long-term impacts to its own citizens. The overcrowding of prisons calls for the dismantling of penal legislations that implicitly and unjustly condemn members of lower social classes to lives of estrangement and brutality to be replaced by lobbying for accountability of the prison system for more humane conditions and more opportunities to function once again as an autonomous agent of our community. HMR
“As long as that the U.S Criminal Justice system continues to favor retribution cutting off ex-criminals from venues to rehabilitation, and rejects reformation to prevent overcrowding of prisons, it will continue to marginalize a large portion of the population, and perpetuate social and racial inequality in our country.” December 2014
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International http://www.palestineposterproject.org
Why Palestine Deserves To Be a Nation By AnniE LIU
T
he roots of religious conflict in the Middle East are buried under centuries of history. The conflict between Israel and Palestine, which started in the 1960’s, still continues today. Conflict exists throughout the entire Middle East, which can be seen in the menacing rise of ISIS, continued terrorist attacks, and the seemingly never-ending fighting in areas such as Syria, Egypt, and Gaza. The Israeli-Palestine conflict is only one factor in the tensions in the Middle East; however, a solution to this conflict might diminish tensions in other areas as well. No one can blame the past for being what defines the present, but in truth, the future will never improve unless real action is taken. In other words, nothing will resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict unless someone does something about it. No more blaming, no more accusing—just straight up politics. Unless Palestine and Israel try to seek compromise, their combatant rela-
tionship will remain stagnant. The beginning of the modern Israeli-Palestinian conflict originated in the early 1880s, when Zionists first began relocating Jews into Palestine to claim the territory for their own religion, which had no homeland. This first migration of Jews is known as the First Aliyah. At first, only a few hundred thousand Jews lived in Palestine: in 1914, the Jewish population was an estimated 40,000. However, Great Britain’s involvement in the situation in support of the Zionists, quickly escalated the situation. In 1922, the conquest of Palestine became very real when the League of Nations granted Britain a mandate over Palestine. Still, at this point, the Jewish people consisted of only 11% of the population. Then the Third and Fourth Aliyah brought on a wave of at least 100,000 Jews to Palestine. Lastly, in the 1930’s, the Fifth Aliyah brought a quarter million Jews fleeing from Nazism to the small crop of land
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located at the heart of the Middle East. However, the Jewish population during this time still only consisted of 33% of Palestine’s total population. Later in 1948, the United Nations officially recognized the State of Israel, the creation of which drove millions of Palestinians out of their homeland. Consequently, this new state sparked conflict in the surrounding areas. On March 15, 1948, the day after Israel was officially declared a nation, the four Arab countries surrounding it—Egypt, Syria, Jordan, and Iraq—invaded Israel, beginning the Arab-Israeli War. At the end of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, nearly a million Arab Palestinians had to leave their homes. Israel’s borders are not discriminating of religion, unlike many Arab countries, but religious tension prevailed and forced many of the Islamic Palestinians out of Israel. Most Palestinians did not wish to live in fear of being attacked by Zionists. Since, attacks on Israel by bordering nations have
International
continued; none have had drastic effects on borders or politics of the Middle East. Today, at least a third of the Palestinian people are refugees. More than 1.5 million Palestinians are settled in officially registered refugee camps in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and the Gaza Strip. They do not live in houses, nor do they have a country to call home. Most refugees are living in rickety, ramshackle cluster of tents that can extend for miles. They lack water, food, shelter, and aid. Disease spreads easily throughout these settlements, and the conditions of the refugee camps are absolutely horrid, especially from a humani-
7,981
1,396,368
PalestinianS/Israelis killed since 2,000
Palestinians Living in Refugee camps
political issues would have already been solved—unfortunately, this is not the case. Currently, the Palestinian people claim that they have “right of return.” This means that at any time, they are allowed to return to Israel. However, Israel has maintained its refusal to agree to this principle, as it would essentially eradicate Israel as a state. Currently, the United Nations is attempting to address this issue. Many nations, including the United Kingdom and Sweden, are calling for the creation of the state of Palestine that would exist alongside Israel. While Israel is clearly not a support-
process? The Jewish people were not wrong for calling this land their home; they were truly in need of a home country. However, Zionists were wrong in how they carried this out. If they were to declare Israel their homeland and then live in peace with Palestinians, the conflict would cease to exist entirely. However, this idealistic solution is not realistic. Bluntly put, the Zionists basically claimed Palestine, renamed it Israel. This caused almost all of the original Palestinian population to flee out of Israel due to religious prejudice. Since, Israel has not been helpful in aiding the refugees
“a two-state compromise seems like the only plausible solution.” tarian standpoint. Thousands of refugees have died from disease, starvation, and attacks by Israel. A United Nations sponsored organization called UNRWA- the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East- is the major supplier of aid for the refugees. Israel is also supposed to be providing aid for the refugees, but they clearly do not provide enough support. Tensions have existed for centuries between Muslim and Jewish groups. So, one might think that these religious and
er of this preposition, there seems to be no other solution. It would be extremely inhumane and immoral to leave the Palestinian people in the refugee camps, with nowhere to go and no home to return to. The Zionists created Israel to give the Jewish people a homeland in the first place; but in that action, they removed the Palestinian residents out of their own homeland. Does it seem reasonable for them to claim a land as their own because they needed a place to call home, but ignore the fact that they are taking over someone else’s home in the
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who had to flee from their nation. Israel receives $8 billion from the United States annually. More of this aid needs to be set aside to ameliorate the condition of Palestinian refugees. The creation of a Palestinian state would resolve massive issues in the Middle East, and though an end to fighting is terribly unlikely, at least some progress will happen. For years, the conflict in Israel-Palestine has taken place, but it has stayed at a relative stalemate for over 60 years in
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International terms of progress. In other words, action must be taken for progress to occur— such a long-lasting and critical situation can-
situation. The United States completely supports Israel and condemns Palestine’s involvement with Islamic militant orga-
pletely cease because different ideologies will always exist, action must be taken to diminish fighting and deaths in this area of
“the future will never improve unless real action is taken.” not be left alone to solve itself. Without a doubt, the formation of a Palestinian state will certainly cause further, if not heightened, tension between Israel and Palestine. But, it might stop attacks on Israel by bordering Arab nations. In addition, it is the United Nations that would establish the state of Palestine, and this would be determined by a fair voting procedure by the United Nations General Assembly. Israel’s word is not the final word, and the decision whether or not Palestine will be created is one that must be fairly voted upon by all. Much debate has occurred over this
nizations such as Hamas. Polls taken in the United States however, reveal that the majority of the American population supports a two-state solution. Israel does not accept the proposition of a two state-solution. The Israeli government has stated that Palestinians can gain independence, but only through peace negotiations, and the recognition of Palestine by the UN weakens the negotiating process. Today, our world is burdened with fighting and war. Every issue is important, but the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, specifically, needs to be resolved now. While religious conflict in the Middle East may never com-
the Middle East. It is impossible to change the past. But the international community cannot continue to allow religious differences to create unnecessary and constant conflict in the Middle East. Right now, a two-state compromise seems like the only plausible solution. It might finally bring an end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and on a greater scale, diminish tensions throughout the entire Middle East. With the creation of a Palestinian state, the Middle East might finally get on the right track to recovery. HMR
Freedom For Palestine
http://shahbazrazvi.deviantart.com
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International
ZOE MAVRIDES
AFGHAN WOMEN’S FIGHT FOR EQUALITY
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n the lottery of life, there is no doubt that as a girl where you are born is a key factor in determining the challenges you may face in your existence. This statement rings poignantly true for the thousands of Afghan women that suffered through the Taliban occupation of the 1990s, the post 9/11 US-led intervention, and the current political and social instability surrounding their country. The fight for women’s rights in Afghanistan resurfaced to the public light as the New York Times reported that, for the first time, a Mullah (Muslim educated in Islamic theology) accused of raping a ten year old girl was convicted by the Afghan legal system under the Violence Against Women Law. This case, with its dramat-
ic brutality and shocking cruelty, exemplifies the endemic suffering of many women in the world and particularly in Afghanistan. On the other hand, it also shows progress occurring in this country and sparks a light of hope in the context of the significant challenges faced by Afghan women and girls. While the history of women’s oppression in Afghanistan predates the Taliban rule of the late 90s, it was during the Taliban reign that the world got to witness how Islamic Law was twisted to penalize women for the simple act of being born female. Afghan women were stripped of basic human rights including education and access to appropriate healthcare. Afghan women were brutalized by the law
in all aspects of daily life as exemplified by this account from a fifteen year-old girl in Kabul in 1995: “They shot my father right in front of me. It was nine o'clock at night. They came to our house and told him they had orders to kill him because he allowed me to go to school. The Mujahideen had already stopped me from going to school, but that was not enough. I cannot describe what they did to me after killing my father.” The US-led intervention post-9/11 brought new hope to Afghan women and children. As UN Secretary General Kofi Annan stated: “There cannot be true peace and recovery in Afghanistan without a restoration of the rights of wom
“I write for those women who do not speak, for those who do not have a voice because they were so terrified, because we are taught to respect fear more than ourselves. We’ve been taught that silence would save us, but it won’t.” - Audre Lorde
www.global-gateways.com
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en. “ As the Taliban was ousted by the coalition troops in 2001, many schools opened their doors to girls; and women, previous confined to their homes, were finally free to go back to work. In 2009, landmark legislation, the Elimination of Violence Against Women (EVAW) law, was passed in Afghanistan. The EVAW bans 22 different harmful practices against women, including rape, physical violence, child marriage, and forced marriage, and permits all women to work and become educated. But even though there has been steady progress towards granting women a better life, Afghan women still live fearing daily life under a cloud of repression and inequality. The Taliban still controls parts of Afghanistan, and the violence against women continues. In 2011, Amnesty International named Afghanistan as the most dangerous place to be a woman. Young Women are particularly susceptible to abuse by the Afghan legal and societal establishments. The majority of women are forced to marry in an arranged marriage at around the age of 12. Many of these women are bartered
into marriage to repay debt or resolve a dispute. Widespread poverty still compels many parents to get their daughters married in order to avoid the cost of caring for them and get money from older, wealthier husbands willing to pay a large price for a wife. These women typically marry much older men, some in their 60s, and often do not meet them until the day of their wedding. Typically, these child brides have children in their early teens. This poses another threat— death in pregnancy and childbirth. In 2010, there were 460 deaths from teen childbirth; girls under fourteen are five times more likely to die during pregnancy. The child bride phenomenon results in huge age gaps between men and their wives, causing many women to become widows at an early age. Afghanistan has 1.5 million widows, one of the highest proportions in the world. Their average age is 35 and 94% are illiterate. Without the support of a man to help support so many children, many of these widows are forced to beg or engage in prostitution. In fact, at the core of women’s oppression in Afghanistan is a woman’s limited access to education and employment,
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and therefore her inability to function on her own within the male-dominated patriarchy. In 2009, president Karzai passed a law that had a drastic effect on Shi’a women, forbidding them from seeking employment, working, or receiving education without their husbands’ express permission. Now, only 40% of Afghan girls attend elementary school, and 1 in 20 attend school beyond 6th grade. When women get married at an early age, it forces them to end their studies. Even though this seems like progress compared to the lack of educational opportunities at all for women during the Taliban’s rule, in the absolute, it’s clear that much more remains to be done. While education and marriage rights are a prominent issue for Afghan women, the most shocking violation of their human rights is the government's stand on sexual abuse. The story published in the New York Times highlights the need for urgent reforms in the Afghan judicial system. Like in the case of the ten-year-old girl raped by the Mullah, millions of Afghan women are victimized by their rapists and communities who blame the woman for enticing the
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abuse. Furthermore, in cases like the one reported on in the Times, children are often killed by their own fathers after they have been abused in order to protect the honor of the family name. An additional important factor that contributes to the prevalence of sexual abuse against women in Afghanistan is the lenient penalty for offenders. The Violence Against Women Law, drafted by President Karzai with the support of the international community, explicitly permits marital rape and provides little support to the victims of abuse. However, thanks to women’s activist groups, like Women for Afghan Women (W.A.W.), there is a glimpse of hope for many Afghan abuse victims. In the case described in the New York Times, W.A.W. was able to rescue the child before she conveniently “disappeared” from her family, convince the family to keep her, and rally the judge to convict the Mullah on rape charges and not adultery like the defense attorneys had suggested. Furthermore, this case sets a precedent that hopefully will be followed in similar rape cases in the future.
According to Women for Afghan Women, the majority of Afghans support women’s rights. “Their [Afghans’] history has taught them the costs of suppressing women, and they want their daughters in school. Our clients, male and female alike, are receptive to counseling that teaches them a less harsh version of Islam than what they’ve been fed by ultraconservatives, most of whom are power mongers in disguise. In fact, women activists believe that the way to move their agenda forward is to deradicalize the viewpoints of all Afghan society. This may seem like a utopic vision for a nation with the burden of ancestral misogynistic practices that may tempt most to simply give up. Nevertheless, the international community cannot turn a blind eye to the plight of Women and Children in Afghanistan. To do so would be to give power to Islamic radicals that seek to harm our interests. The US and other countries should use their economic and political influence, including sanctions, to pressure the Afghan government to reshape their policies in favor of female education, marriage choice, and harsher penalties against sexual abuse.
