Topic Proposal

- I will discuss the issue of corruption in the legal system and discuss the issues of innocent people being convicted of the death penalty.

- The problem is that many people in the United States as well as other countries have been convicted of a crime or put on death row and then later evidence has proven that they were in fact innocent. This problem is a very big issue because it is dealing with the lives of people.

- The solution is that there need to be DNA testing and strict regulations so that only few people will ever receive the death penalty and when they do, it is becuase they were in fact guilty.

- The justification is that if there are stircter laws regarding the death penalty and DNA testing before hand, there will be little discripency.

-The position of anti- death penalty will be use din this paper, because the people against hte death penalty argue against it and one of their main reasons for beign against it is that the court is not always fair or right in their decisions.

- SOme concerns I have are if my policy is strong enough or how I am going to formulate a policy stronger than the one the that is used today.

The policy I think that needs to be changed at USC is that I think besides just having secruity guards in the dorms at night after 12, I also think they should have secruity guards who walk with students to the garage at night. Because of the number of incidents where people have been held up at gun point in the garages and been robbed I think it would be a good idea for their to be at least one security guard who walks with students to the garage and from the garage. The security guard could take more than one student at a time and I really don't think it would be that difficult. It is true that their are camera's in the garage but that doesn't stop someone from robbing students, and the red blinking light things are useful but by the time a student reaches one it may be too late, and what if a student isn't near one when they get approached? The current policy of security guards in the dorms late at night, camera's, and the push-call system are all good ideas and have benefits however, I just feel that more needs to be added to the system because things are still happening. I think authorities have not come up with the security guard walking students to the car idea because they think it will be a hassale, however I don't think it would be. The only place they would haave to walk students is to the garage because that is an enclosed area that is often times targeted. It is dark and closed off and normallly there arne't many people nearby. I think the policy could be perfected a little more by adding a security guard that walks students to their cars.

free write

I have always kind of been apathetic towards gay/lesbian rights. This issue has never really bothered me or effected me and so therefor I never really thought of my stance on the issue. I sort of always had the mindset of as it doesn't really matter to me because it doesn't effect me. That was until a girl at my school who had always been really friendly and had a lot of friends came out that she was gay. After she had gotten up enough courage to tell everyone, in return everyone quickly distanced theirselves from her and slowly began making jokes about her. That's when I realized it is important to have opinions on issues, even if they don't affect you presonally because they effect other people. This girl had never done anything wrong to any of the people making fun of her and her lifestyle wasn't affecting them. So after this I decided that I felt that people who are gay are still people and should still be respected. I learned that just because something doesn't affect me is no reason not to have feelings on the issue and that it is selfish to just agree with everyone around you.

SWA #11

The articles that I feel are the most credible on homelessness are "Four Corners Best Answer on Homeless" and "What Did Not Work: Effort to Centralize Homeless services." I picked these two articles because in the first one the writer is an active member of the community, an executive board member, and works as a real estate developer. He seems like he has a lot of experience and expertise and therefor his opinion seems to be more valid than just some random person. The other article has a whole list of ways and plans for the homeless and it seems the writer has spent a lot of time researching the issue in order to figure out what would be the best way to handle homelessness. The less credible articles are the ones where the writer doesn't seem to have a background on the issue and is just writing their opinion. You can hold some level of credibility of an article based on who the writer is, why they are writing the article, and who they intend to read the article. Also, you can tell if it is credible based on if the writer is using facts or purely just opinion. Less credible articles is research papers may be ones that don't provide facts or statistics or is derived from a source that is not up to date or knowledgable about the topic. 

in class writing

The editorial that I think was must effective was, "Colu,bia Council Should Support Mission, Homeless." The reason i felt that this article was the most effective is because the author too a situation (homelessness) and discussed how the policies weren't being carried out but how they could be. The author discusses what City Council has been doing and not doing, which many people may not be aware of until reading this article. Then the author describes how homelessness effects the overall opinion of travelers passing through Columbia when they see the city's homelessness problem. Including this in the article is very effective becasue everyone wants people to respect the city they live in and people also want to attract more visitors and tourist into the area because that will of course bring more money into the city. This editorial incorporated the emotional feelings of not only people hwo pity the homeless but also peopel who want columbia to be respected nationwide.

