8. April 2010 by student.

The United States has the highest legal drinking age in the world. In the United States of America the legal drinking age is 21 years of age. Most countries allow people to drink at 16 or 18 years of age. Even though the drinking age is 21 the US young adults still find a way to get around these laws. One of the biggest reasons their is  debate about the drinking age is because when 18 year old kids get to college they have had very little experience with alcohol and all of a sudden they are surrounded by it, and start binge drinking. Being a college student under the age of 21 this is a personal issue to me being under 21 has never stopped me from drinking before as it hasn’t for so many other underage kids. My parents raised me to have a glass of wine with dinner starting at a young age by them doing this I had some experience of alcohol by the time I got to college, and when I got to college I didn’t abuse it by binge drinking. This is public matter because it affects everyone. It effects everyone under the age of 21 it also effects every other driver on the road  if the drinking age is lowered there is a possibility that they will drink and drive which affects everyone that drives. During the Vietnam War era, 29 states lowered the drinking age to 18, reasoning that thousands of men and women were dying for their country without even having the right to drink legally. Within a short time, the lower drinking age resulted in a significant increase in alcohol-related traffic fatalities so they raised the legal age back to 21. How are we socialized to responded to this issue? If you are under 21 you are probably going to respond by being for lowering the drinking age. If your over 21 you may be opposed to this issue because it is against the norms that people over 21 are accustomed to. With these norms and values that we are accustomed to lowering the drinking age in the U.S. would be a social shock, but sometimes what we need is a shock to head in the right direction.

Posted in Introduction to Sociology | 3 Comments »

8. April 2010 by student.

Seal hunting or “sealing” is only practiced in five countries: Canada, Norway, Greenland, Russia and Namibia, but remains a controversal issue. Canada has the largest sealing industry and most of it is sold to Norway. Most of the seals that are hunted are harp seals and it is now illegal to kill newborn hapr seals or “whitecoats.” Hunting in Canada is ancient and has been going on for nearly 4,000, but in recent times it has become a social issue. Is it ethical to hit seals over the head with a small club in order to obtain meat and their fur?

Sealing is the third largest sport in Canada. In 2003, the three-year harp seal quota granted by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans was increased to a maximum of 975,000 animals per three years, with a maximum of 350,000 animals in any two consecutive years. In 2006, 325,000 harp seals, as well as 10,000 hooded seals and 10,400 grey seals were killed. An additional 10,000 animals were allocated for hunting by Aboriginal peoples. The current Northwest Atlantic harp seal population is estimated at 5.6 million animals.  The seals are killed in two ways: they are either shot or struck on the head with a hakapik, is a spiked club.Although around 70 percent of Canadian seals killed are killed on “The Front,”private monitors focus on the St. Lawrence hunt, because of its more convenient location.The 2006 St. Lawrence leg of the hunt was officially closed on Apr. 3, 2006. Sealers had exceeded the quota by 1,000 animals by the time the hunt was closed.

Warm winters in the Gulf of St. Lawrence have led to thinner and more unstable ice there. In 2007, Canada’s federal fishries ministry reported that while the pups are born on the ice as usual, the ice floes have started to break up before the pups learn to swim, causing the pups to drown.Canada reduced the 2007 quota by 20%, because overflights showed large numbers of seal pups were lost to thin and melting ice. However in southern Labrador and off Newfoundland’s northeast coast, there was extra heavy ice in 2007, and the coast guard estimated that as many as 100 vessels were trapped in ice simultaneously.The 2010 hunt was effectively canceled because the winter was so warm. Around the Gulf, harp seals arrived in late winter to give birth on near-shore ice rather than in their usual habitat. Also, seal pups born elsewhere began floating to shore on small, shrinking pieces of ice. Many others stayed too far north, out of reach of all but the most determined hunters. 2010 was the worst seal year since 1981. Environment Canada, the weather forecasting agency, reported that the ice was at the lowest level on record.