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In 9 years, the US has provided Afghanistan with $6.5 billion, $492 million of that going towards humanitarian aid. This money should be provided with a clear understanding that programs that target education for girls are prerequisites for its disbursement. Educational programs should be supervised by experts from educational foundations and other non-profits and should include a comprehensive curriculum that target girls and young men (in order to change their perceptions about women). A massive educational campaign should be launched to educate all Afghans about the benefits of education for young women. Such campaigns could be financed through government grants or private dollars. In addition, our government should demand that the Afghan legal system adhere to international human right standards. These demands are not greedy but necessary to stop the cycle of repression and violence against women. The reforms may take time, but the best prevention against terrorism and radicalism is an educated mother teaching her children tolerance and acceptance. HMR
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Cheating on the SAT: A Broken System
John Eng
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SAT#mediaviewer/File:New_SAT_Logo_(vector).svg
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n the past year, almost 820,000 international students came to the US to go to college. The US is known around the world as one of the best countries to attend university, which has driven foreign students to do whatever it takes to ensure themselves a spot at prestigious schools across the country. One of the most frequent methods was cheating on the SATs. There have been reports of cheating on the standardized test in various countries, such as China and Korea. One reason why international students are so competitive is that the number of applicants far outnumbers the spots available, particularly for the top schools. MIT, for example, had an acceptance rate of 8.9% for domestic applicants, but only an admission rate of 3% for international students in 2012. This makes an already rigorous and taxing application even more challenging for international students,
causing cheating to seem like such an enticing option. So why is this an important issue? Cheating on standardized tests is especially common in Asian countries such as China, Korea, Vietnam, and Japan where its isn’t just an individual issue, but a systematic one. “Cram schools” train students to a particular standard for entrance to high schools or colleges. According to the Washington Post, they managed to obtain answers to the SAT test through unknown methods. There are also many companies whose primary job is to get their hands on the tests and their answers and to sell them to tutoring centers. The companies have been causing problems in these countries for years, and On October 29th, the Educational Testing Service released a statement openly denouncing them. They even caused the College Board to cancel test
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scores on two occasions, May and October, 2013, due to the leakage of the answers. According to Forbes Magazine, people in China are willing to pay as much as $60,000 for to apply to American colleges, not including the price of tutors or travel costs, which can amount to several thousand dollars since the SATs aren’t administered all around the country. Furthermore, cram schools can make thousands and thousands of dollars per student, showing just how much international parents are willing to invest in the chance at a US education. These parents know that the chance of their child attending school in the US is very low without the help of these preparatory programs. In 2011, Li Taibo, a student from Beijing, had a 2240 SAT score and a multitude of leadership experiences, yet he was still turned down by all 11
International American schools that he applied to. This form of cheating occurs for several reasons. One reason is because the stress international students face. Out of the hundreds of thousands of applicants in 2011-2012, only 194,029 were accepted into colleges into the US from China, and only 72,295 were accepted from South Korea, the two biggest suppliers of international students to the US. For students in China and Korea in particular, college is incredibly important. Going to a good college makes a much larger difference in the opportunities they will receive than
the testing area prohibited by proctors. Cellphones are allowed provided that they remain silent throughout the duration of the test. They allow the students, however, to download all the answers onto their phone. If the proctor does realize something is going on, he or she has permission to investigate, however looking through someone else’s phone without permission is a breach of privacy. This gray area leads to potential hesitation on the part of the proctor and may prevent the student from being caught. Standardized testing is an important is-
whole point of standardized testing. Testing allows students and colleges to determine where they stand among their peers. By scamming this system, students are deceptively and falsely placing themselves higher than others. To stop the immorality and to even the playing field for everyone, it is imperative that we stop cheating on standardized testing. This won’t be an easy job however. Shutting down cram schools would simply cause students to flock to another nearby because there are so many of them around the world. An easier solution is to take
“Cheating ruins the whole point of standardized testing. Testing allows students and colleges to determine where they stand among their peers. By scamming this system, students are deceptively and falsely placing themselves higher than others.” students in the United States. Cheating also occurs because of its easiness. It is easy to take a peek at your phone from under your desk while taking the test. The proctor of the exam isn’t watching each student’s every move and in that split second that he or she turns around, a quick look at your phone will give the student the right answer. Given the easy accessibility to cell phones, students don’t need to bring in anything into
sue because it strips those who don’t cheat of possible opportunities. Those who cheat on tests are obviously more likely to do better on standardized tests given that they already have all the answers. This potentially takes away opportunities from students who don’t cheat and receive scores based on their own knowledge and merits. Everyone should have an equal opportunity and take their SAT I and II tests on equal ground. Cheating ruins the
http://images.fastcompany.com/upload/158-features-china-high-school-classroom.jpg
greater precautions to prevent any leaks of the tests to the public. If the schools no longer have access to the actual tests, students won’t receive the answers. Doing this is also difficult, however, since it is unknown how obscure companies managed to obtain these tests in the first place. Once the reason to the leaks has been uncovered and the administration has quelled the cheating, applicants can once again compete on level playing ground. HMR
www.global-gateways.com
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JAKE SANDERS
INTERPRETING THE RISKS TRANSLATORS FACE IN AFGHANISTAN
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he War in Afghanistan is most commonly known as being a war on terrorism that has lasted over a decade. Therefore, in the media, there are many reports of the violence that occurs there, but one aspect of the war that is often overlooked is the Afghani interpreters who work with the soldiers. Afghani interpreters are highly valuable for their abilities to save American soldiers from what would otherwise be certain death. Many US soldiers owe their lives to these Afghans, yet the translators are in grave danger since they are enemies of the Taliban, making them targets. While the New York Times reports that a few are killed each month, the Iraqi Refugee Assistance Project, or IRAP, an organization dedicated to helping U.S. allies in Iraq and Afghanistan, reports that one translator is killed about every thirty-six hours due to his or her affiliation with the United States. To help these Afghans, the United States has created special visa programs that allow threatened interpreters to apply to for visas to the US, which ensures their safety. Unfortunately, this program has many flaws, which causes the endangered interpreters to be stranded in Afghanistan. Though it may put their lives in danger, many Afghans sign up to be employed by
United States soldiers in order to help their own country. One former translator, named Mohammad, explained on Last Week Tonight with John Oliver what had convinced him to become an interpreter. His father had told him, “You are going to be supporting the US troops. They are here for your country: to rebuild your country.” Afghans agree to work for US soldiers in order to them reconstruct Afghanistan, and the American soldiers depend on them. These people help soldiers avoid Improvised Explosive Devices, or homemade bombs, which, when hidden in the ground, are elusive and deadly. Locals often know where bombs are and might want to help American soldiers avoid these mines, but without a translator, they have no way of communicating this to the soldiers. Unfortunately, these translators are in serious danger from the United State’s enemy, the Taliban, and they are often forced into hiding. Even if they quit their job for the United States, the Taliban continues to target the interpreters because of the aid they have provided; for them to be safe the Afghans have to come to America. As the war winds to a close and the US pulls more and more troops out of Afghanistan, these locals are often stranded in Afghanistan under the threat
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of the Taliban. Although the US doesn’t need them as interpreters any longer, they still are unable to escape their country. One example is Sulaiman who has chosen to keep his last name a secret. He is one of those eight-thousand Afghans who has worked for American soldiers as a translator. In 2011, Sulaiman’s truck was hit with a rocket, and he was knocked down a cliff. He barely survived, marking the first of three attacks that targeted him. He applied in 2008 for a visa, but when he recieved no response, he reapplied in 2011. Although he scheduled an interview, as of 2013 he has only received automated email responses. Despite the lack of response, this man is lucky because he still has his job working for the soldiers, and his supervisors are trying hard to get him accepted. “If this takes too long, if there is an error somewhere, he’s compromised and his family is compromised,” his supervisor told the New York Times in 2013. “We kind of feel like we’re watching the clock wind down right now.” However, not only are the translators themselves at risk, but so are their entire families. Mohammad, one of the few interpreters who was accepted into America, waited over three years to get a response, during which time the Taliban killed his father and kidnapped his three-
International year-old brother. Mohammad was forced to spend his life saving of $35,000 to get his brother back. When he was finally accepted into America, the rest of his family had to go into hiding, for they weren’t allowed to come with him. According to IRAP in 2012, only around 270 out of 7,500 Afghan translators were granted entry into the United States. There are thousands of individuals who have been waiting for years for a hopeless response. Furthermore, the program is set to expire on December 31st, 2014. While it has been extended multiple times, if there are no more extensions, then visa applications will expire, making it impossible for the applicants to immigrate. According to the previous US Deputy Special Representative to Afghanistan and Pakistan, the issue is that many of the applicants have only completed the first steps of the application process. He explains that the applicants need to finish their part of the application before the US can work on accepting them; however, in some cases the US rejects an applicant even when all of the paperwork is done correctly. One man, who didn’t reveal his name, completed all of the forms and was ready to leave; he even received a card disclosing that in a few months his visa will come to him, yet nine months later he received word that his visa was denied for, for seemingly no reason. Although he had completed the application process perfectly, he wasn’t allowed entrance, and even his forty recommendation let-
ters didn’t change the outcome. The U.S. claims that the applicants are to blame because they complete the form incorrectly, yet in reality the United States is at fault. The United States needs to extend this program and work harder to ensure that all those who saved American soldiers’ lives are saved from danger themselves. Looking at the past, we can see that the United States has previously completed this process faster and much more efficiently. After the Vietnam War, the United States resettled around 140,000 refugees in about only four months. The few interpreters who have been accepted from Afghanistan have had to wait years before being admitted into the US, and still, only a small fraction of the total number of translators has been accepted. Not only that, but all of the Vietnam refugees were taken to Guam to be processed instead of remaining in Vietnam. This worked perfectly, for all of the refugees were processed in safety. If the US were to process current applicants in a different country, the former interpreters wouldn’t have to worry about being killed. Even the immigration process for American allies in Iraq , while still flawed, has many advantages over the Afghan immigration program. For instance, according to the New York Times, in 2013, the program in Afghanistan offered only a total of 7,500 visas, whereas the Iraqi program offered 25,000. In addition, while in Iraq, parents, children, and siblings are all allowed to immigrate, Afghan translators are allowed to bring only their spouse
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and “dependant children” under the age of twenty-one. Even though the Iraqi program isn’t perfect, Iraqi refugees still have more opportunities and benefits that Afghan refugees don’t have. Although both systems have major flaws, the fact that the process is more efficient in Iraq reveals that the program could be greatly improved for Afghan refugees. The United States’ program for helping those who helped its soldiers is flawed and poorly created because for no apparent reason, the process takes incredible amounts of time with poor results. Though the US has shown that it can create programs that can yield better outcomes, the country still fails to achieve this. With enough thought and effort, the United States could easily create a more efficient process to help its allies in these countries. By using plans similar to the ones implemented after the Vietnam War, the US would be able to quickly and efficiently transport Afghans to safety while they wait for their visas. If America were to successfully transport former interpreters from Afghanistan to a different country such as Guam, the Afghans would no longer be living in constant fear of the Taliban. In addition, the program could be enhanced by enlarging it; through adding more government officials, the applications could be reviewed at a far quicker rate. This program isn’t being allocated the resources that it needs to function, and the U.S. government is acting immorally by allowing this to occur. HMR
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Reevaluating Ferguson: Why are we not surprised?
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n the Daily Kos, writer Killer of Sacred Cows announces, “Because I am white, I have the privilege of being outraged that it happened, instead of frightened that it will happen to me.” As a white person, what happened to Mike Brown will never be my reality. My socioeconomic class also ensures me a lawyer that will cost exponentially more than Michael Brown’s family could afford. As a white, cis-gendered, heterosexual individual, the world can appear eerily safe to me. The world would be extremely safe for me if I weren’t Jewish or a woman, but I must deal with the prejudices these labels carry in our sexist and sometimes anti-Semitic world. Nevertheless, what happened to Michael Brown could never happen to me, and if I were shot by a police officer, the coverage and handling of this case would be completely different. So I hope that before you take my opinions into account,
you listen to those this issue most affects: the black community, especially black men. Any of them could have been Michael Brown. The case is one that is awfully familiar. A young, black, unarmed male was shot and killed by a police officer. The details of how this occurred have been extremely varied. I have heard different accounts from news sources, as well as social media. Officer Darren Wilson, the officer who shot Michael Brown, has not been indicted and will not go to trial. The way this case and the evidence were reported has been botched from the start. There have been a myriad of inaccuracies in the collection of evidence and testimonies, and this goes to show how little care was taken with this case. With the lack of indictment of Darren Wilson, Bob McCulloch’s speech was just as disappointing as the verdict. As attorney Lisa Bloom so articulately stated, “He [Bob Mc-
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Culloch] talked about conflicting evidence; there’s conflicting evidence in every case! We wouldn’t be the land of mass incarceration if every case were treated like this one. Conflicting evidence means you can’t even charge a man? There is no question that Darren Wilson got special treatment.” Of 162,300 federal cases in 2010, grand jurors have declined to indict only 11 times. This means only .007% of cases have not proceeded to trial. Given these numbers, one may be surprised that the grand jury decided not to indict, but Wilson’s trial was a state trial. Therefore, the commonly cited statistics is flawed in this case. Comparing this statistic to the number of indictments in police shootings, however, yields a more compelling argument for bias in the Wilson trial. Legal experts have found that the percentage of indictments of police officers in these scenarios is extremely low. The city of Houston has
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Libby Langsner not indicted a police officer since 2004. Between 2008 and 2012, grand juries in Houston reviewed 81 police shooting cases and indicted one officer. Partially, these results are due to juror bias as opposed to racial bias as many claim in the Wilson trial. In cases involving police officers, criminologists have found that jurors are eager to believe that a police shooting is justified, and prosecutors are less eager to indict because they rely on frequent police cooperation. Given all this, though, the lack of indictment speaks to a larger issue. In this case, there was ample ev-
idence and enough controversy for the case to, in fact, proceed to trial. Rather than being an issue of race between Daren Wilson and his actions, the lack of indictment alludes to the broader issue of racism within our justice system overall. The more I hear about the case, the more I am reminded that this country, one that prides itself on equality, has failed us. The system has failed Michael Brown and his family. I am sick of hearing people bend over backwards to defend a police officer simply because he is white and the victim was not. The protests that have been going on in Ferguson are also an interesting aspect to assess. Some protests have been called out for being violent, and everyone on the news has been preaching peaceful protests. I do believe peaceful protests are more effective than riots, but I also agree with Malcolm X’s sentiment, “ I believe that it is right to be nonviolent with people who are nonviolent. But when you’re dealing with an enemy that doesn’t know what nonviolence is, as far as I’m concerned you’re wasting your time.” When the police abuse the public, how are we supposed to react? Are we supposed to sit there and take that abuse? If the people feel the need to attack those pledged to defend them, how can one even point to the people as the root of the problem? Without a question, there is something wrong here with the legal system and its handling of a white police officer killing an unarmed teenager, regardless of his race. Civil Rights did not do away with insidious racism in this country. Our black President did not do away with insidious racism in this country. President Barack Obama’s inability to make any statements that were not complete fluff should be indicative enough of how much only one person can change about the treatment of black people. Obama urged for the respect of the law as tear gas billowed in Ferguson. There has been no respect for the law in this case. The mishandling of evidence, the inability of a fair jury, the lack of consideration when analyzing interrogation should prove the failure of the justice system to bring Michael Brown’s family any kind of peace. There were other means to subdue Michael Brown, but like many police officers
before him, Darren Wilson chose to kill him. Darren Wilson states that he was doing his job as he was trained. Unfortunately, the picture is blurry right now; enough so that this case should have proceeded to trial. Is our justice system that blinded that a police officer can get away with killing a teenager simply because of the victim’s difference in skin color? How many more black men have to bleed unto a police officer’s uniform to have this issue taken seriously? The repercussions of this case, as well as cases like it, are embedded in the lives of the black youth. 6 and 7 year old boys tell their mothers they will be safe if they never leave the house. Seeing a policeman incites fear in them. How can one pursue long-term goals when he knows his life is in in the unpredictable hands of a police officer? How is it possible to live any day like this? I am sick of this country treating black males as second class citizens. I am sick of men losing their lives due to the unjust fear incited in police officers because of one’s race. I am sick of people calling Michael Brown a thug to justify his death. I am sick of hearing that two cigarillos, which the store states he did not even steal, equates to Michael Brown’s life. I am sick of people trying to desensitize Michael Brown because then his death is justified. I am sick of hearing boys in the library saying “Hands up don’t shoot” as a joke. Maybe it’s a joke because it will never happen to them. When injustices like this occur, we need to be aware. We need to stay alive, feel and think on what is happening. We need to question everything. We need to rid our country of the race hierarchy that is so embedded in every aspect of our society. No more black men should die unjustly at the hands of a police officer ever again. I am sick of hearing these stories every week of my life. What this case shows is that black lives do not matter and do not deserve a respectful case. Those who are not affected cannot fully comprehend the terror people of color undergo. There is no that could have been me if you are white. The problem is what happened to Michael Brown would never happen to a white person, something deeply troubling. HMR
“Because I am white, I have the privilege of being outraged that it happened, instead of frightened that it will happen to me.” December 2014
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Race as Seen on Television
Parul Sharma
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acial stereotyping and partiality have been around for centuries now and continue to be a problem today. However, in the past 10 to 20 years, the representation of minority groups on television has vastly improved. Regardless, for most minorities, the roles that are played are often times characterized by the stereotypes of their culture created by our society. Moreover, an actor’s ability to play a character without the typecast of his or her race is often undermined by the way that his or her particular race is perceived in the eyes of the general public. In general, the population of minorities that have roles on television has increased significantly. For people of African American descent, the character portrayal has gone from being very stereotypical to becoming more based on the way that an actor performs. People like Will Smith and Viola Davis are considered “game changers” for the black population because of their performances in various television shows and movies, as well as their popularity and appeal
to the general public. African Americans are the best-represented minority on television and in popular culture. Along with the recent popularity increase, African Americans have also contributed to various popular culture themes. African-American music is one of the most pervasive African American cultural influences in the United States today and is among the most dominant in mainstream popular music. Hip hop, R&B, funk, rock and roll, soul, blues, doo-wop, barbershop, ragtime, bluegrass, jazz, gospel music and other contemporary American musical forms originated in African-American communities. In addition to changing the way that their minority is perceived, African Americans have had a significant impact on the popular culture and arts in America. People of Hispanic/Latino ancestry, like African Americans, have been able to somewhat breakaway from the racial stereotype of their culture and have been able to have an influence on the American popular culture. However, in general, African Americans are
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still significantly better portrayed and have more lead roles with fewer negative connotations. Some of the most well known Hispanic actors include George Lopez and Sofia Vergara, two of many Latino individuals who represent a wide majority of people who have changed the way the Hispanic population is perceived. In the 1990’s, the Hispanic community felt that they were underrepresented on TV. In 1999, when there were no Latino actors on any of the primetime shows, an organization called the National Hispanic Media Coalition teamed up with other Hispanic civil rights organizations to make mainstream television channels, such as ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC, less discriminative against Hispanic people. This action resulted in the hiring of many Latino actors, and the population of Latinos on television has increased since. Currently, the most underrepresented minority on television is Asian Americans. The percentage of Asians on primetime television shows is close to none, and their roles, which are usually minor, are often stereotyped.
Features However, very recently, television shows such as The Mindy Project and Selfie, which have Asians in lead roles, have shown an increase in Asian-Americans on television. In the past five years, the increased number of Asians portrayed on television is due to the work of many Asian promoting groups, such as the Asian Pacific American Media Coalition. These groups have pushed mainstream channels to have more Asian leads, without using stereotypes as a means of characterizing people of Asian descent. Clearly, in the past ten to twenty years,
persistence of diversity advocacy groups, which have pushed for the addition of a more varied cast on these mainstream networks. Examples of shows which display a more diverse cast include Grey’s Anatomy, which has a cast of people of different ethnicities and backgrounds, How to Get Away With Murder, which features Viola Davis, Tony Award winner, in the lead role. Other examples of shows with a diverse cast include ABC’s Modern Family, Selfie, The Mindy Project, The Big Bang Theory, and Hawaii Five-0. These shows are relatively new and have only become pop-
“Most of the largest-broadcasting networks, with the exception of ABC Network, promote very limited amounts racial diversity on their shows, and these channels should take the initiative to create diverse characters without stereotyping.” the number of diverse populations on prime time television has increased. Large distribution channels, such as ABC, NBC, Fox, and CBS, have begun to create shows with a more diverse cast to spread out their audience from a majority white population to people of different minorities. By showing more diverse shows, extending their viewer population, and increasing their viewership, networks will be able to attain higher PR ratings. Another probable cause for the recent increase of diversity in primetime show casts is the
ular in the mid-2000s. In this fall season of primetime television shows, ABC has released shows containing a cast of mostly minorities, like Blackish and Cristela. These shows display African-American and Hispanic culture, rather than the usual primetime shows, which are normally centered on the idea of white and popular culture in America. These shows exhibit the perspective of African American and Hispanic families and their viewpoint in living as a minority in a predominantly white society.
