14. September 2009 by student.

Have you ever thought about how Drinking and Driving is one of our biggest social problems? In my opinion drunk driving is a huge problem in the United States.  It seems that our culture today has allowed us to drink and drive. Most colleges today have shuttles or some type of bus that runs late around the hot spots, but not all colleges have that. I ask myself if our society really want to stop so many young adults getting behind the wheel while being intoxicated then there should be a law that all schools should have some type of late bus running. Studies done by Buikhusien and Jongman have proved that while a person increases in BAC Level, there vision is impaired dramatically. For example they found that when you are driving under the influence you will look more at the center of the road and neglect your peripheral view, which is very important. Even though in high school and colleges they stress for students to not drink and drive with different events and seminars, drinking and driving for high school and college students is part of the norm. It is proving that drivers under the influence have a slower time reading and interpreting street signs. According to the CDC, in one year the economic cost of alcohol related accidents is over forty billion dollars. Wow, just imagine the money we could be saving if we just stop the amount of young adults who drink and drive. This is a social problem because with our economy this money could b going towards something useful for our society. In 2008, 875 people died in Florida due to alcohol related crashes. (NHTSA) In the United States Drunk Driving is the leading cause of criminal death. As you can see this is one of our biggest social problems and something needs to be done in order to stop these numbers from increasing in future years.

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13. September 2009 by student.

A big issue today is the idea of global warming and all of it’s possible side effects. Along with this issue is an equally large discussion about how to minimize our carbon footprint in various ways such as renewable energy, responsible use of resources, and maintaining the planet’s forests (which largely contribute to the filtering of greenhouse gasses).  In particular, the Amazon rainforest is a carbon sink (reduces carbon in the atmosphere) for about 2 billion tons of CO2 per year. This shows that the Amazon is an incredible resource in the battle for climate control, however, from May 2000 to August 2006, the country of Brazil lost nearly 150,000 square kilometers of Amazon - that’s an area larger than Greece. At this rate we will destroy one of our greatest assets in no time and push the planet that much closer to the tipping-point. Most people know about this issue and advocate saving the rainforest, but there is an aspect that many may not consider.

Imagine for a moment that you are a farmer with a family. You are a cattle rancher that has never done anything but work with cattle since you were a small boy. As of right now your farm is just barely scraping by, but you could increase your yield by 50% if you expand your land by 40 acres. This is a simple enough task that requires a purchase of the land by loan and then clearing it and spreading prairie grass seed. After this initial work the land will require little maintenance and eventually will pay for itself in extra profit. Most importantly though, it will insure that you and your family will by provided for and not have to live hand to mouth.

Now imagine that you’re a twenty year old man who is the provider for his mother and younger siblings as well as for his new wife. Employment prospects are thin and even the available jobs do not pay enough to provide adequate supplies for your family. The best job in town is with a foreign logging company that pays twice the local wages and ensures constant work. It’s hard work for long hours, but the money not only pays for the necessities, but also allows for some extra to be saved up. The job is ideal and the best one could hope to get.

I hope that these two situations illustrate my point well enough. The Amazon and forests like it are crucial for our battle against greenhouse gasses, and the deforestation of these areas needs to be addressed, but the matter isn’t as easy as simply stopping. We’re trying to get people to stop cutting down these forests by telling them that there will be consequences in ten years, while they are in a position to face consequences of inaction as soon as next week. Many of the deforestation is done by many small farmers working to feed their families, or by men working for larger corporations to do the same. This isn’t a matter of carbon footprints and greenhouse gasses to them, it’s a matter of food on the table and a roof to live under. There is a demand in the world for beef and lumber, and these men will supply these things regardless of forest protection laws, not out of a sense of malice, but because it’s how they can support themselves. I don’t feel that I’m equipped to suggest an alternative way to stop deforestation, but I’d like to submit this to you as an example of how “just don’t let them chop” as a policy just isn’t going to work in this situation.

Source: www.Mongabay.com

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9. September 2009 by student.

          Have you ever thought what it would be like if Marijuana was legalized? Would young teenagers still have the thrill of doing this drug?  I think that if this drug was legalized then teens would not feel the peer pressure that they need to fit in with everyone else, like what most of them feel today. There are many good things that could come from this legalization. A Harvard professor Jeffrey Miron estimates that the amount of savings and profits combine could be nearly 12 billion dollars. Between the enforcement that we currently have which is costing us nearly 6 billion and the amount of taxes we could impose could be similar to the tax we have on alcohol to create another 6 billion in profits every year. I think a good relationship to compare this to is alcohol. In other countries there is no drinking age. To us we think that is insane, that everyone would be drunk at young ages and not make responsible decisions. Well when I was in Europe this past year I was curious to see that to the Europeans they don’t really have the same feelings toward alcohol as we do. To them it’s just like being able to drink Gatorade. You do not see kids out of control like you would think. Could marijuana be the same way as alcohol in these other countries, where no one would care to do it as much because it is apart of everyday life.  We will never really know the real answer until it happens. These are all the positives to legalization of marijuana.

                Some negative aspects to the legalization of this drug could be the increase in the amount of people actually doing this drug. One thing that worries me is that obviously marijuana is not healthy for you and that our country could become dysfunctional. People might not work as hard, and the amount of accidents like alcohol related incidences could increase. In all, this is an extremely tough decision that the government needs to think about. You never know because the way our country is struggling economically, that extra cash could be very helpful.  

US News articles 

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8. September 2009 by student.

Before one can chew, spit out, and find a solution (or try to) to a social problem, it must be defined, as to set a standard.  Although, as times goes by, and the roles within ‘families’ changes, according to Webster Dictionary Online, one of the definitions for family is: a group of individuals living under one roof and usually under one head.  Family, as we have seen (especially on our time), changes although the time, and to “extremes”.  Families are no longer define as just blood related individuals (where the home is usually patriarch), but of different individuals who share a common values (families of same-sex parents or a set of single mothers).  The one thing that is kept constant in a family, and that must always be understood and/or acknowledge, is that family values can influence greatly its member, who in turn affect society.  This is to say, that for example, a child that grows up in a hostile environment, where violence is common place, may develop the same feelings as he or she grows up, and become dangerous individuals to society. As shown by the many stats stated in our book (Contemporary Social Problems by Parrillo), the increased in divorced in American families, children of divorce parents are more likely to follow such ethics, 1/3^rd of all US birth’s occur among unmarried women, and over 2 million wives are beaten annually.  These are one of the few effects of poor families values, or an increased in violence in households; this shows how a poor environment at home, can affect an individual in life, which in turn causes (as I said before) the individual to act hostile toward society (this becomes a chain reaction for example, from father to son).

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