SWA #10

The three editorials featured in The State newspaper have very similar ideas regarding homelessness in Columbia. However, they also use different ways of getting their point across. For instance in the first Editorial "Columbia Council Should Support Mission, Homeless," the author does not try to make his/her point discrete. The author from the very beginning tells the reader that they believe that the Columbia City Council should not deny the church from having the property rezoned so that homelessness can be handled better. This article is very much tot he point and the author tells the reader what he thinks the city council should do. In the next article 'Columbia Must Care for Homeless as Well as Bantus." the author still portrays what they feel should be the right action taken however, this article puts more of an emotional value on the issue. For instance, the author talks about issues such as alcohol and drug recovery. Also the author complains about how the city says they are going to make changed but these changes haven't happened before so why would they know? This article is more geared towards saying the city council does not carry out the actions they say they will. This article also talks about how old the problem of homelessness is and how it needs to be solved. The final editorial, "One-Stop Proposal for Area's Homeless Looks Promising," takes a more positive position in supporting the mission and discussing the positive effects the proposal will have for the city's homeless. This article was effective because sometimes people would rather read positive editorials rather than a bunch of people complaining. This article is also very informative because gives the specific facts of what the mission is trying to accomplish and what differences could be made because of it. All of these articles are written in order to be effective and get a point across however, different methods were taken. Complaining and dissing the city council could be effective in order to enrage citizens of the city and trike an emotional feeling in them, while being positive may get people to think "hey, that's a good idea." Editorials are just the authors opinion on a subject and different authors use different methods of getting these points across. These three editorials were all based on teh same issue but each author used different tactics. 

SWA #9

I agree with Williamson and feel that the word "retard" is hate speech, when used in the wrong context. I agree with her argument that for children with disabilities this word may continue to haunt them through the walls of education. For instance, if someone uses that word around a child who has a disability, they may think that they are specifically being targeted. Having physical and emotional disabilities would be hard enough as a child and is a very serious matter, especially for a child. Children with disabilities want to have as normal lives as possible and so being reminded every day that they are different than others, and that difference is something people make light of, joke about, and use to offend others cannot be anything but emotionally destructive to these children. I agree that this word should not be considered "cool" by Hollywood because then it just causes children to use this word at school in order to harm someone else's feelings.

I disagree Williamson and feel that the word "retarded" should not be considered hate speech because it is not specifically threatening towards anyone. People who use this word may go a little to far sometimes but all in all I think people do not mean to actually be offensive to those with disablities. For instance the word as sort of been changed as time as gone on and people have given the word "retarded" there own definition. For children at least it's not so much associated with people with disabilities but more to kid and pick with their friends. I don't think the people who use this word or really trying to offend children with disabilities and therefore, I don't think this word should be considered hate speech.

in class writing

The issue is whether or not Barbie is a positive image for young girls or if barbie gives girls a false idea of what they should be. The exigence of this issue is that some people believe that Barbie is a fun part of growing up that allows girls to be creative and imaginitive while others believe that Barbie makes young girls materialistic and worry too much about outward beauty and as a result causes young girls to feel very insecure.

The intended audience is probably aimed towards women who have children specifically girls or any women interested in feminism. The audience could even been young adults or older women who played with Barbie as a child and are interested in this topic.

Certain feminists and psyhcologists may view Barbie as a negative toy for young girls because it effects how they view their body image and view what's important in life. While other women who playe dwith Barbie when they were younger may have not felt this way and disagree because they feel that Barbie is just a fun toy used to strengthen young girls iamgination.