It also displays the viewpoint of parents and families of a particular minority raising their children in societies different from where they were raised. These shows are not largely based on stereotype, and typecasting has not been much of a problem for ABC. ABC is by far the largest mainstream channel that has begun to endorse diversity greatly, and it also contains the most shows with people of color in lead roles. ABC’s How to Get Away with Murder, is one-of-a-kind, with Viola Davis, who plays a criminal lawyer. “There is no way in the history of film or TV that you’ve seen a character like this, played by a black woman who looks like me - dark skinned black woman with, you know, the nose, the age. This is a first,” said Viola Davis, on the diversity of the show. Another pioneer in diversity on television on ABC’s fall show lineup is Selfie, which features John Cho as a romantic lead. This is one of the first times that an Asian man has played a romantic lead on a primetime show. ABC also plans to introduce a new show in early 2015 called Fresh off the Boat. The show is based on chef Eddie Huang’s life and memoir of the same name. It is pitched as an Asian-American sitcom that follows 12-yearold Eddie and his immigrant family’s journey from Chinatown in DC, to suburban Orlando. This is the first ABC show to feature an all-Asian cast in the leading roles. For the general public, television is one of the most commonly viewed sources of information, and the way we perceive the world can often be shaped by the method that we see it on television. Television shows on mainstream television channels can often shape the views in popular culture. The way race and ethnicity are portrayed have a significant impact on the way that race is looked at and judged in society because of its impact on popular culture. Clearly, in the past twenty years, diversity on television has become a much more substantial issue, and there have been more and more people of color playing prominent roles in television. Although the rate of diversity on television has continued to increase over the past few decades, the issue has no longer been fully exterminated, as there are still many shows which broadcast stereotypes and only identify racially diverse characters with a stereotype. Most of the largest-broadcasting networks, with the exception of ABC Network, promote very limited amounts racial diversity on their shows, and these channels should take the initiative to create diverse characters without stereotyping. HMR
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Anti-Semitism S
Rise The On
By Lexi Kanter
hattered storefronts and anti-Semitic slurs being chanted in the street may bring many back to the 1940’s, yet we are in the year 2014- seventy years later. Jewish tradition and culture has had a strong and influential presence in France for many years. France has the largest Jewish population in Europe, with hundreds of synagogues and over 500,000 Jews currently living in the country. However, many pro-Palestinian rallies have erupted in the streets in France and across Europe following Israeli attacks on Gaza this past summer. Many of these rallies turned violent and outbursts of the anti-Semitism that Jim Yardley of the New York Times called Europe’s “old demon” reappeared after years of dormancy. An incredibly frightening and shocking series of threats, acts of violence, and hate speech have been committed across Europe. Protestors at pro-Palestinian rallies across France chanted “Death to the Jews!” and “Gas the Jews!” A Jewish-owned pharmacy and synagogue in a Paris suburb were destroyed in July by youths protesting Israel’s military campaign in Gaza. Some individuals have also experienced milder yet still concerning incidences of anti-Semitism, for example in an interview conducted by the New York Times, a women said she was assaulted on the Champs-Élysées by a gang of Muslim girls who called her a “dirty Jew.” In France, Jews are the victims of 40 percent of hate crimes, according to the Jewish Community Protection Service. Other anti-Semitic incidences
across Europe include the shooting in a Brussels Jewish museum resulting in the death of four people, and the fire bombings of synagogues across Germany. The swastika and other Nazi symbols have been displayed during protests and anti-Semitic slurs have increased across social media, where hash tags such as #HitlerWasRight have appeared. The recent increase in anti-Semitic hate crimes has many members of the
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It is imperative to resolve the surface anti-Semitic violence, but more importantly, it is the underlying issues that need to be resolved. Jewish community throughout Europe wondering about their safety and their future. These attacks have raised alarm concerning changes that may be taking place in Europe. Many European Jews are questioning if these changes pose a serious threat to their Jewish communities, and many have concluded that the recent violence points to a shift away from the historically tolerant climate that has existed since the end of World War II. As a
result, an increasing number of Jews are making the decision to relocate out of Europe, specifically to Israel, where they feel they will be freer to openly practice their religion and where an army will protect them from such hate crimes. In a survey of Jews in eight European Union countries taken by the union’s anti-racism agency, approximately a third said they had considered emigrating over the previous five years because they did not feel safe. 1,407 of France’s Jews left in the first three months of 2014, which is four times higher than the same period of 2013, according to the Jewish Agency for Israel. Israeli officials predict that as many as 6,000 Jews will migrate from France this year. Much of this Anti-Semitism seems to be coming from Europe’s growing population of North African Muslim immigrants. There is widespread rejection of African immigrants in France, as the percentage of immigrants increases, so does competition for jobs in an already struggling economy. According to a poll done by the New York Times, younger Muslims are often alienated in Europe, struggling to find work and frustrated by their lack of acceptance. Isolated groups of these immigrants have found an outlet for their frustration in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Right now a primary concern of European governments should be radical Islam taking root in Europe, as extremists might use this opportunity to play on the frustrations of the underprivileged and struggling, as they have done and continue to do in the Middle East.
Features After experiencing the extreme anti-Semitism that occurred during World War II resulting in the horrors of the Holocaust, there was a general consensus in Europe to root out any and all anti-Semitic sentiments. In Germany, atonement for the Holocaust and other Nazi crimes is somewhat the foundation of their modern society. In many nations across Europe, Anti-Semitic hate speech is banned, as are Nazi symbols and regalia, and public holocaust denial. Generally governments of the majority of European nations have worked tirelessly to promote tolerance and quell anti-Semitism. How-
ever, the recent success of far-right parties in elections for the European parliament, such as the National Front in France and a neo-Nazi party in Greece, point to what appears to be a greater acceptance of anti-Semitism in Europe. In addition, a new type of anti-Semitism is on the rise that is undermining government efforts. There has been much controversy over the policies of Israel, especially the way Israel is handling situations concerning Gaza and other Palestinian territories. As a result of this, many across the globe have shown strong displays of Anti-Israel sentiment. Voicing opposition to Israeli policy is understandable, however, the distinction between anti-Israel and anti-Semitism is becoming blurred. Many fear that the anti-Israeli sentiment has morphed into the broader, more dangerous anti-Semitism. This is incredibly dangerous, as political opinions should never be a vehicle to promote hatred and violence. As Dieter Graumann, the president of The Central Council of Jews in Germany said, “Calls for Jews to be gassed, burned and murdered no longer has anything to do with Israel’s politics. It is the most abhorrent form of anti-Semitism.� Fortunately, there is some hope that this issue may resolve itself. Many analysts believe that this violence is simply a cyclical episode. Sudden spikes in acts of Anti-Semitism often occur as tensions rise and violence erupts between Israel and Palestine, and after a few months tempers typically subside and a more tolerant atmosphere reappears. It is also encouraging that government leaders and
administrations in France and Germany have strongly condemned the violence, continuing to push back against the hateful demonstrations. The burst of anti-Semitic slurs and violence that has spilled into the streets of Europe over the past few months has brought back disturbing memories for many. People who experienced World War II and survivors of the Holocaust are horrified by the regressive climate, as it is especially frightening for many to hear the same slurs of the Nazi regime seventy years later. Much of the past seventy years in Europe has been spent trying to ensure
that a horrible history will never repeat itself. However, during the past few years, multiple factors including a struggling European economy, tensions in the Middle East, and an increasing number of immigrants have created somewhat of a perfect storm in which Anti-Semitic sentiment can thrive. It is imperative to resolve the surface anti-Semitic violence, but more importantly, it is the underlying issues that need to be resolved. Without solutions to these underlying issues that spark hate and discrimination, the anti-Semitism that plagues so many will never truly be exterminated. HMR
Anti-Semitic Indicidents in EUrope
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Christians in the Middle East: A Community Under Siege
blogs.spectator
Daniel Posner
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or two millennia Christians have lived in countries throughout the Middle East and have played an important role in the region’s development. Millions of Christians lived and prospered in countries such as Egypt, Lebanon, Iraq and Syria. In these places they held key positions in universities, medicine, business and the arts. Minorities in virtually all of these places, many of these Christian communities, have managed to co-exist and sometimes even prosper. All of this has changed dramatically in recent years, and today Christian communities throughout the Middle
East are in crisis. In country after country, Christians have been targeted, their religious leaders attacked, and churches and other religious facilities destroyed. Millions of Christians throughout the region have fled the Middle East, many resettling throughout Europe and North America. One country where these threats have been most intense is Iraq. Most Iraqi Christians are Aramaic-speaking Assyrians, a community that has suffered persecution for hundreds of years. Despite the threats and persecution, the Assyrians have maintained a significant pres-
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ence in Iraq. In the last decade their situation has deteriorated quite considerably. Prior to the US military involvement in Iraq in 2003, there were close to one million Assyrians still living in Iraq. Today that number has declined to approximately 300,000. And a majority of those still inside the country have fled to the Kurdish region in Northern Iraq. Given the current unstable situation in Iraq, the viability of Iraq’s Christian community is uncertain. In Syria, Christians make up about 10% of the population, and historically they have been a prominent and econom-
Features ically prosperous community. As in Iraq, their numbers have declined significantly in recent years, particularly as Syria has become involved in a violent internal conflict over the last three years. Due to the fact that many members of Syria’s Christian community have the financial means to do so, a large number of them have sought refuge in countries in Europe or North America. The Syrian Christians are caught between the Assad government, which has a long record of repression, and the various Islamic extremist groups such as ISIS and the al Nusra Front who are challenging the government. The Syrian conflict has claimed more than 200,000 victims and more than three million Syrians have been forced to flee their homes. Syria’s civil war has disrupted the life of the Christian community. Though President Assad is primarily responsibility for this conflict, Syrian Christians are most anxious about the rise in power of violent extremist groups like al Nusra or ISIS. The situation for Christians in Lebanon is unique in that they make up approximately 40% of the total population. Lebanon has by far the highest percentage of Christians of any country in the Middle East. There is no consensus on the breakdown of the population in part because of the sensitivity of this subject. Lebanon has not conducted a national census since 1932. What is clear is that many of Lebanon’s Christians have made
an extraordinary contribution to Lebanon over almost 2,000 years and contin-
months later, Christian anxieties grew much worse. Increasingly, the Coptic community felt itself subject to greater persecution and felt intense uncertainty about their future. Most Copts felt a sense of relief when General al Sisi led a military coup in July 2013 that overthrew the democratically elected but controversial Morsi government. As al Sisi’s government has consolidated power and targeted its political opponents, journalists, and activities, many Egyptians today are deeply worried about what is to come. Looking across the region more broadly, what are the lessons learned and what does the future hold for Middle Eastern Christians? First, the vast majority of Muslims in the Middle East wish to live in democratic societies where they are treated with respect and dignity. The Arab Awakening movement in 2011, led by young people, was the first major step in a rejection of authoritarian governments and intolerance. While there has been dramatic regression in places like Syria, Libya and Egypt, the core demands of freedom are still there. Second, the rise in religious extremism in the region poses an immediate threat to Christians and many will be forced to flee and seek refuge elsewhere. It seems likely that millions of Christians will seek temporary resettlement and the United States and other stable democratic countries. It is our job to accept and welcome them. Hopefully as political changes continue to occur in the Middle East, there will be a place for the return and reintegration of Christian communities into a new Middle East. These changes will not come quickly, but rather over the span of many generations. This reform process will not prevail unless global leaders, including the United States stand behind reformists, raising their voices, providing ample protection when they get in trouble, and offering support and resources to help enable them to carry out their missions. If western countries help them succeed in building democratic countries, this future will help guarantee a stable and prosperous future for Christian communities in the region. HMR`
“Hopefully as political changes continue to occur in the Middle East, there will be a place for the return and reintegration of Christiancommunities into a new Middle East.” ue to do so. Lebanon is also a country where Christians have been and are still a major political force. The largest Christian community in the region is in Egypt, constituting approximately 10% of Egypt’s 85 million people. Egypt is considered by many to be the most important country in the Arab World. Over many centuries the Copts have contributed significantly to Egypt’s remarkable history. During Hosni Mubarak’s three decades in power, the Egyptian government tolerated this large and influential Christian community, though sometimes limiting their religious freedom. For example, the Egyptian government restricted efforts to rebuild their churches. There were long remaining tensions between the Copts and the majority of the Egyptian community that the government did little to control. These tensions escalated in January 2010 when worshippers coming out of a Christmas service in Nag Hammadi were shot and killed. Following President Mubarak’s abrupt fall from power in early 2011 and the coming to power of the Muslim Brotherhood led by Mohamed Morsi several
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Features
Thoughts on
Modern Islam A Peaceful religion distorted by generalizations By Mehr Suri and Natasha Moolji
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e are all guilty of oversimplifying complex global issues and making generalizations about people of different ethnicities, religions, and races. Whether or not this is intentional, it has the same effect. By ignoring the complexities of the modern world and refusing to recognize or understand the intricacies of different groups, we perpetuate a culture of ignorance. While it is the duty of the news and other forms of media to inform the public about important world events, after 9/11, the media has contributed to the ignorance regarding Islam and Muslims around the world. The way in which Muslims are portrayed by prominent sources breeds fear and hatred, which both manifest themselves in tensions between different groups. This ignorance has resulted in the condemnation of Islam as “the mother-load of bad ideas”. Islam’s history spans 1400 years and is more than just what it has been portrayed to be in recent headlines. According to traditional religious doctrine, Islam and the Qu’ran originated from revelations that Prophet Muhammad received in 610. The first Muslim community was in Medina, in present day Saudi Arabia, where Muhammad and his followers fled
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Features to escape persecution in Mecca. Over the next several hundred years, Muslim Caliphs established an empire that extended across the Middle East and North Africa. The Islamic Empire experienced great progress in math, science, and literature, while Europe was relatively stagnant in these fields for hundreds of years during the Middle Ages. During the “Golden Age” of Islamic Civilization, Baghdad was known as the cultural and educational center of the world. Bayt al-Hikmah attracted scholars from around the globe to translate and preserve classical texts. This emphasis on education and the pursuit of knowledge was a direct result of Muslims’ need to read the Qu’ran and to understand God’s creation. This era best highlights the teachings of Islam and the influence it had on the development of the modern world. Today, these contributions are glossed over or forgotten as a result of the actions of extremist groups. In recent months, with the rise of ISIS, the unrecognized jihadist state, the discussion concerning fundamentalism in Islam has recommenced. With examples such as Al-Qaeda and the Boston Marathon Bomber, news outlets have continually classified Islamic beliefs as “inherently radical” or “constructed principles that, not only condone violence, but encouraged it as well.” These debates are ongoing, and the two most highlighted conversations in recent months are those between the team of the host of talk show Real Time, Bill Maher, and author Sam Harris versus Ben Affleck, and the debate between cohosts of CNN Tonight, Don Lemon and Alisyn Camerota, and author Reza Aslan. Journalist Nicholas Kristof and former Republican National Committee Chair Michael Steele joined Affleck, Ma-
her, and Harris on Real Time. They articulated their thoughts on how liberals in the media have not maintained an environment in which everyone can freely express him or herself. Harris began by arguing that all criticisms of the Muslim faith fall directly into the category of “Islamophobia,” suggesting that no matter how valid one’s claim is, it will mark you as a bigot. This is inherently false. Valid claims about a religion are appropriate in nearly all media settings. Yet, when Sam Harris went so far as to say “Islam, right now, is the mother-load of bad ideas,” he surpassed the bounds of nondiscriminatory criticism. Statements like these, which are based on ignorance and cherry-picked examples, are rightfully categorized as bigotry. Another issue that repeatedly came up during their discussion was whether or not Jihadists were “just a few bad apples” or if Islam intrinsically condoned sadism. Jihadists, or extremists, are those who look to wage war against those who have different beliefs and are fundamentally different from Islamists. Islamists merely support the implementation of Sharia law through political change and advocate for cooperation between all Muslims. Meanwhile, Jihadists indiscriminately target those who do not share their beliefs, including minority Muslim groups. The violent actions of Jihadists should not be, and are not, condoned by the Muslim community or by anyone else. While it is clear that Jihadists ignore human rights and commit heinous crimes, this subject was not well discussed on the show. Harris claimed that approximately 20% of Muslims are Jihadis, implying that there are nearly 300 million terrorists around the world. This inflated number cannot be regarded as true. According to the Guardian,
“LIBERAL
only 5% of Muslims support Jihad. While this still indicates a total of 75 million jihadists, Harris presented a figure that was nowhere near the truth. This gross exaggeration of extremism in Islam is the epitome of the distorted image of Islam in the media. When viewers are exposed to this information, they assume it to be fact and the culture of ignorance is perpetuated. The media propagates a negative view of Islam, characterized by fear and hatred by claiming that there are almost as many Jihadists as there are United States citizens. Harris goes on to describe what he believes to be the systemic breakdown of Islamic society. He argues that Jihadists are central to the Muslim community, and calls the radicals with a thirst for blood. He then categorizes Islamists as those with the same ideology of Jihadists, but who are willing to attain their religious goals through democratic changes of government. Lastly, he presents the conservatives of the Muslim world as outliers. These are men and women who fully condemn the actions of ISIS but hold views about women and homosexuals that are unacceptable in free societies. This analysis is far from comprehensive and too simple to give any weight to. Mahmood Mamdami argues in his book Good Muslim, Bad Muslim that wars of faith cannot be deemed “black and white.” Muslim society cannot be so easily stratified. The complexity behind different beliefs and the causes of radicalism and fundamentalism cannot be uncovered in the thirty minutes of Bill Maher’s show. Harris’s division of Muslims, like that of most media outlets, ignores the majority of Muslims, who do not support Jihadists or Islamists. The majority of Muslims have the same outlook as the Khalifa of Islam, Mirza Masroor Ahmad, when he