 With all this, Canada has become the center of the sealing debate. Most say that sealing is animal cruetly. The weapon used the kill the seals, the hakapik, supposedly kills the seals quickly and painless. However there are doubts. .” A study, conducted by the IFAW, details that ”42% of cases where there was not enough evidence of cranial injury to guarantee unconsciousness at the time of skinning, and 79% of cases where sealers did not check to ensure that the seals were dead prior to skinning them.” There was talk of having the sealers use guns in order to kill the seals, but it was concluded that the hakapik killed the seals quicker. However if the sealer used the tool incorrectly; it could leave with seal with immense suffering and a painful death.

Sealing is a huge market and in 2004 the industry produced about 16.5 million dollars. Opponents of sealing say that the 16.5 million is insignificant due to the amount of money it takes to support and subsidize the industry. Also, the Newfoundlad fishing industry was much more successful, producing more that 600 million dollars. Also, Sealers admit that the annual hunt only provides them with a 3rd of their annual income.

It is also consider wrong or unethical to buy real fur for clothing. Adovcates like PETA support faux fur and that comes with it’s own debate. Seals are killed mostly for their fur and sometimes their meat. With such a small market we have to ask ourselves if it’s really worth it. Is it worth to go out on pieces of floating ice and hunt defenseless seals? They have feelings too and it’s insane that they consider sealing a sport. They’re live creatures! After researching this I have come to the conclusion that is not worth it to hunt seals. The industry is small, compared to something like the fishing industry, and it serves such a small population of people.

Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments »

8. April 2010 by student.

For years Adderall has been known to help the people who have hard times focusing. It has became the life saver of those with A.D.D. or A.D.H.D. They were able to concentrate and continued to stay focused through long activities. Who would of thought that within a couple of years this drug would become a big hit with people who don’t have this disorder. There are tons of reasons why a person takes these medications who don’t have this disorder. One reason being is obviously the focus time. For the ones who aren’t prescribed this medication, began to realize that they had an opposite react to the medication then a person with A.D.D would react on it. Mostly meaning instead of calming them down like it should, it gave them a great deal of energy for staying up late at night, finish work up and study for a test. People would go to their doctor and say the symptoms they found online for A.D.D so they could easily get the prescription. The doctors had no idea their patients were lying to them because tests for A.D.D/A.D.H.D are mostly verbal questions and interviews.
Is this okay?
NO. The pill seems harmless, but mixed with drinking and partying it can be some what like cocaine. Looking up somethings about Adderall usage from non A.D.D/ A.D.H.D people I found this little passage on collage students at The University of Pennsylvania. A student explained that when she uses Adderall to study she takes it orally, but when she takes it before a night out, she will snort it. She snorts it the same way and for the same reasons as someone would snort the drug cocaine. Cocaine, like Adderall, causes an increase in energy, decreased appetite, and an increased heart rate. The difference between cocaine and Adderall is that cocaine is highly illegal and Adderall is becoming increasingly available. Although cocaine is a much more dangerous drug, Adderall is like a weaker version, which is just as scary (wikidot.com).
As well on wikidot.com I found out that one out of ever five student that use Adderall don’t have a prescription for it. For someone like me having A.D.D the effect I get from taking Adderall is nothing like the effect a person will get that doesn’t have A.D.D, I will never feel what they do. I think that Adderall if a very strong drug and pharmacies believe it or not are very strict in how they handle the drug and your prescriptions. It is a class 2 drug which means it is kept locked up. A doctor can’t fax the prescription to the pharmacies so you have to go pick up each month a prescription from your doctor and bring it to your pharmacy. For me to go through all that work to get this drug I can see why this is looked at to be a weaker version of cocaine.
So wouldn’t that put it under abusive drug taking?

Cite:
http://christialbertadderall.wikidot.com/adderall-and-college-students

http://adhd.emedtv.com/adderall/adderall-abuse.html

Posted in Introduction to Sociology | 2 Comments »