The author comes out and says that she is on the more moderate end of the argument. She feels that Barbie may be a scapegoat for American culture. She says that it's not just Barbie that should be a concern but more the ideas that our culture give children about beauty and materialistic items.

in class writing

The most interesting and intriguing think I found throughout my research thus far was the history of the death penalty. I never realized how extreme the methods that were used in the death penalty were. Another astonishing thing was that some of these harsh methods like hanging for instance our still used in certain countries. You always hear about the debate of pro death penalty and anti- death penalty but I have never really researched the topic and learned about the history. For instance I learned that the death penalty was used in ancient times for instance in B.C. It was interesting to see how some countries such as the countries of Western Europe and the United States hav made a lot of progress changing the law or process of giving the death penalty and some countries and states even abolishing the death penalty all together while some countries have not changed their method or views on the death penalty at all. It was interesting to see the case studies and compare these statistics and facts.

Topic Proposal

1. Comparing and Contrasting the Death Penalty in the United States and in other countries. The death penalty has been a form of punishment for the most heinous crimes around the world since the ancient times. Over time however, the process of Capital Punishment has changed as well as raised many questions around the world. Certain countries around the world as we as some states in the U.S have completely abolished the death penalty, while other countries still use methods most would call cruel and unusual. The debate over the death penalty is one that has become very controveral. 

2. The issue of the death penalty is one that has become a very hot and debated issue especially in American politics. Both democrats and republicans have different opinions of this idea as well as different countries have made debated, researched, and finally made decisions reagarding the death penalty. Many people find it interesting because it sparks such an emotional feeling in most people. Also, when something involves saving or destroying the lives of people it is sure to strike interest. Certain countries have steered away from the death penalty arguing that studies prove that there is no evidence that the death penalty is more effective then life imprisonment. People have also argued that what if the law process was flawed and the government took the life of the wrong person? Others on the other side argue that if someone takes the life of someone else then they no longer have the right to live. It is a very emotional subject that has caused many debates and arguments around the world. 

3. Abolitionists in America, feel that the death penalty is considered unconstitutional according to the eighth amendment. These people believe that times have changed and that it is not the governments right to take away the life of someone else. They also believe that other Westernized Countries have steered away from the death penalty and so the United States should do the same.

People in favor of the death penalty, these people argue that if someone commits a crime so horrible and offensive, that meets the ruling of the death penalty then these people no longer have the right to live. These people believe that the death penalty keeps the other citizens safe and also argue that once one has killed someone is such a way that they should not have a second chance at life.

Certain countries around the world such as communists countries have complete control of their people and feel that it is their right to control the citizens and decide whether or not they deserve the death penalty. Many of the countries have not changed as much with the times and strictly believe that the death penalty should be controlled by the government. 

4. Personally I feel that the death penalty should be abolished, at least in the United States. For instance, most people die on death row and so why would you just not sentance them to life in prison. However, I am not going to get into my opinion for or against this in my paper I'm going to focus more on the different opinions and past rulings countries and the different states have made. 

Annotated Bibliography

Annotated Bibliography

Vollum, Scott. Last Words and the Death Penalty: Voices of the  

     Condemned and their Co-Victims. New York: LFB Scholarly

     Publishers. 2008

            Vollum discusses the many crimes that have put people on death row. He does a number of case studies involving these crimes and the criminals who committed the crimes. Vollum also allows the reader to hear the last statements of both the condemned and their victims. This allows the reader to hear both sides and decide if they think capital punishment is deserved or warranted, also one is able to see what crimes in what states actually cause the court to rule in favor of the death penalty. This is important to my particular paper because I will be able to use the specific cases and compare them and get peoples opinion of the death penalty. It will also allow me to compare the opinions of the victims and of the condemned to allow the reader of my paper to determine their own thoughts regarding this topic.

 

Lu, Hong. China’s Death Penalty: history, law, and contemporary practices. New York. Rutledge. 2007

            This particular book is very helpful in describing how the death penalty works in China. It tells what types of crimes must be committed in order for the death penalty to be your punishment. It also does a nice job of giving the history of the legal system in China and how the law on the death penalty came about an dhow it has changed throughout the years. This will be helpful in order to compare and contrast how the death penalty differs state to state and country to country. Also Lu gives the characteristics of those who have received a death sentence and the process they must go through.