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said, “It is never permissible, in any circumstance, to force another person to accept Islam or indeed any religion... All people are free to believe or not to believe.” Because there is a lack of sensation in describing average Muslims, who Ben Affleck describes as, “the more than a billion people, who aren’t fanatical, who don’t punish women, who just want to go to school, have some sandwiches, and don’t do anything that you [Maher and Harris] claim they do,” liberal media has failed to portray Islam in a realistic, or positive, light. Reza Aslan, an author most wellknown for his book Zealot, joined co-anchors of CNN Tonight, Don Lemon and Alisyn Camerota, to discuss the same topic of Islam in liberal media. One of the most disputed topics is the prevalence of misogyny and oppression of women in the Muslim world. Bill Maher specifically targeted Muslim countries by arguing that they promote female genital mutilation and deprive women of basic rights. However, these issues are not problems with Islam, but are specific to certain regions of the world. The majority of instances of surgical mutilation occur in Africa, where some Muslim countries are located. According to the World Health Organization, 90% of women are mutilated in Eritrea, which is a Christian country. In Ethiopia, another Christian country, has almost 75% of women mutilated. Meanwhile, in majority Muslim countries, such as Niger and Tanzania, the rate of mutilation is 2% and under 15%, respectively. While female genital mutilation is a problem and is reflective of attitudes towards women in this region, it is not a uniquely Muslim problem. Misogyny is present around the world, even in the United States and other Western nations. Yet, the liberal media has become so consumed with tearing down Islam that the facts have been lost in the process. There are fanatical nations that hide behind the Islamic name, such as Iran and Saudi Arabia. However, these are just two countries out of the very many in the world, and though they may demonize women and homosexuals to a sickening point, they are not a fair representation of the Muslim community. Countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Bangladesh, and Turkey, all provide women with the same basic rights that men have. In fact, in these Muslim countries, women
“THE FANATICAL ACTS OF NATIONS LIKE SAUDI ARABIA OR IRAN OR ANY RADICAL NATION ARE NOT REPRESENTATIVE OF ISLAM AS A WHOLE.” in power are a more important part of the political system than in the United States. Seven women have been elected as heads of states. It is unjust that these citizens have put women in positions that United States has not, and they are still dubbed sexist, while the US is known for its gender equality. With media outlets solely covering these fundamentalist stories in countries such as Iran, it becomes easy to develop these facile arguments suggesting that the entire Muslim world, encompassing countries such as Turkey and Malaysia, is fundamentalist due to the viewer’s lack of exposure to the success stories for women and homosexuals in Islamic states. Thus, the fanatical acts of nations like Saudi Arabia or Iran or any radical nation are not representative of Islam as a whole. Instead, their actions are representative of a specific country and the fundamentalist beliefs that they hold. The biggest misstep the liberal media has been making is forgetting that a country’s actions are representative of only that country, and do not say any-
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thing about its majority religion. Qasim Rashid of the Huffington Post puts it best when he says, “It appears major media and critics can in fact hear Muslims scream -- but only when they scream threats and vitriol. Words and acts of altruism, compassion, love, tolerance, and pluralism fall on deaf ears.” By condemning Islam on widely accepted television and radio programming, the liberal media is hindering individuals’ innate freedom to practice whichever religion they choose. By creating a society that is constantly concerned with the spread of fundamentalism, the medias has begun to suffocate Muslims and limit their ability to openly practice their religion without fear of repercussions. It is important that we make a conscious effort to reverse this culture of ignorance, instead of directing fear and hatred towards the Muslim community. We need to stop oversimplifying complicated global issues and making baseless assumptions about people of different religions, in order to coexist. HMR
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Islamic Extremism: A threat to muslims and non-muslims alike By Alexander Karpf
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slam as a religion has often been unfairly and incorrectly linked to violence against nonbelievers and oppression of women. One perpetrator of this judgment is Sam Harris, an Atheist and general critic of religion. Harris, during an appearance as a panelist on Bill Maher’s Real Time talk show, effectively teamed up with Maher to illustrate Islam as a backwards belief system that directly encourages extremism. Perhaps in his most striking quote of the evening, he claimed, “Islam at the moment is the mother lode of bad ideas.” The scene has generated a good deal of controversy, largely represented by the response Ben Affleck, another panelist on the show at the time, gave. Affleck slammed the two as bigots, asserting that Muslim terrorists constitute a mere sliver of an otherwise totally moderate populace. Moreover, according to Affleck and other critics, bigots like these two misunderstand Islam, as in fact these terrorists use Islam, just like they would use any belief system, to justify their actions. Harris is inherently incorrect in his criticism of the religion itself; Islam neither is nor ever has been a belief system
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that encourages human rights violations and aggression to nonbelievers. More importantly, the Muslim world historically has existed without any aspect of extremism or terrorism; the first terrorist attack linked to Islam on US soil, a car bombing on the World Trade Center, occurred just in 1993. If anything, Islam has ended up creating a “mother lode” of positive ideas in the prospering empires it has created, like the Caliphates of early Islam and the Ottoman Empire later on. Muslim extremism is most often associated with a very small group of terrorists and a select few countries that happen to impose harsh Sharia law. Most Muslims are indeed not members of ISIS, and not all Muslim countries impose dress codes on women. The question at hand, then, is whether support for an extreme interpretation of Islam is somewhat prevalent or if those extreme Muslims really just make up a marginal share of a largely moderate populace. Probably the best source for data on this topic is the Pew Research Center, a think tank based in D.C. known for its collection of polls and data. In 2007, the Center con-
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“AN ORTHODOX AND RADICAL INTERPRETATION OF ISLAM IS A PHENOMENON THAT EXTENDS ACROSS THE ENTIRE MUSLIM WORLD.” ducted an international survey in 47 countries that assessed, among other topics, general issues regarding Islam in the Muslim world. The study found two trends of notice. For one, a large share of the Muslim populace was in support of extremist leaders and governments. Around 80% of Muslims in Egypt, Kuwait, Jordan, and Lebanon, all across the Middle East, held positive views toward King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, who has prohibited women from driving and allowed criminals to suffer unusual punishments, like the severance of arms and legs for robbery. Even higher values emerged when Muslims from those countries were asked whether they held favorable views for Saudi Arabia as a nation. This trend did not merely pertain to the Middle East; 86% of Indonesian Muslims and 63% of Malaysian Muslims also perceived Saudi Arabia positively. Favorable views for Iran in fact were higher for Muslims of Asian countries, averaging around 65% of the populace. Very evidently, many Muslims look past Saudi Arabia’s and Iran’s use of Islam as a justification for extremism in their support for the kingdom. The second point of interest is a size-
able Muslim minority that approves of acts of terrorism. The same study found, also using data from a similar study in 2002, that approval by Muslims for acts of terrorism had halved since 2002. Acceptance for suicide bombings had fallen over five years from 40% to 20% in Jordan and Bangladesh and to and 20% to 10% in Indonesia. These numbers are assuredly low and represent that most Muslims are opposed to violence. However, the data still explains that one in five Muslims in Middle Eastern and one in ten in South Asian countries support suicide bombings, a alarmingly large group. The reason, moreover, why these numbers decreased so sharply is not because many Muslims in these nations suddenly experienced an ideological shift; there is no reason why any change in mindset would have occurred in the past five years. These citizens instead must have recognized the success of suicide bombings, like those of 9/11, and then retracted their support only after Western nations retaliated militarily. In other words, more people now disfavor suicide bombings not because they are morally wrong but actually because they have backfired.
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On top of this study, it’s necessary to consider the sentiments of Muslims in Western, non-Muslim countries. Still in many European countries, radicalism persists among a solid share of Muslims. In Britain, for example, many Muslims hold seemingly backwards views regarding the treatment of women. According to an assessment by Policy Exchange, a British think tank, about half of all British Muslims believed that Muslim women neither could not marry non-Muslim men nor could marry without consent from a guardian. More than 40% held that Muslim men are entitled to have up to four wives. Other radical beliefs are prevalent around Europe in substantial minorities. Almost three in ten Austrian Muslim educators did not believe it possible to identify both as a European and a Muslim, and near one in five advocated for death in case of apostasy. Even in America, one Pew Study found that 21% of Muslim Americans perceived support for Muslim extremism in their community. Although most Muslim Americans certainly do not associate themselves with radical Islam, statistics like this one make it evident that extremism has managed to seep even into the United States. Indeed, this indisputable analysis seems to identify the prevalence of extremism in Islam across both the Muslim and non-Muslim. Though it’s possible this investigation, along with the many others that conclude similarly, has generalized trends of Muslim thought from some Middle Eastern countries to all nations. This is exactly what religious scholar Reza Aslan proclaimed on a CNN interview shortly after that specific episode of Bill Maher’s show. Arguing in his interview that conditions in certain Muslim countries aren’t representative of the Islamic world, Aslan has become a forefront critic of not only Harris and Maher but of the more general view that ties Islam and extremism together. He explained that many moderate Muslim nations like Indonesia and Morocco have virtually no culture of extremism and experience equal rights for men and women. Unfortunately, though, Aslan is blatantly wrong. The academic simply does not face the facts on the ground. Take Indonesia, the largest Muslim-majority nation in the world and one that the scholar lauds above all as progressive in its treatment of women. The nation, in 2002,
Features heavily amended its constitution to decentralize power from the Federal government to provinces and their constituent districts in order to promote democracy. With their new legislating abilities, ten different Indonesian regions, both provinces and smaller districts, have since then opted to enact Sharia law. Women’s dress has become regulated much more strictly. In some provinces, women who were seen publicly without a hijab had their hair cut off, and in virtually all areas, those women were stopped on the street and forced to wear a hijab. In addition, one province totally banned women from going out at night without a male guardian, further restricting women’s travels. Indeed, these ten areas do not constitute all of Indonesia. But they absolutely represent the state of the nation in the status quo. Just two of those provinces, South Sulawesi and West Sumantra, together house a population of 13 million people. These radical provinces are not centered in a single geographic area of Indonesia or confined to Christian areas of the country, but instead are spread across many of Indonesia’s islands. Still, it is even more important to look at empirics regarding trends across all of Indonesia’s people. For one, extremism in Indonesia has garnered increased support. Jemaah Islamiyah, the largest terrorist group in Southeast Asia, has conducted numerous attacks and given rise to numerous splinter factions in just the past 15 years. In 2010 alone, Muslim terrorists
performed 75 different attacks on Christian institutions across Indonesia. The perpetrators of this violence, Aslan asserts, indeed make up a small but noteworthy percentage of Indonesia’s actual Muslim population. Yet in even a secular nation like Indonesia a vast majority of Muslim citizens desire a radical Muslim government. Another Pew Report in 2013 found that 72% of Indonesians wanted harsh Sharia teachings as national law, which would support, for example, obedience of women to their husbands and stoning as a legal punishment. That statistic is just one point lower, at 71%, in Nigeria, another Muslim country located in a very different part of the world. Most Indonesians do not believe that suicide bombings are justified, but to align the majority of Indonesians with the common Western goal of a secular government is simply incorrect. An orthodox and radical interpretation of Islam is a phenomenon that extends across the entire Muslim world, despite what Aslan claims. The point here is not that Islam is a backwards religion; the religion itself is not the root of these issues. Yet it’s undeniable that support for terrorism and extremism in the Muslim world is not limited to a tiny fraction of Muslims. Instead, these conservative ideas have permeated throughout the Muslim community, reaching an increasing amount of mainstream worshippers around the world. A small but size able minority in the status quo can clearly be labeled as radicals. HMR
“THE RELIGION ITSELF IS NOT THE ROOT OF THESE ISSUES.”
COUNTRIES AFFECTED BY ISLAMIC TERRORIST ATTACKS SINCE 9/11
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Racial Diversity in Public Schools: A Study in Inequality
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Dahlia Krutkovich
n 1954, the Supreme Court’s groundbreaking decision on Brown v. Board of Education prohibited legal mandate of racial segregation in public schools, yet in spite of that historic ruling, integration in public schools is at a 50 year all-time low. The resurgence of segregation can be attributed to the widespread repeal of legally enforced integration laws passed in the 60s and 70s in attempt to execute racial cohesion in the nation’s school districts. Having been integrated by force for 30 years, a wave of circuit courts nationwide found it unnecessary to have de jure enforcement on a state level when districts could be responsible for their own systems. After all, would those districts not know what was best for themselves? In the time since those laws were originally repealed, an unfortunate and unfair trend has come to pass: the racial homogenization of public schools, which led to a significant drop in quality of education for students attending schools in which the majority of students are minorities. Hailed as the key to social ascension, the disparity in quality of education for
the majority of minority students only serves to forsake them further to widespread institutionalized injustice. While this issue may be expected of typically conservative states south of the Mason-Dixon line, New York, California, Michigan, and Illinois are among the worst offenders nationally.It is the duty of state legislators to ensure that each school is racially diverse and by extension has an equal opportunity to succeed. Schools with predominantly black or Latino student bodies garner noticeably lower test scores on average, which leads to decreased funding to these schools. This decrease in funding has been proven to cause a further drop in student performance, and thus creates a cycle of increasingly disappointing test performance and deeper budget cuts. According to federally distributed school demographics, in schools released from desegregation orders between 1990 and 2011, 53 percent of black students now attend schools in which at least nine out of ten students are racial minorities. Forty years ago, at the height of racial school reform, that was only true of 25 percent of
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black students. Homogenous schools of any kind do a disservice to each and every child who attends them, regardless of race. Not only does this system of division perpetuate a cycle of impoverishment and disadvantage for poor and minority children, it also allows their privileged counterparts to go through life without day-to-day interaction with a large segment of the population, thus leading to greater division and general racial malaise later in life for every party involved. Diverse classrooms encourage people to grapple with racial issues with more sensitivity later in life. In having interacted with “the others” in a casual and repeated environment as children, generally free of racial prejudice and assumptions, it is harder to both harbor that prejudice and dehumanize an entire group of people as a nebulous or ambiguous force, something completely mysterious. In having this exposure, it is easier for the undeniably privileged to understand, or at least empathize with minorities. The State of New York, which supports the largest public school program in the coun-
Features try with 1.1 million students in attendance, consistently boasts the worst integration nationwide. UCLA’s Civil Rights Project tracked diversity in New York public schools from 1989 to 2010 and found that “half of the state’s public school students were from low-income families in 2010 [...], but the typical [minority] student attended a school where close to 70 percent of classmates were low-income and the typical white student went to a school where just 30 percent of classmates were low-income.” Socioeconomic and racial diversity tend to go hand in hand, especially in large, dense urban municipalities such as New York City, which is why systematic subjugation of the underprivileged is so efficient, especially in the case
who do not, in part because of a more stable environment provided, and in part because of the better facilities, teachers, and resources available. The way in which zoning laws operate is inherently flawed and bound to incur problems such as racial, socio-economic, and political homogeneity in schools. There is a well defined sociological pattern of distinct groups living in concentrated areas separate from one another, so upon lifting court mandated desegregation, predominantly white communities will be gerrymandered for one school while predominantly black communities will be gerrymandered for another, resulting in the homogeneity so evident today. Statistics drawn from the most recent census show that 28 percent of black children live in
“The State of New York, which supports the largest public school program in the country, consistently boasts the worst integration nationwide.” of educational inequality. A study released by the Economic Policy Institute found that because minority students are more likely to live or go to school in violent or poverty-stricken neighborhoods, these children cannot be expected to perform at the same level as their white counterparts, who tend to exist in significantly less stressful environments. In fact, the same study, published in 2013, states that minority children who attend more racially diverse public schools do better than those
high-poverty neighborhoods, while only 4 percent of white children do, and as expected, schools situated in higher income neighborhoods, whiter neighborhoods, will offer better education to those not. It is especially imperative now, in this time of great racial acrimony and dehumanization that the next generation does not fall into the same pits this one has. Widespread institutionalized racism, as evidenced in senseless police brutality and an irrefutably biased justice system, plagues already disadvantaged
December 2014
demographics without much intervention by those in power, who also happen to be the beneficiaries of these broken systems. The first step in alleviating oppressively pernicious practices is integrating schools, not only so that white children will be able to pacify the injustice in the future, but hopefully so that increased agency in the black and Latino communities, catalyzed through better education, will enable them to take more aggressive, efficient, and well-planned action for themselves rather than rely on others speak for them. The unjust segregation of public schools nationwide serves to harm every child subjected to it. Not only academically, where children who attend less diverse schools receive a subjectively worse education than those who do not, but also socially, where they are robbed of necessary interaction with entire demographics of people, thus narrowing their perspective on life and their understanding of these demographics. As Chief Justice Earl Warren wrote on his ruling on Brown, “Education is perhaps the most important function of the of state and local government, and separate educational facilities are inherently unequal.” Unfortunately, 60 years later, we still must wrestle with a virtual clone of the original problem. Only in this round, in an age claimed to be post-racial, a more self-critical light must shine upon those responsible for the repugnant state of non-existent integration in public schools. HMR
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Features
Neo-Nazism and the Far Right in Modern-Day Europe
By Eva Steinman
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erhaps overshadowed in recent years by events in the Middle East and elsewhere, the growth of neo-Nazis and similar parties in Europe should be a cause of deep concern. Neo-Nazism, like Nazism, is rooted in anti-Semitism, xenophobia, fascism, Holocaust denial, and militant nationalism. Closely related to neo-Nazism are neo-Nationalism and neo-Fascism, both of which are openly hostile towards minorities and immigrants. Ironically, despite their intolerance for others, these movements rely upon freedom of speech laws in Western democracies in order to generate attention and attract followers. The rise in popularity of neo-Nazi and similar far right groups is likely a result of multiple factors, which likely include widespread anti-Semitism in Europe, the growth of the European Muslim population, and the effects of the rise in youth unemployment. Germany, the birthplace of Nazism, officially banned Nazi symbols and Holocaust denial in the aftermath of World War II. Yet the country still remains home to one of the largest neo-Nazi parties, the NPD. A 2012 study by the German intelligence service suggested that there are at least 6,000 neo-Nazis in the country. Despite multiple attempts to ban the party, Chancellor Angela Merkel, in 2013, decided not to take additional action, fearful that doing so could further publicize and legitimize the NPD while making it more difficult to monitor the party’s actions. The popularity of their far right, anti-immigration message is greater in the former communist and far poorer eastern portion of Germany. However, anti-Semitism remains prevalent across Germany, where a recent Anti-Defamation League survey found that 21% of the population maintains anti-Semitic attitudes. In this past summer’s European Parliament (MEP) elections, a member of
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Features Germany’s NDP actually won a seat in this pan-European governing organization. In fact, similar neo-Nationalist and neo-Fascist parties in other countries also fared well in these elections, highlighting their growing popularity. In Austria, the far right Freedom Party garnered more than one fifth of the vote. In Belgium, the Flemish Separatist Party for the first time has a neo-Nazi representing Brussels in the MEP. In Denmark, the anti-immigrant Danish People’s party won 26.7% of the vote. In Greece, the violent neo-Fascist Golden Dawn Party, founded in the
loyal to Israel than to their own country, 36% believed that Jews had too much power in the business world (including an astounding 73% of respondents in Hungary), and 41% believed that Jews still talk too much about the Holocaust. Twenty-two percent continue to blame Jews for the death of Christ, while 28% indicated that their opinion of Jews has been influenced by the policies of Israel. When asked about violence directed against Jews, 39% believed it was the result of anti-Jewish feelings, while 36% attributed it to anti-Israeli sentiment.
in Western, Northern, and Southern Europe. The relatively significant growth of the Muslim population has led to widespread debate on immigration, cultural integration, and national identity, while in certain instances given rise to Islamaphobia. These fears fuel neo-Nationalist political parties, who focus on the demographic, economic, ideological, and physical threat that a growing Muslim population could pose. In fact, even more mainstream politicians question the compatibility, among other things, of Islamic Sharia law with
The increase in Neo-nazism is utterly alarming, spanning politics as well as social platforms, making many feel unsafe 1980s by a Holocaust denier and open admirer of Adolf Hitler, won 16% of the vote. And in Hungry, the openly anti-Semitic nationalist Party Jobbik gained almost 15% of the vote. Meanwhile, in France, the National Front Party (FN), let by Marine Le Pen, has become an increasingly powerful political force. Its membership has doubled since 2012 to 83,000 and is now at the highest level since the party’s formation. In fact, an August 2014 poll suggested that Le Pen would win the first round of a French presidential election if it were held this past summer. The party is historically notorious for the xenophobia and Holocaust denial of Jean-Marie Le Pen, who is Marine Le Pen’s father and the party’s original founder. In fact, the FN has been widely perceived as a remnant of the pro-Nazi Vichy republic. Recently, however, the party has turned its attention to the “Islamization of France” as its primary concern and has gone so far as to publicly suggest that it is excluding its more racist and neo-Nazi elements. In spite of this, the FN has yet to publicly repudiate Jean-Marie Le Pen’s well-documented anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial. There would appear to be at least three potential contributors to the growth of these neo-Nazi and related far right neo-Nationalist parties over recent years. The first is that anti-Semitic sentiment remains widespread in Europe. In a 2012 survey conducted by the Anti-Defamation League in 10 European countries, which included the United Kingdom, 55% of respondents believed that Jews were more
European Jews sense this hostility. In 2013, a survey was taken in eight European Union (EU) member states which, in aggregate, are home to 90% of the EU’s Jewish population (Belgium, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Sweden, and the UK). The survey was conducted to mark the 75th anniversary of Kristallnacht (the “Night of Broken Glass”), an event that is generally referred to as the beginning of the Holocaust, due to the widespread looting, murder and incarceration of Jews on that night by the Nazi regime. Three-quarters of the Jewish respondents in the 2013 survey expressed a belief that anti-Semitism is increasing in their host country, while one-quarter said they had experienced some form of anti-Semitic harassment in the last 12 months. Almost one-third of those polled indicated that they were considering emigration from their home country. The greatest fears were expressed by Jews in France, Belgium, and Hungary. A second potential contributor to gains among neo-Nationalist and similar parties is the growth of the European Muslim population. In Western and Northern Europe, the Muslim population has increased by 183% (nearly tripled) and 148%, respectively, from 1990 to 2010. Based on this same survey, Muslims represented 6% of the European population in 2010, although the majority live in Eastern or Central Europe. The largest increases over the next 20 years, however, are expected to occur in the United Kingdom (4.6% Muslim in 2010), France (7.5%), Italy (2.6%), Germany (5.0%) as well as other countries
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the principals of Western democracy. For European Jews, the growth of the Muslim population creates two problems. First, these neo-Nationalist groups are generally anti-Semitic, so any far-right gains based on concerns regarding Muslims are not without potential consequence to Jews. Second, the growth of the Muslim population has given rise to anti-Jewish violence from the expanding Muslim community. France, with the world’s third largest Jewish population, at 500,000 to 600,000, or 1% of its population, witnessed a 91% increase in hate crimes against Jews in the first half of 2014. And France is not alone. A final potential contributor to the rise of neo-Nazi and related movements is the role that economic factors may play. In the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, a 2013 Oxford University study found that almost one-quarter of people under the age of 25 in the EU remain unemployed. In Greece and Spain, unemployment has reached more than 50% of the young workforce. Similar to the 1930s, the growth of far-right political parties has increased during a time of economic hardship. Immigrants, foreigners, and minorities can become convenient targets for those looking to assign blame, especially younger people susceptible to political rhetoric. There are likely other potential contributors to the growing popularity of Nazism and related far right movements in modern-day Europe. Regardless of the reasons, it is a troubling development that will need to be carefully monitored in the months and years ahead. HMR
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Economics
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Companies Pack Up and Leave The Repelling Flaws of the American Corporate Tax Code By Will Scherr
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he rebuilding and growth of the United States’ economy rests heavily on the reform of its corporate tax code. The American Corporate Tax Code is broken and in desperate need of fixing. In the S&P 500 alone, there are a total of twenty-eight companies that are currently based outside of the United States, including the likes of Carnival Cruise Ships and Garmin Watches. In total there are approximately 61 companies that practice tax inversion, engaging in business transactions within the Unit-
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ed States, but registering outside of the country to minimize their taxes; based on recent merger transactions, even more U.S. companies are ready to abandon America. To make the problem worse, the U.S. corporate tax code forces American companies to keep cash outside the United States, because the tax to transfer money back into the United States is too high. As a result, companies that could otherwise bring cash from abroad back into the U.S. to build factories or create jobs, simply do not.
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Many companies based outside of the United States have still benefited from American services, though they pay taxes in other countries for the sake of their shareholders. For example, the U.S coast guard rescued one of Carnival’s ships that caught fire. However, Carnival Cruise is paying corporate tax in Panama, which is at 25%. As a result, the company saves 7% more on their taxes. Walgreens is an example of a company that is using all the benefits of America such as $16.7 billion dollars in reim-
Economics bursements from Medicare and Medicaid, but will not be paying its fair share of taxes to the American treasury. This past July, Walgreens announced that it will be moving its headquarters in a merger with Alliance Boots to Switzerland in order to avoid high American taxes. Perhaps Carnival’s and Walgreen’s actions are “unpatriotic” or wrong, but what it is doing is perfectly legal under U.S. law and is in the
is thereby forcing companies to do as this pharmaceutical company did. It may be unpatriotic and unfair, but it is legal and is encouraged by the current U.S. tax code. As a result of the Walgreens move, the government is losing money, but more importantly U.S. taxpayers will lose $4 billion dollars over five years all because Walgreens is moving. In addition to current companies’ moving out of
ken Corporate Tax Code for a variety of bad reasons. Their inaction persists in a large part because the issue does not grab headlines as other headline grabbers do. The fact that lowering the U.S. tax code is considered a bipartisan issue adds to the confusion on why there has been no reform. However, Congress refuses to reform the corporate tax code without dealing with the rest of the tax code, in-
It may be unpatriotic and unfair, but it is legal and encouraged by the current U.S. tax code. best interest of its shareholders, whose dividends are higher under low taxes. When companies relocate, the American economy suffers severely. The world’s largest producer of store-brand over the counter drugs relocated to Ireland, because Ireland taxes only 12% of the company’s total earnings as opposed to 35% under U.S. tax law. The company completed a tax inversion by merging with an Irish company, making its new tax domicile in Ireland. If tax inversion trades continue at the current rate, the U.S government will lose $19.5 billion dollars a year, because it has the highest corporate tax code amongst developed nations and
the U.S., a high tax code makes the U.S. a less attractive place to start a company. As a result the U.S. will become less competitive in the global economy as companies realize that they can make more money elsewhere, while still benefiting from the American consumer. Tax inversions are also detrimental to job creation and communities all around America. For example, a company that was once based in Delaware had all the motivation to enrich the community in which it was located, but since moved to Ireland; the company now feels less inclined to help its former community. Congress has failed to act on the bro-
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cluding the highly partisan income tax bracket. Furthermore, reforming the corporate tax code does not ring as politically savvy, as it may be understood as “helping” corporate America. Not a single candidate in the mid-term elections ran a campaign in which he or she called for reforming the corporate tax code; instead they ran on flashier issues, such as to repealing “Obamacare,” or reforming immigration policy. More politicians should take up the cause, because helping corporate America has the potential to benefit American jobs and factories. HMR
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Economics
MIND THE GAP: C
ensus Bureau data tells us that on average, a woman earns 77 cents to a man’s dollar. This appalling pay gap is prevalent in every state and in nearly every occupation. The gap is widest in finance as a woman in this field earns 66% of a man’s salary. The pay gap also unfortunately increases for women of diverse backgrounds, according to the American Association of University Women. Additionally, the Census Bureau has recorded that an African American woman earns on average 64 cents for a Caucasian man’s dollar, while a Latina woman earns 56 cents. Despite the fact that people often justify the wage gap through the preconceived gender roles and the idea that women do not need to support themselves as their role is confined to the domestic sphere, the wage gap affects women with and without children. The subordinate position and lower compensation of women relative to men has been a perpetual
77¢ v. 1$
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problem. If women turn a blind eye to these injustices, are unaware of them, or are too intimidated to speak up, these issues will persist. The standing of women in society has been called into question through feminist movements (feminism has even permeated the Horace Mann community through our Unity Day assembly). In response to this changing mindset, I strongly believe that the role of gender in economics must be discussed and that we must implement the change feminist movements call for. In a New York Times article, Annie Houle, who now runs workshops exposing college women to the negative side effects of the wage gap, discussed her personal experience directly related to the issue. She used a symbolic gimmick at these college workshops to reinforce her principle ideas; this gimmick was the idea of pink paper money. The feminine color given to the bills represents the devaluation of female success and rightful reward caused by the wage gap. She told the story of her experience working as a young reporter at Newsweek. Her work was praised, but ultimately she noticed that her male colleagues performed the same tasks as she did but were earning significantly more than she was. Having recognized this inequality, she gathered up the courage to confront her employers. She was brave and bold to ask for her rightful raise and achieved her desired result. However, her fear of getting shut down or sounding obnoxious by listing off her accomplishments to prove her worthiness of the raise almost hindered her from attaining the equality she rightfully desired.