 

History of Death Penalty. DPIC. Washington D.C. 2009.

       

                        This website begins by discussing the early death penalty laws and where it began. Then it continues on to specifically talk about the death penalty in America and how Britain influenced America into using the death penalty as punishment. It also talks about the early and late movements people made in order to abolish the death penalty in America and how some states were successful. This website discusses the constitutionality of the death penalty, how the death penalty has become limited in the United States as well as recent developments in the death penalty today. This article will be important to my paper because it will help me discuss the differences between the death penalty in the United States and how the death penalty in other countries may work. Also it allows me to compare the death penalty among the states for instance it shows what states do not practice the death penalty as well as those who do and discusses which states use the death penalty most strictly. Another valuable piece to my paper will be the history of how the death penalty got started and which countries first used it for instance we adopted the death penalty from Britain.

           

Overview of the Death Penalty Worldwide.

     http://www.capitalpunishmentuk.org/overview.html

            This website article is very short and to the point. It discusses how the use of capital punishment has decreased worldwide it the past few years. However, it also discusses countries such as Japan, China, and North Korea and how the way they use the death penalty is much different than in other countries because some of the executions go un reported. It also gives a graph of countries that lists countries and the methods of execution and then lists the number of each used in the different countries. This website is very useful in order to compare not only how widely used the death penalty is amongst other countries but also which method of execution is more widely used in each individual country.

 

Hood, R. Death Penalty: A World Wide Prospective. Oxford University

     Press, Inc. New York, NY. 1989

            This article discusses the death penalty and how it differs and is similar worldwide. It focuses on researching and discussing which countries are tending to become more opposed to the death penalty and working toward getting rid of the death penalty as well as discussing which countries are using the death penalty more widely and expanding the use of it. It even discusses the pro’s and cons of the death penalty and construct studies to prove which method; death penalty or life in jail as a better outcome. This article is very important for my paper because it conducts country to country surveys and polls which will help me in comparing and contrasting the views and practices of the death penalty worldwide.

 

Rogers, Alan. Murder and the Death Penalty in Massachusetts.    

     Amherst. University of Massachusetts Press. 2008

            This particular article focuses on the death penalty specifically in Massachusetts. This article discuses the history of the death penalty in this state and how it has changed over the years. It also compares the death penalty in Massachusetts compared other states. It begins by illustrating the criminal procedure in colonial Massachusetts and how it has changed over time. Then near the end of the book it discusses Massachusetts move toward abolition and the criminal process after abolition. This is important for my paper because it allows me to compare the progress certain states in the United States have made compared to other countries.

           

Green, Melissa. History of the Death Penalty and Recent   

     Developments. University of Alaska Anchorage. May 2005.

            This article gives a brief description of the history of the death penalty beginning with the first recorded execution in the United States. The article discusses how the process of the death penalty spread throughout the United States and how eventually certain methods of execution were considered cruel and unusual. It cites certain Supreme Court decisions in favor of the death penalty and against the death penalty. And then the article eventually discusses the status of the death penalty in the United States and compares it in the different states. This is useful for my paper because it will help me gather information on the death penalty in the United States and help me discuss the differences that range between the states. Also I will be able to discuss how the death penalty has changed over the years.

 

F E Zimring, G Hawkins, Capital Punishment and the American Agenda.      Cambridge University Press. New York, NY. 1987. 

            This book focuses on discussing the political and social aspects of the United States that consider it to be the only Westernized Country to still have the death penalty. It compares the death penalty in America compared to in Western Europe as well as discusses the steps America has taken towards the abolition of the death penalty. This book shows facts such as statistics and specific Supreme Court cases that have lead America in the direction toward abolition. This book will be very helpful for me to use in my paper because it lists specific court cases that have molded America’s beliefs in the death penalty. It also compares America to other Westernized countries unlike the other sources that compare America to countries who still believe in the death penalty.