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Historically, banks have assigned women tasks that force them to utilize only their social skills but have not assigned them to important technical roles in deals. For example, the role of deal coordinator, the person responsible for allocating which individuals report to which deal teams, is often given to women, as it requires people skills to work with fellow employees. However, as a result, the women’s productivity in completing deals seems lower; this gives employers an excuse to not promote women. This underhanded bullying of women into lower-earning positions is the kind of action and attitude that has resulted in the unjust wage gap’s continued existence. It is important to recognize that holding women back from their rightful positions of leadership has actually been proven detrimental to corporate success. A 2011 survey by Catalyst referred to by CNBC and the Huffington Post recorded that companies made up of 19-44% women yielded 26% more return on investments than companies with no female board members at all. As such, the companies that perpetuate the wage gap are hurting their own progress with their misogynistic practices. Ms. Houle, based on the success of her approach to Newsweek, proposes that women combat the wage gap by speaking up, and she seeks to empower young women to be confident enough to do so. Another method offered up by women frustrated with the disparity is the “lean in” approach. This method suggests that society should accept modernized gender roles. In short, men should take on more domestic responsibilities, like childcare, so that women can be more successful in
Economics
WAGE INEQUALITY their careers. Claudia Goldin, who worked at Harvard University in 2010, researching wage gap statistics, adds on to the “lean in” approach; Goldin believes if men wanted to play more active roles in domestic life, they would value the flexibility of their time more. If this were the case women would not only have more time to be at work and achieve success, but companies would be more wiling to adapt their work environment to be accessible from home. Another possible way to decrease the pay gap is to actively call upon policy makers to institute legal change. For instance, if a large coalition of women joined forces and adamantly demanded Obama and/or other federal contractors pass the Paycheck Fairness Act,, perhaps lawmakers would take a step forward in the fight for pay equality. According to the American Civil Liberties Union, this proposed law would help revise the Equal Pay Act of 1963, which is difficult to enforce and does not sufficiently protect women from gender-based discrimi-
nation. The act would penalize employers for acting against women who share their salary amount with others or ask for a wage comparison between themselves and colleagues, thus providing women with a safe environment in which they can ask for equal pay. The act would also increase the intensity of penalties for not providing equal pay, among other positive impacts. In my opinion, a combination of empowering women to become confident enough to stand up to their bosses for the compensation they deserve, raising awareness about the inequality, and demanding legal action from policy makers will be the most immediately effective methods of attempting to break the metaphorical “glass ceiling” (a term women have used to represent the limits men have put on their success, limits that manifest themselves in the wage gap). I do not disagree with the concepts behind the “lean in” approach of breaking down the rigid gender roles society has formulated, but I do believe that trying to
change pre-conceived notions of gender roles is an extremely difficult task. Such a complex challenge, like modifying social norms, would take time and is not inextricably linked to eliminating the wage gap. In addition, the “lean in” tactics are geared towards the working woman with a family, but not all working women have families. Based on this, the concepts suggested in the “lean in” approach will not necessarily be beneficial to all women and therefore may not close the wage gap. In conclusion, the elimination of the gender-based wage gap should be achieved with shortterm strategies, rather than long-term ones like the “lean in” approach.. Change can be created by laws and raising awareness in society of the fact that women help businesses function better and their productivity fosters economic prosperity. HMR
By Sophia Fikke
December 2014
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Economics
Ch
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Patent trolls: An incovenience in our Nation’s economy
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fundamental right to the great minds of the world is the right to a patent, an intellectual property right granted by the United States Government to an inventor in the United States. Government-sponsored patent assertion entities are bankrupting American businesses by suing them under patent infringement. These kinds of patents
prevent the economy from flourishing by slowing innovation. Our founding fathers included intellectual property as one of the essential individual rights. They understood that intellectual property rights could help spur innovation and improve the economy. Intellectual property is a key asset to an inventor because it excludes others from making, us-
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ing, or selling the invention throughout the United States. It also excludes others from importing the invention into the United States. The process for obtaining a patent in the United States is complicated and typically expensive. An inventor starts by running a patent search, typically through The United States Patent and
Economics Trademark Office (USPTO). Either the inventor does the patent search or the inventor hires an attorney to perform a professional patent search. Most inventors discover that their idea has already been patented. This is because when writing patents, the attorney will try and secure as many aspects of an idea as possible, thus preventing many aspects of the idea being patented in the future. This makes it more challenging to come up with patents as time progresses because more and more inventions will be patented. If the inventor finds his or her invention is not
or business of infringing on a patent in their client’s portfolio. If the defendant is deemed guilty, which is the case 86% of the time, the patent troll can sue the person or business for their assets. Anybody can be a patent troll, however successful patent trolls are typically companies. Recently, government-sponsored patent assertion entities, patent trolls with the financial backing of a government, have started suing for patent infringement. This benefits the patent trolls and their government by increasing their assets. Government-sponsored PAE’s mean big
to this report, in 2011 alone, alleged infringers paid upwards of $29 billion to PAE’s and patent trolls. The money the enterprises gave to the patent trolls could have been used to spur innovation and help the economy by adding jobs. Unfortunately, over the past four years, $300 billion of wealth has been lost by private enterprises in the United States to government-sponsored PAE’s. If the White House wants to prevent government-sponsored PAE’s from taking over American Private enterprise, action needs to be taken. In late 2013
“As government-sponsored Patent Assertion Entities become more prevalent, the more the implications on America’s economy become.” taken, the inventor must choose to file globally or in the United States alone. At this stage, the inventor and attorney collaborate and decide whether or not to pursue the patent. If they pursue the patent, the attorney applies for a patent through the USPTO. The first section in the application is the abstract. Here, the attorney gives background on the invention, typically a paragraph. The next section in the application is the description. Here, a description of prior art and all minor details on the invention are stated. Prior art are patents similar to the invention, but are noted in order to highlight the differentiation. The final section is the claims, a numbered list of all the aspects of the invention. If, for example, somebody infringed on a patent, a patent lawyer would refer to the claims in order to sue. If the invention is new, novel, and non-obvious, the three key aspects the USPTO looks for in an invention, then the patent is granted. The strenuous and expensive process to obtaining a patent makes it very difficult for inventors to enter the business world. Since many ideas have already been patented, some businesses have no other choice but to infringe on a patent. Patent assertion entities (PAE’s), commonly referred to as “patent trolls”, buy patent portfolios and file lawsuits against people who have infringed on their patents. Their goal is to accuse a person
trouble for private enterprises who may have infringed on a patent. Furthermore, the tactics which PAE’s use to win the lawsuits are typically unethical and rarely have what is considered “enough” evidence to win at trial. These unjust victories are a result of the fact that private enterprises can rarely afford the lengthy litigation that patent infringement lawsuits lead to, thus making the government-sponsored PAE’s case very easy to win. As government-sponsored PAE’s become more prevalent, the more troubling the implications on America’s economy become. Government-sponsored patent assertion entities are threatening the American economy by preventing growth and bankrupting private enterprises. Countries with government-sponsored PAE’s such as Taiwan’s Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) currently owns nearly 18,000 American patents. ITRI has used these patents and made companies out of them, with nearly 225 companies already incorporated. These companies will likely prevail over private enterprises which do not have government-level funding. In fact, these government-sponsored patent trolls have had such a detrimental effect on the US economy that the White House was needed for a potential solution. In June 2013, the President’s council of economic advisers prepared a report on patent assertion and US innovation. According
December 2014
Virginia representative Bob Goodlatte introduced the Innovation Act to try and prevent further losses to patent infringement. The bill deters patent trolls by requiring the losing party to pay the other’s legal fees. However, this bill is fundamentally flawed in that the majority of the time, the private enterprises lose because they do not have the capital of a PAE to win a legal case. Thus, how could they ever afford to pay the legal fees of the other party if they can’t even afford their own? Unfortunately, this bill has received bipartisan support and is yet to be implemented. The best strategy for the White House would be to enhance transparency requirements on state-owned businesses. A state-owned business is a government-owned business. An example of this is the government-sponsored aforementioned PAE’s which have been discussed in this article. If the White House can enhance the requirements on state-owned businesses, government-sponsored PAE’s would be subject to more restrictions than a private company. Thus, the private enterprises can operate safely, knowing that no government-sponsored patent troll is trying to sue them of patent infringement. Enhancing transparency requirements on state-owned businesses not only lessens the number of successful patent troll cases, it can spur innovation and create American jobs. HMR
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Economics
Civil Forfeiture: Sanctioned Robbery
Krystian Loetscher
Krystian Loetscher
C
ivil asset forfeiture, or simply civil forfeiture, is an operation that has recently been brought to the attention of citizens via the media. This malpractice has been in effect for a number of years, although it seems that lately is has reached its breaking point in terms of crossing a certain barrier and it now clearly appears to be an unnecessary evil. Civil forfeiture is a legal tool used by state governments to prevent the trafficking of drugs, as defined by the federal government. What this tool acts as now is more of an abusive power used to reap innocent citizens of their money and or property that are rightfully theirs. This absurd practice is a prominent and prevalent issue, affecting more and more people as police forces everywhere realize how easy it is to take away someone else’s belongings at will. Officers need no evidence or warrants, they can simply take away property with the assumption that this property would be used for future evils. Civil forfeiture has been abused over the past couple of months, with officers everywhere pulling over victims with
malicious intent. In many cases, since suing against the state or federal government is virtually useless, the police force gets to keep said money or property for their own uses. Civil forfeiture now carries with it an idea that people are guilty until proven innocent. Cases involving this practice have occurred in many places across the U.S. with court cases named the state against the inanimate object that was possessed, such as “U.S. v. One 2003 Mercedes Benz.” It is almost laughable, and seems a mockery to the modern justice system that these cases even exist and that this practice has not yet been repealed. An example of one of these horror stories is in Iowa, as reported by the Washington Post, where two innocent citizens who were on their drive home had “more than $100,000 seized from them after they were pulled over by Iowa state police.” This practice has lead to an abuse of power by the police. Ily Somin of the Washington post writes; “Often, the police get to keep the proceeds from the seizures for themselves, creating a perverse incentive to seize as much property
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as possible, regardless of the guilt or innocence of the owners.” What is actually happening now is that people all across the country are defenseless against the abuse of this power. This practice also sets a trap for the common citizen, especially those who do not know their rights. It is a federal crime to lie to the police, but what if you knew that they would take your money if you told the truth? What we see here is that people with money or valuables in their car are conflicted between lying to the police and losing a significant amount of money. As John Oliver said in his report on the issue, many officers will, quite bluntly, ask a person how much money they are carrying with them at that time. With the news and media coverage on the topic many get scared and are unsure of how to respond to such high authority. So why is losing some money or valuables left in a car so bad? Well, there are two main reasons. One the surface of it, empirically civil forfeiture has been going hand in hand with racial profiling and many times it is low income and poor neighborhoods that are
Economics preyed on. So with this seizure of money, it can be a huge detriment to the life of that relatively poor person. The next main issue is what this practice promotes. Legislation and anything that a government enforces should and does reflect the ideals and fundamental beliefs of our coun-
in fact what we would imagine should be pursued in our country. Civil forfeiture, as we are starting to see, is an implementation that has never been useful and is now being recognized for its potential to seize property based on assumptions. When questioned on the mat-
attorney, no right to confront your accusers, no presumption of innocence, and no protection from double jeopardy.” Even if a citizen were to challenge the case, they would likely lose against high paid lawyers vs. their own lawyers who tend to be on the lower scale in terms of skill. This is
“It is a federal crime to lie to the police, but what if you knew that they would take your money if you told the truth?” try. Some can see how originally this may have been implemented to prevent drug trafficking, but it hasn’t worked and one wonders why is it till in this practice is still in use. This abuse of power enforces the ideas that people are guilty until proven innocent and that this giant amount of power can be given to the government. In our country we all support a democracy and ideally all that we believe is reflected in the decisions made by both the federal and state government. But when we see pieces of legislation like this that support the notion that we are all susceptible to such a cruelty, we see that this law is not
ter, many police officers have no response as to why they seized any particular property and in some cases they even admitted to abusing this power for their own selfish needs. This practice needs to be stopped, for it is hurting innocent victims based on the assumption of their actions, and it’s promoting the false idea that everyone is guilty until they can otherwise prove their innocence. Jarret B. Wollstein, the director at The International Society for Individual Liberty, expands on the point of helplessness on the part of the citizens: “When your property is civilly forfeited, you have no right to a court-appointed
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because the majority of people who were taken advantage of under this are poor and can either spend more money than its worth for a lawyer or let the case go which in many cases they do. Civil forfeiture has no empirics or analyses to back up its premier justification that it stops drug trafficking. That of course was its original purpose implemented with a naïve mindset. What it serves as in the status quo is some backwards thinking piece of legislation that enforces ideals that go against the idea of our modern day sense of justice and against what we envision our government to be. HMR
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Economics
THE FUTURE OF BRAZIL’S ECONOMY
“B
razil is the country of the future… and always will be.” This witty comment has defined Brazil’s economy for almost a century. Brazil is a main exporter of important commodities, has a population of 200 million, and has been through some of the greatest economic booms of the 20th century yet never has been be able to reach its full potential. Brazil’s growth has always been undercut by political instability. Resources have given Brazil vast economic opportunity. Exportation of gold and sugar cane in the early colonial periods, coffee during the 19th and early 20th centuries, and more recently iron ore and petroleum have created the potential for economic prosperity, but Brazil’s political environment has countered Brazil’s ability to sustain its economic growth. In Brazil’s early history, growing global demand for their commodities along with increased economic liberalism
resulted in the development of Brazil’s infrastructure around exportation of their natural resources. This set the stage for Brazil to become one of the largest global exporters. Brazil has always had great potential to become one of the world’s strongest economies, but the protean political climate over the past century has prevented Brazil from reaching its full potential. Many of Brazil’s economic booms in the past century, such as the coffee boom and the period of hyperinflation after Brazil’s industrial era, have given rise to various coups and military dictatorships along with periods of socialism. Looking at Brazil’s history, there has been a repetition of the following pattern: periods of rapid growth, followed by economic crises and political changes. Politics has always played an intricate role in Brazil’s economy. After a period of great economic growth during the 1960s and 1970s, severe stag-
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flation in the late 1970s and 1980’s caused Brazils inflation rate to reach roughly 400% annually. The 1980s were known as the “lost decade” in Brazil. The era’s high inflation, high interest rates, and a falling currency were caused by poor fiscal and monetary policy. What marked the end of this period was the implementation of the Plano Real under the Cardoso administration in 1994. The Plano Real stabilized inflation by introducing a new currency, the Brazilian Real, implementing austerity measures, reducing government bureaucracy, and deregulating the private sector. The Plano Real brought a new era of economic freedom and prosperity to Brazil that translated into its growth during the 21st century. In 2002, Luiz Inácio Lula de Silva won presidential election under the Workers’ Party ticket. Many foreign investors were concerned by Lula’s left wing agenda. There was a possibility that Lula would cause Brazil to repeat the cycle of volatile political change, remove many of the pro-business reforms, and replace them with stricter regulations. Lula ended up breaking Brazil’s century long political cycle and allowed Brazil to start to reach its economic potential. He continued free market reforms, encouraged foreign investment, and restored investor confidence. Brazil pushed through the global financial crisis with ease and began to experience immense economic growth.
Economics
O R I P A H S HENRY
In 2011, Lula’s handpicked successor, Dilma Rousseff, won the presidential election. Many assumed she would carry on the economic policies under Lula’s administration, but her actions over the past term have countered this assumption. When she entered office, the economy was expanding by 7.5%, the poverty level had fallen dramatically, and 36 million people had just entered the middle class. Brazil seemed to be starting to live up to its potential. Rousseff ’s administration reversed Brazil’s positive trajectory. Increased subsidies, price regulation, failure to manage inflation and many other factors lead to a decline in business confidence that has reduced foreign investment and economic growth. Inflation and interest rates have skyrocketed and GDP growth was negative for the 2nd and 3rd quarter of 2014. Brazil’s once rapidly expanding economy is now in a recession. Many investors are concerned that Dilma will continuously fail to manage the current economic problems while simultaneously creating an environment toxic for businesses. Brazil’s economy has been heavily impacted by commodity cycles that have resulted in a recession and the devaluation of the Real. Brazil’s economy is heavily based on the exportation of commodities that have grown 29% annually since 2002 and represent 50% of Brazil’s exports. Part of
the problem of being an exporter of natural resources is you are exposed to the commodity cycle, which is now in bare territory. Brazil gives the resources to produce the world’s goods, and as the world starts to produce fewer goods, demand for Brazil’s resources has decreased. Because Brazil’s economy is centered on its exports, the decline in demand for its resources has caused the economic slowdown Brazil has recently experienced. Brazil’s its GDP has contracted in the past two quarters, thus, Brazil is officialy in a recession. This recession has caused a huge drop in the value of Brazil’s currency as individuals sell Reais and buy US dollars. The Real value has been nearly cut in half; it was worth 1.55 US dollars in 2011 but now is 2.56 dollars. The end of quantitative easing in the United States has caused a decline in the value of the Real. Given the low interest rates in the US and relatively high interest rates in Brazil, individuals borrow money in the US at a low interest rate and then use that money to invest money in Brazil. People buy Reais and sell dollars to make this trade. As US interest rates increase, this arbitrage diminishes. This causes people to buy less Reais, resulting in the currency’s value falling even more. Controlling inflation and interest rates is imperative to solving Brazil’s current economic problems. Since Rousseff entered
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office, annual inflation rates have risen to 6.75%, but there has been little growth. Wage growth has increased, and Brazil is reaching full employment that has resulted in consumer price increase. At the same time Brazil’s economy has contracted due to a decrease in demand for their resources. The Brazilian Central Bank raised the SELIC, the overnight rate, to 11.5% from 7.5%. The tightening of Brazil’s monetary policy will dry up credit and increase interest rates. This will make it unlikely to sustain the current levels of consumer spending but will decrease inflation. A few other external factors also threaten Brazil’s economic growth and currency valuation that to an extent are out of Dilma’s control. China is now Brazil’s largest trading partner. China’s recent deceleration has caused a ripple affect in Brazil. China’s role in the global economy has shifted; while China was previously an exporter of the world’s goods to an investor and consumer. China made those goods from Brazil’s raw resources. Because China is the largest importer of Brazil’s commodities, including iron ore, Brazil has a large amount of exposure to China’s production output. The decline in demand for Brazil’s resources is largely related to China’s slowdown in exports. Looking out into the future, there is a chance Dilma may shift some of her policies in order to restore confidence. Grow-
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Brazil can truly be the country of the future, if Dilma becomes more fiscally responsible. ing public discontent with the economy led to her losing a considerable portion of her support base. The past election was an incredibly tight election, especially for a member of the very popular Workers’ Party, which has remained in control of the presidency for over a decade. She won by a slim margin with just 51.59% of the vote. It is also important to note that in Brazil, everyone is required by the government to vote. Growing civil unrest led to the breakout of millions of protestors, angered by a lagging economy and political corruption. Her approval rating has dropped from 65% to 35%. One of the key indicators of whether Rousseff will shift her fiscal policy is whom she chooses as the next finance minister. Rousseff has already announced that the Finance Minister, who is currently Guido Mantegna, will change in her second term. Rousseff ’s administration was unable to meet inflation and fiscal targets, and a change in her administration could signal a possible change in her fiscal and monetary policy. Whether she leans more right
or continues to lean far to the left on economic issues is unclear at this point. The lead candidates right now vary in terms of their backgrounds. On the one hand, there is Henrique Meirelles, former president of the Brazilian Central Bank and Wall Street executive. Meirelles played a key role in stimulating Brazil’s economy, reducing inflation by boosting interest rates in Lula’s administration. Meirelles is fiscally responsible, unlike Dilma, and knows how to create a regulatory framework that will support economic growth. On the other hand there’s Jacques Wagner, Bahia state governor. Jacques is by far the most left wing candidate for finance minister and essentially has no background in economics. Although some of his policies are arguably beneficial to the lower class, such as increased social projects, many of his policies are very similar to those already in place. the policies that have caused Brazil’s economic problems. One of the largest problems with Dilma’s administration is political corruption. Corruption has prevented Brazil’s government
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from insituting reforms and has also placed a large toll on Brazil’s economy. Last year, Forbes estimated the cost of corruption at roughly $53 billion, or 2.3% of Brazil’s GDP. Dilma has dished out political favors to various allies in the public and private sectors, most notably Petrobas, Brazil’s state run Oil Company. Members of the Workers Party in Dilma’s inner circle gave out large bribes to direct Petrobas to hold out on raising prices in order to diminish the inflation caused by her poor fiscal policy. Corruption was one of the attributing factors for the protests during 2013. The Brazilian population’s growing discontent will hopefully push Dilma to implement counter-corruption measures. With such a powerful central government that controls a series of state-run enterprises, corruption will be prevalent. The recent downturn in Brazil’s economy concurrently with a weakening in Brazil’s fiscal and monetary policies has resulted in a repetition of what happened in Brazil for over a century. Brazil can truly be the country of the future, if Dilma becomes more fiscally responsible. She can continue to allow Brazil to fall down the path of corruption, overbearing regulations and taxes, and socialism, or she can reverse Brazil’s pattern of political instability and put Brazil and its economy back on track. HMR
Economics
After A Steep Drop, Can Oil Prices Stay Low?
Evan Frommer December 2014
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O
n October 14th, the price of oil fell four percent, bringing it to a five-year record low of 85 dollars per barrel. Energy markets quickly plummeted, and the Nasdaq and S&P 500 both fell 0.3 percent on the 15th. “It’s a case of sell first, ask questions later for anything oil-related,” said Quincy Krosby, a market strategist at Prudential Financial. Oil, as a major commodity, has a global web of dependence, and any slight changes in prices can create widespread economic disruption. As consumers, most people know oil as something that heats their house, something that runs their cars, and something that spilled in the Gulf of Mexico. Oil, however, affects all means of transportation, shipping, and many countries’ imports and exports. After October 14th, oil prices dipped down further to 75 dollars per barrel and may continue to fall. Tom Kloza, senior oil analyst at Gasbuddy.com said, “Clearly there is a rift in OPEC [a group of oil-exporting nations in the Middle East], and that means we are more likely to see a price war over the next six months. Crude oil is teetering on the brink of collapse.” While the fall in oil prices appears beneficial at first, the geopolitical and economic implications could potentially create far more global tensions and disturbances than benefits. The rapid decrease in oil prices can be attributed to many factors. There are the more conspicuous reasons – more alter-
native energy solutions, more oil production, and less oil demand, but there seems to be one main government responsible for the crash – Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia has cut costs of all oil grades going to the U.S, and the state-owned oil company cut prices on oil going to Asia by 10 cents. Three dollars a gallon looks tempting to most Americans, and the savings would give consumers more purchasing power. The extra change could be used for buying gifts for the upcoming holiday season, for some extra Thanksgiving food, or to cover any basic expenses. Most people pulling into gas stations do not know why their gas is so cheap or what the effects are outside of that on their wallet. When reviewed carefully, the harmful global economic and political outcomes outweigh any of the monetary gains at the pump. Saudi Arabia’s actions should be the first red flag signaling suspicious motives. In the past few years, oil exports to the United States have been slipping, and the U.S. has become less dependent on the Middle East. Some suspect that the Saudis lowered prices to regain market share in U.S energy. The American market has produced 65% more oil in the past 5 years and is becoming increasingly independent thanks to U.S. shale gas and hydraulic fracking technology. The price decrease could be an attempt not only to gain market share, but also
to put American fracking companies out of business, which would eventually allow them to retain even more market share. Oil prices below 70 dollars per barrel for over a month would make U.S. shale unprofitable. Unfortunately, the Saudis’ government reserves allow them to accept a loss for an ample amount of time. If they are able to reduce the size of U.S.-based energy, they would have the ability to increase prices even higher than they were before the decline. The Saudis break even when they sell oil at $93.5 per barrel, which makes the lower prices harmful, but not extremely destructive. Many other countries break even at much higher prices, and they are losing money rapidly from selling at the lower prices. For example, Yemen breaks even at $200 per barrel, and most other countries break even at well over $100 per barrel. Economic struggles and political tensions could be foreseeable for major oil exporting countries. Russia, in particular, whose oil accounts for 68% of its exports, will face major challenges. Vladimir Putin, who has triumphed as ruler from high oil productions, could face some internal skepticism. If Russia failed to deliver oil at low prices, Saudi Arabia could gain an even larger market share of the oil market. An unstable Rus-
“It is suspected that the Saudis lowered prices to regain market share in U.S energy.”
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Economics sian government and economy would be detrimental to an international community that already seems to be crumbling at the hand of many pressing issues such as ISIS and Ebola. Venezuela, which is already in a budget crisis, is predicted to experience additional political and social unrest from the decrease in revenue brought by oil. In the U.S, smaller producers of oil, who have spent and borrowed money to build infrastructure will suffer the most, because they were counting on future profits to pay off their debt. If they exited the market, large corporations could gain monopolies, which would increase gas prices in the future. In the present, lower gas prices disincentivize clean energy and encourage dependency on oil. With the cost of oil decreasing, less people will contemplate buying clean energy. As such, clean energy companies will lose clients and possibly go out of business. This alone would cause great harm to an already heavily polluted world.
On October 15th, the Secretary General for OPEC stated that they would continue to export the same amount of oil in 2015. “Don’t panic,” he said. “I am sure the market will balance itself.” However, according to Forbes, investors are concerned that low oil prices will remain long enough to force U.S. shale out of business. Chip Register of Forbes believes that the best way to handle the situation would be to limit oil imports. This would allow shale to remain in the economy while retaining sufficient oil supply for the nation. American consumers would be forced to buy U.S. oil, which provides business for the companies presently at risk. Thus, Saudi Arabia’s mission would fail. The backing of the U.S. government would keep the oil industry stable, but it would mean straying further from the free market principles on which the nation was founded. The current and future repercussions
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of low oil prices, could have devastating effects on the global community. Low oil prices grant consumers more money in the present, but consumers should be warned about potential long-term effects of the price drop. In actuality, lower prices now could lead to higher prices in the future if Saudi Arabia is trying to manipulate the market, as many believe. In essence, consumers should enjoy gas prices now but should not presume that they are here to stay. In any case, it is unlikely that low oil prices are the final result, and it is probable that, if the situation is handled poorly, the world could see detrimental effects. HMR
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Science and Technology
Edibles
Emma Forman
R
ecently, a major topic of debate in the United States has been the legalization of marijuana. The possession, sale, cultivation, and transportation of cannabis is illegal under United States federal law, but the federal government has announced that states are now able to pass laws restricting or allowing the use of marijuana. In 1970, cannabis was part of the Controlled Substances Act and was classified as a potential high abuse product with no safe medical use. This law prohibits doctors from “prescribing” marijuana for medical use under federal law, but allows them to “recommend” it to patients under the First Amendment. This law does not recognize the difference between medical and recreational uses of marijuana. Twenty-three states have passed laws regarding both medical cannabis and the discrimination of the drug. Two states, Colorado and Washington, have legalized the drug for recreational and medical use. In the vote on November 6th, Alaska, Oregon, and Washington D.C. voted to approve sweeping pro- marijuana legalization ac-
cording to CNN projections. The longterm effect of cannabis is still subject of an ongoing debate, and the World Health Organization states that these effects are still largely unknown. Edible marijuana is used by people throughout the world as a reliable remedy for a variety of illnesses. In Colorado, marijuana was legalized in November of 2012 when the sixty-fourth state amendment was passed. The first stores opened on January 1st, 2014 after more bills were passed on the sixty-fourth amendment. Since then, edible marijuana has become an increasing issue. Edibles can come in the form of: brownies, cookies, granola, sunflower seeds, chocolate bars, sodas, caramels, hard candies, pita chips, peanuts, and cereal coated in THC oil. These items look like regular foods but are infused with THC, an active ingredient in Marijuana. According to the Colorado Cannabis Chamber of Commerce, 45% of the marijuana market is made up of edibles. People have used these products in order to get high, without having to cough or reek of smoke. Parents who use marijuana for purposes due to anxi-
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ety have been able to take their medicine in front of their kids in a discreet, normal manor. A specific amount of THC can be easily ingested for a medicinal reason, without the risk of taking too much. Because edibles are easy to ingest and are reliable pain medications, there is no reason that marijuana shouldn’t be legal throughout the US. Edibles should be available for purchase, but laws on the amount of edibles purchased and the substances used in the products should be implemented. The problem with edible marijuana is that it can have varying ranges of THC concentration. The fluctuating amounts of THC could mean that the edible is meant to be shared with many people, but instead it is sometimes mistakenly eaten by only one person. The high from the THC also takes time to kick in. Therefore, people who may be over ingesting can have an extreme high with the risk of anxiety, panic attacks, and hallucinations. Maureen Dowd, a New York Times columnist, wrote that after her recent experience, “I barely made it from the desk to the bed, where I lay curled up in a hal-
Science and Technology lucinatory state for the next eight hours. … I was panting and paranoid, sure that when the room-service waiter knocked and I didn’t answer, he’d call the police and have me arrested for being unable to handle my candy.” This is a perfect ex-
could potentially lead to an overdose. Some measures that are being taken against unsafe consumption have been applied by state legislatures. Vendors will be required to reduce dosages to 10 mg THC per serving. This will hopefully eliminate
are brothers who all have different occupations. Patrick Devlin, 61, has a marketing background. Dan, 65, is a business development specialist with a master’s degree in business from Harvard. Michael, 53, has worked for more than thirty years
“The laws on edibles need to be tightened quickly and harshly in order to prevent future accidental marijuana ingestion with children.” ample of how an extra bite of an edible can lead to extreme symptoms of panic. Edible marijuana is a severe health risk to children. The worry about confusing foods with and without THC leaves a large chance of accidental overdose among children. The edibles look like normal food but are infused with marijuana’s active ingredient THC. This presentation of the drug makes people unable to tell the difference between a product that has THC and one that does not. Two deaths have recently been linked to edibles, as there has been an increase in childrens’ visits to the emergency room due to mistakenly consuming edibles. One death was a boy from Wyoming, who was 19 when he jumped off his balcony while he was high. The other death was a man who killed his wife while high off edibles. The emergency room at Children’s Hospital Colorado has treated a total of fourteen children that have ingested marijuana. An increasing point of concern with the edibles is their packaging. In July, Colorado issued a government statement regarding the, “packaging and labeling Requirements for Retail Marijuana for Consumer and Child Safety.” The requirements stated are that products must be sold in childproof packaging and must have visible warnings that cannabis is in the product. The packaging also must describe the marijuana content, a list of non-organic pesticides, fungicides, solvents, or chemical used to produce the item. This is a necessary step to ensure that all products are safe to sell and will have a decreased chance of children or adults ingesting any amount of THC that
any risk of overdosing. Edibles will also be wrapped in plastic and foil sheets, similar to those of prescription pills. In the month of October, Colorado’s health department even went as far as to recommend a ban on almost all edible forms of marijuana. Others believe that making the presence of marijuana extremely visible on the packaging may have the reverse effect and might make the product more attractive to curious children. Both Washington and Colorado have recently passed similar pieces of legislation surrounding edibles. Along with Colorado and Washington, other states such as Alaska recently legalized marijuana during the November 4th midterm elections. If marijuana were to become legal, there would be restrictions on the manufacturing, purchase, and consumption of the product. These restrictions would make the drug safer because people would know that what they were buying wouldn’t have been laced with other harmful products. Alaska Dispatch News recently wrote about a new company in Seattle called Zoots, which creates products of edible marijuana. The creators
December 2014
in food manufacturing. They have invested sixteen months of market research and $1.7 million in the company. The creators, much like other edible companies, hope to be located in Alaska—that is only if the Alaskan residents choose to legalize the use of edible products containing marijuana. The company’s slogan is “stoned is then, Zoots is now”. Consumers can drink the product directly, called ZootDrops, or they can mix it in into another beverage. Another product called ZootBlast is closely comparable to an energy shot on the market today. Lastly there are ZootRocks, hard candies in flavors of cinnamon, chili, or lemongrass, each with 5 milligrams of THC. Devlin claims that it is safer to take these products because they are, “in a controlled and taxed environment and people will know what they’re ingesting.” One of the most important aspects of the product is the low 5 mg dosage of THC. This low dosage will help consumers control their intake and lower one’s chance for an overdose. This is a great new approach to edibles that many other companies have failed to consider. The laws on edibles need to be tightened quickly and harshly in order to prevent future accidental marijuana ingestions with children. As more states legalize marijuana vending, the amount of edibles will increase and the need for restrictions on these products will be necessary. HMR
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Science and Technology
The Future of Fusion Technology on the Horizon By Stephen Phillips
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A
t nuclear laboratories and reactor projects around the world, scientists are making impressive strides toward an elusive goal: harnessing nuclear fusion, the process that fuels the Sun. In US experiment, the results of which were published in February of this year, scientists got a step closer to creating a fusion reactor by creating an experiment that yielded a net gain in energy, a first for any controlled fusion reaction on Earth. By blasting hydrogen isotopes with powerful lasers, they created, for a fraction of a second, a tiny star that burned hotter than the Sun. Fusion breakthroughs like this one demonstrate the tantalizing possibility of a future where unlimited clean energy is produced using fusion reactors. Nuclear fusion is the process by which two atoms combine under extremely high heat and pressure to form a single, heavier atom. Fusion powers main-sequence stars like the Sun—a hydrogen nucleus (in its plasma form) collides with another hydrogen nucleus, creating a heavier helium nucleus. However, mass is not totally conserved in this reaction. A tiny amount of the original mass is converted into a massive amount of energy, a phenomenon described under special relativity and Ein-
Science and Technology stein’s famous E = mc2 equation. It is this energy that scientists seek to harness in a fusion reactor. Fusion is an exceedingly attractive source of energy. Unlike nuclear fission, used in today’s nuclear power plants, fusion creates almost no radioactive waste and cannot result in a reactor meltdown. Fission splits a heavy atom like uranium or plutonium using a neutron, an event that releases several new neutrons as the nucleus decays. These neutrons can then each split a new atom, releasing yet more neutrons, and so on, causing a chain reaction that is difficult to stop. Fusion reactions require intense heat and pressure at all times to continue to fuse fuel−after the reaction is initiated (with lasers or other methods of heating the fuel), the hydrogen begins to heat itself with the energy being released from some of its atoms fusing. However, if the reactor were to be damaged or the reaction otherwise interrupted, the pressure and temperature would immediately drop, ceasing fusion within the fuel and thus disabling the reactor. In their search for an ideal fuel mixture, scientists have experimented with the hydrogen isotopes deuterium and tritium, the former commonly found in seawater
December 2014
and the latter produced as a byproduct in nuclear fission reactors or in special reactors using lithium-6, which is commonly found in the ground. There is a vast and easily accessible supply of both materials on Earth, in stark contrast to the limited and increasingly inaccessible supply of fossil fuels. Fusion produces 10 million times as much energy per kilogram of reactant than do fossil fuels, making it incredibly efficient. While fusion is in its early stages and cannot realistically be expected to start powering our cities and vehicles for many years, it has the potential to be the most viable post-fossil-fuel source of energy because it will be much safer than fission and will generate much more energy than solar, wind, or geothermal systems. Government agencies in the US and Europe have been studying nuclear fusion since the 1950s, although early research was focused on the technology’s utility as a weapon rather than as a power source. The US tested its first prototype hydrogen weapon in the Ivy Mike nuclear test of 1952, using the energy of a fission explosion to trigger a secondary fusion detonation. The most notable US test of a hydrogen bomb (thermonuclear weapon) was in the 1954 Castle Bravo test. Castle Bravo
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was an atmospheric detonation over Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands designed to have a yield of five to six megatons (one megaton is equal to one million tons of TNT), but it actually yielded around three times that, contaminating a number of inhabited islands and a nearby Japanese ship with radioactive fallout. There are two main designs of fusion reactor currently being studied. Magnetic confinement reactors use large electromagnets to contain a stream of deuterium-tritium plasma, which is kept at fairly low pressure but undergoes fusion after being heated to over 100 million degrees Celsius. The tokamak, named for its torus-shaped (like a bunch of doughnuts arranged in a circle) plasma chamber, is the most intensely researched magnetic confinement reactor. Tokamaks use circular electromagnets wrapped around the plasma chamber to keep the superheated deuterium-tritium from colliding with the walls, which would cause the plasma to lose energy and would put stress on the chamber—carefully arranged magnetic fields keep the ions of deuterium and tritium and electrons moving in a loop in the center of the chamber, away from the walls. Inertial confinement systems, on the other hand, use lasers to superheat a deuterium-tritium fuel pellet, which then implodes, creating the pressure and temperature necessary for fusion. The heat generated by the fusion occurring within the innermost part of the pellet can in turn cause the outer layers to undergo fu-
sion. This chain reaction of fusion events provides the necessary energy to create a self-sustaining cycle is called ignition, which is the ultimate goal of all nuclear fusion experiments. ITER (formerly the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) is a €13 billion magnetic confinement reactor under construction in Cadarache, in southern France. ITER is a joint project of 35 nations with seven main members: The United States, South Korea, Japan, India, China, Russia, and the European Union, which hosts the reactor and organizes its construction. While it will not be used to produce electricity, the lessons learned from ITER’s design, construction, and operation will facilitate the future construction of functional fusion reactors. The reactor’s construction is expected to finish in 2019 and it is slated to be fully operational by 2027, according to the project’s official website. In the fall of 2013, a fusion experiment for the first time released more energy than was put into its fuel, according to a study published in the journal Nature in February of this year. Scientists at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) in California using an inertial confinement system blasted their target, a 0.4 inch gold cylinder containing a tiny fuel pellet of deuterium and tritium, with extremely powerful lasers. X-rays created by the lasers’ collisions with the cylinder put the fuel under tremendous pressure, causing it to implode upon itself and undergo nuclear fusion. Both the pressure and temperature
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of the fuel were, for a fraction of a second, greater than that at the center of the sun. However, most of the energy of the lasers was lost before it reached the fuel, meaning that this experimental setup would not be a cost-efficient electricity producer. NIF scientists said they will need to perfect the shape of the implosion, possibly by changing the shape of the fuel pellet, to achieve the approximately 300 gigabars of pressure (one gigabar is equal to one billion atmospheres of pressure) necessary for ignition, double the amount generated in the 2013 experiment. In October of this year, defense contractor Lockheed Martin’s famous and secretive Skunk Works division, which developed the legendary Cold War-era SR71 Blackbird and U-2 spy planes and the cutting-edge F-22 Raptor and F-35 Lightning II fighters, announced that it had preliminary designs for a compact fusion reactor. Project leader Thomas McGuire believes it will be able to build a device ten times more efficient than ITER or other, similarly designed reactors, meaning the reactor would generate the same energy in one-tenth the space. Its objective is to make a machine small enough to fit on a ship, plane, spacecraft, or the back of a truck, and similar enough to conventional power-generation equipment that it could be easily adopted using the current electrical grid. Lockheed has set an aggressive timeline, estimating a prototype of the 100-megawatt reactor will be ready in five years. A for-profit company’s entrance into the fusion landscape signals a growing confidence in the eventual payoff of
The Skunk Works
Science and Technology
Fusion produces 10 million times as much energy per kilogram of reactant than do fossil fuels, making it incredibly efficient. fusion technology. Nevertheless, scientists say they cannot evaluate how significant Lockheed’s thinking is until the company releases its theoretical calculations or, after a prototype is built, experimental data. Because of its low fuel consumption and large energy output, fusion has numerous applications beyond electricity generation, including powering future spacecraft. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and its contractors do not believe current rocket engines are sufficiently powerful to efficiently propel manned missions to other planets in the solar system or to other stars. One of the projects NASA’s Innovative Advanced Concepts Program is currently funding is the Fusion Driven Rocket (FDR) being developed at propulsion company MSNW by researchers from the University of Wash-
ington. The FDR uses a metal capsule to initiate a fusion reaction, which then heats the metal, vaporizing and ionizing it. This very hot mixture is then expelled from the rocket, propelling the spaceship. According to FDR project leader John Slough, “The future of manned space exploration and development of space depends critically on the creation of a dramatically more proficient propulsion architecture for in-space transportation. A very persuasive reason for investigating the applicability of nuclear power in rockets is the vast energy density gain of nuclear fuel when compared to chemical combustion energy.” The FDR would require much less fuel than a conventional rocket engine, making the vehicle lighter and therefore much cheaper to launch. Team members calculate the FDR could cut the time need-
December 2014
ed for a manned expedition to Mars from four years to a few months. Due to the early stages in which experimental fusion reactors like ITER are currently in, cost-efficient electricity production using fusion reactors is most probably multiple decades in the future, but as a clean, safe, and near-limitless supply of energy, fusion is the most serious contender to meet the world’s long-term energy needs. As fusion reactors are miniaturized and innovative designs like the FDR are implemented, a new generation of vehicles will come into existence both on Earth and in space. The minuscule fuel consumption, massive power output, and sustainability of fusion reactors will make a breakthrough in fusion technology the most important achievement in energy science since the dawn of fossil fuels. HMR
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Failed Rocket Launch: NASA’s Problems Skyrocket
nbcnews.com
A
s the control members of the launch site get prepared, voices yell across the room and people murmur codes into their headsets. The PA announcer starts to give the final message for people to get to their stations, and the seconds tick by on the clock. The long awaited countdown begins, and the tension in the room rises. 3...2...1… blast off! The rocket launches from base, with NASA hoping to reach its final destination safe and sound. After a signal from the base, the grateful people cheer for another successful launch. With today’s technology, many people are so accustomed to success that this launch feels like what happens on an ordinary Tuesday afternoon. However, a particular rocket on October 28, 2014 did not keep to the script, joining an infamous list of the more than 30 failed launches that have occurred throughout history. According to USA Today and other news sources, an unmanned Antares commercial rocket exploded just after launching from a NASA facility on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. The rocket simply turned into what appeared to be a massive fireball in the open skies. In light of this failed launch, the United States
government must see that it is necessary to reduce NASA’s funding, allowing for more attention to be given to other issues that deserve more attention. The Antares rocket, supplied by Orbital Sciences, a company dedicated to the development and application of space technologies, was making its way to the International Space Station (ISS) to deliver supplies when it crashed. The ISS, located on a satellite in outer space, has the purpose of enabling long-term exploration of space and providing benefits to people on Earth. Orbitals Sciences has confirmed through a Twitter post and a statement that the cause of the crash was a vehicle anomaly and that the vehicle suffered a catastrophic mechanical failure. The only good news was that there were no casualties. However, this failed launch has created even more questions and concerns about the future of unmanned aerial vehicles. As technology is constantly develop-
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ing, its reliability is surprisingly lacking. The future plans of NASA might need to be reconsidered or revised. According to Bloomberg BusinessWeek, under the Obama administration NASA has endorsed commercial space flight as a financially responsible way to conduct International Space Station supply and crew-shuttle missions, freeing money for deep-space exploration and a proposed manned mission to Mars by 2025. The amount of money that goes into these spaceship launches and missions is incredibly outrageous. The government simply does not have billions of dollars to throw around. As the national debt of America continues climbing steadily, now at almost 18 trillion dollars, we must take a moment to reconsider NASA. Since 1961, there have been over 30 failed launches. Should our government be spending money on NASA missions that are risky and even prone to faltering?
“Since 1961, there have been over 30 failed launches. Should our government be spending money on NASA missions that are risky and even prone to faltering?”
Science and Technology Even though NASA provides some technological advancements in technology, these inconsistent outcomes do not warrant the extremely high NASA budget of $18.724 billion. There are multiple issues in our country that this spending can be
the financial situations of NASA and Orbital Sciences. According to economic reports regarding the stock market given by USA Today and the Dow Jones Industrial Average, shares of Orbital Sciences fell nearly 15%, from $30.41 to $25.85, in the
“Competition is already intense, and this failed launch possibly puts NASA and Orbital Sciences behind the race not only in terms of their finances but also in terms of their reputations.” used for instead, such as the hunger rate and the unemployment rate. It is interesting when people suggest that funds go to programs that improve future generations such as education, and their pleas get rejected, while the United States continues being more than willing to fund another NASA launch. Clearly, it is more important that our money goes to failed NASA missions and not to programs that prevent children from going to bed hungry or educate them, right? This NASA incident serves as another detriment to its success, and this time the spotlight will be not only on NASA but also on other major rocket technology companies like Orbital Sciences. For one thing, this failed launch severely impacted
hours following the explosion. For those that don’t realize how significant this is, think about this analogy. Pretend you put $100 into an investment, with the assumption that the value of your investment will increase over time. However, due to a catastrophe, the company you invested in falters and now instead of making a profit, you lose $15 from your investment. Likewise, another immediate disadvantage is the loss of money that resulted from losing the rocket. According to Frank Culbertson, an Orbital Sciences vice president and a former NASA astronaut who has worked aboard the space station, the amount of money lost from the rocket and the cargo capsule is in the $200 million ballpark. Even though Orbital Sciences is
http://www.missoulian.com
December 2014
a multi-billion-dollar company, this loss is a significant blow to its finances. The amount of time and work Orbital Sciences will need to regain its lost value in stocks is enormous. We’re not even talking about making a profit, but just getting back to the point where they break even. In the history of the stock market, it is extremely rare for a company to lose such a large sum of money and recover in a very short time. As a consequence, another economic issue could be that other companies might no longer be confident when working with NASA and Orbital Sciences, and might even go as far as cutting off financial relations. Competition is already intense, and this failed launch possibly puts NASA and Orbital Sciences behind the race not only in terms of their finances but also in terms of their reputations. One of the major reasons that the United States is in favor of further NASA launches and missions is greed and competition. The world we live in today revolves around money. Money is the international symbol of power and authority, and whoever has more money, has more power. The United States is in a constant race or competition with fellow countries such as Russia and China. Through NASA’s space research, the United States believes that it will get an edge over other countries. The United States wants to be the most advanced in technology and desires to be the first to find many interesting things such as life beyond Earth. However, this wish simply cannot be our priority right now. The United States should put more important matters at hand. As the saying goes, “you must learn to walk before you learn to run,” and the United States should be focusing first on issues that are in greater need of attention, such as hunger and unemployment. Once these issues are drastically improved, then the United States should proceed on with NASA missions. However, until then, the government should use its funds for the more pressing issues that impact our lives every day. HMR
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Science and Technology
Red Hot or Ice Cold?
http://www.businessinsider.com
America’s Delicate Waltz With Antifreeze By Timothy Hoang
R
ecent news about the recall of Fireball Whiskey has spread and has brought to light the common use of propylene glycol in a variety of foods. In Europe, certain amounts of propylene glycol, a key component of antifreeze, are prohibited in food and drink. In the United States, on the other hand, the FDA views propylene glycol as “generally safe” for use in foods. Not to be confused with each other, there are two types of propylene
glycol: the pharmaceutical-grade, used in foods and the industrial grade, used in antifreeze. Europe’s stricter guidelines concerning the recommended level of pharmaceutical propylene glycol were broken when Fireball inadvertently shipped a supply intended for North America, to Finland, Sweden and Norway. Because the shipment was intended for the United States, the levels of propylene glycol were considerably higher than the amount ap-
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proved by health officials in the European Union, prompting an immediate response from the EU. Due to this error, Fireball Whiskey, as a product, has received significant backlash from European countries concerning a violation of the health guidelines. Fireball’s distributor, Sazerac, has also come under heavy criticism for their negligence of EU restrictions. Be that as it may, the exposure of the presence of this potentially toxic additive has garnered a
Science and Technology lot of attention to an ingredient that would have otherwise remained obscure. Fireball’s response to the incident in Europe was almost immediate with an apology that went along the lines of, “On Behalf of Sazerac, we sincerely apologise to all Fireball stockists and their customers.” However the company wasn’t very apologetic for long, and quickly fired back criticisms at the press over the use of propylene glycol. Nonetheless, Fireball Whis-
soda throughout the world and isn’t in any way unconventional. Indeed, propylene glycol is used actively in around four thousand food, beverage, pharmaceutical and cosmetic products, and has been around for the last 50 years. Through using this specific component of antifreeze, companies can enhance the taste of numerous things and therefore raise the appeal of their products. Nevertheless, the fact that propylene glycol is an essential part of an-
Despite the relative safety of propylene glycol, the negative publicity that Fireball has received will impact the company significantly. In just two years, Fireball’s sales have risen from $1.9 million to $61 million surpassing numerous competitors in its meteoric rise. Fireball’s popularity will most certainly diminish somewhat in Europe, but the fact that it has a superior taste, thanks in part to propylene glycol, means it will still remain a top competitor
“The fact that propylene glycol is an essential part of antifreeze may give people pause and perhaps cause them to reconsider their diet.” key’s website was soon adapted to include a new FAQ section that was specifically aimed towards addressing any concerns consumers might have regrading the recent negative publicity. Some examples include, “Why do we use PG (propylene glycol)?” and “Is Fireball Safe to Drink?” All of the questions are related to the use of propylene glycol in the company’s product and each is answered in detail to avoid any misconceptions that people may have, due to the sensationalized exposure of the presence of propylene glycol. Subsequently, the publicity has died down and Fireball has continued to distribute its products in countries all over the world. Still, Fireball will not go fully unscathed and their mistake will certainly have repercussions on their net revenue as well as their popularity in a number of countries. After Fireball’s exposure, there has been confusion about the true reasoning behind its use of two formulas rather than just one. The company’s response was clear and indicated the difference of health regulations enforced in Europe versus those enforced in the United States: this was the main cause of their deviation from one central, safe formula. Their response in itself brings up another question: should the EU’s regulations on the propylene glycol usage be so strict and is the need for excessive caution really necessary? Even though the FDA has approved the use of propylene glycol in foods, the European Union has cautioned against excessive amounts of the chemical. The pharmaceutical grade formula of propylene glycol is present in everyday foods and drinks including coffee, ice cream and
tifreeze may give people pause and perhaps cause them to reconsider their diet. In my opinion, this specific event has been blown way out of proportion. It was simply an inadvertent mix-up that has had no negative effects due to the harmless nature of pharmaceutical grade propylene glycol. However, Sazerac, the company that produces Fireball Whiskey, should learn from this error and take precautionary measures to prevent any such mishaps in the future. In general, Americans have accepted ingredients that enhance taste, prompting companies to take advantage by adding certain components to their products to increase the overall appeal. Propylene glycol is just one of many additives that enhance taste and shouldn’t necessarily be treated as a new threat to society.
in the liquor market. However, sales will decrease, especially in Finland and Sweden, where the drink was abruptly taken off store shelves. Sazerac will probably view the setback as minor or even possibly negligible because sales in other countries around the world are still going strong. Personally, I believe that the recall in three different countries of this popular drink will barely affect the established company in terms of revenue. There never really was any danger with the minor mix-up but it just so happened that regulations in the United States and in Europe were different on the subject of propylene glycol. Nevertheless, Sazerac should recover quickly if not immediately, as a result of all of the publicity, ironically brought about by their violation of EU health guidelines. HMR
https://boozedancing.wordpress.com
December 2014
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Science and Technology
London Crime Prediction tt i w k n a eY
i h t Ru
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ondon’s Metropolitan Police System recently completed a twenty-week study of a new system that could be used to accurately predict whether or not specific gang members will be likely to commit violent crimes. Although the way in which this system works could be seen as police intrusion of privacy, it is important to balance the personal privacy needs of individuals with the overall safety of the community. Although privacy groups have been concerned with how the police will share information about this software and its invasion on the privacy of the public, this system using information already obtained by the MPS and social media information. The community should understand how important their safety is, rather than be concerned about “intrusions” on their privacy. Before they launched their trial of the system, the MPS looked at and analyzed data on London gangs in 32 boroughs for four years to see what members were most likely to commit or participate in
acts of violence. This information was then compared to the crimes and violence that was actually committed. The MPS said that this experiment had accurately predicted future crime and those who would be committing these acts. Mr. Janoowalla, head of the company Accenture that developed the software, said that the company’s intention was to identify groups of gang members that were at the highest risk of reoffending rather than singling out specific individuals. This software brings together data from systems that the MPS is already using and runs it through an analytics engine. The software has the capability to look at geography, past offenses, associations with other criminals, and social media postings. An MPS spokesman has said that the system could be used to analyze and record threats or negative comments made by gang members on social media. This system will function by cross-referencing criminal records gathered by the MPS with information from social media sites.
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This will then allow the police to be able to give the MPS accurate and numerous details about gang members. Janoowalla has also said that this information can be used to measure individual gang members’ aggressive acts. Basically, the software is merging data from existing systems used by the MPS and predicts the gang violence. The lack of publicly shared information from the MPS about this system is bothering privacy groups in London, who feel that this study will be using mass surveillance to intrude on public privacy rights. Big Brother Watch, which is a United Kingdom privacy organization, has said that these types of programs “run the risk of unfairly targeting certain groups of people” and will be unfairly stigmatizing these people. Many arguments have been made similar to this one; for example, the NSA surveillance systems in the United States, and New York City’s stop and frisk program. Although these programs run the risk of targeting minority groups or intruding on the privacy of these people,
Science and Technology it is important for the police to balance the privacy concerns with the general safety of the community. The police would be given a huge responsibility if they were allowed to use this software. They should be able to work appropriately to ensure that the information obtained from this software is accurately finding criminals and not targeting specific individuals. A majority of this software uses social media networks to access data about these gang members in order to then predict the crimes. Information on the majority of social media networks is not private, and often can be publicly viewed from a Google search or searching on the site itself. This aspect of the software should not be seen as intrusion on privacy. The police would also not be accessing information about individuals not related to the violence and crimes, so it is unnecessary to argue over that aspect of the software. The goal of this system is to provide the London community with new safety procedures and to improve the general well being of the community. These privacy groups seem to be disregarding these goals, and solely focusing on the supposed breach in private information. This information from the social media networks would help the MPS achieve this goal of communal safety, and this safety should be more important than individual privacy concerns.
The controversy over using this software in London should not be about if it is invading the privacy of these individuals. The debates should rather be coming from the idea whether or not the police are responsible enough and can be trusted to use this information appropriately in reducing and controlling the violence in London. The correspondence of the general well being of the London community and the individual’s private information is important; however, none of that will matter if the police abuse this software and their control of it. Big Brother Watch has asked that more information about this system and the police’s use of it be made available to the public. “The police need to be very careful about how they use this kind of technology,” said research director Daniel Nesbitt. “Big data solutions such as this can run the risk of unfairly targeting certain groups of people and potentially making them feel stigmatized as a result. The Metropolitan Police must ensure that they are fully transparent about how they intend implement this technology and what type of information will be used in the process.” As Nesbitt said, these systems could potentially be biased and unfairly look at specific groups of people. MPS should be able to control its use of this technology in order to effectively reduce crime rates in London. By targeting certain groups
of people, the police would be abusing this technology and not resolving the original problem that the set out to complete. If the police release more information about the topic, it could assist in general security and positive opinions from groups such as Big Brother, but also the community. By changing the public’s view on the software, it could majorly improve how effectively it is used. The MPS will be given a huge responsibility if they eventually decide to permanently implement this software. They must be able to appropriately use it so that the initial goal of stopping and reducing gang violence can be accomplished. There are many concerns about invasions on privacy and private information, however when the individual privacy concerns are compared to the safety of the public, it is more important to insure the safety of the community in London. It is important to understand that the public and civil concern groups be aware of not just the privacy concerns, but also the responsibility that the MPS will have. As suggested by Nesbitt, the police need to be transparent in its use of this software and technology. The police also need to be able to inform the communities about its effectiveness. If the MPS are able to increase the community’s opinion of its system, it can and will improve their willingness to comply and give the system a chance to do its job. HMR
“If the MPS are able to increase the community’s opinion of its system, it can and will improve their willingness to comply and give the system a chance to do its job.” December 2014
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