A debate on the death penalty

Debate Host: Ladies and gentlemen, we are gathered here to see what these men before you think of the death sentence. Is it just? Is it unjust? Who should be the one that decides whether someone deserves it or not? Let us see what these men have to say about it. Host: So, what do you gentlemen think about the effectiveness of the death penalty on the crime rates in America? Mr. Alex: The death penalty inspires fear of doing a crime in a potential criminal's heart. Because of this fear, it is most likely that the criminal will not even commit a crime. Dr. Osborne: Mr. Alex, there is no proof that this is true. I have not yet seen any tangible proof that the death penalty lowers crime rates. Mr. Alex: This is not a topic which can easily yield tangible evidence. Dr. Osborne: I beg to differ. If we saw, for example, without doing anything else, a drop in crime rates, this would mean the death sentence is working. Mr. Alex: But this could also mean other things. Maybe the drop just happens. For example, a person would steal water if he/she was in a drought. If I then instate the death penalty, and it happens to rain the next month, then obviously the crime rates involving theft of water would drop, and it would not be due to the death penalty. Dr. Osborne: So if there is no evidence, then why have the death penalty at all. Host: O.K. gentlemen, this leads us in to the

  • Word count: 663
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Miscellaneous
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Personal statement- Engineering. My determination to study engineering, especially mechanical engineering, stems from an early curiosity to learn how machines work. I satisfy this by watching documentaries, searching the web and by delving

Engineering through time has developed and shaped the world that exists today whereby the human quality of life is improved due the ingenious solutions thought out by engineers to solve complex problems. Being at the forefront of shaping the future and being a part of such a significant community strengthens my aspiration to become an engineer. My determination to study engineering, especially mechanical engineering, stems from an early curiosity to learn "how machines work". I satisfy this by watching documentaries, searching the web and by delving into any old gadgets which I can lay my hands on. Having explored various devices, from cassette players to remote controlled cars, has only motivated me further to learn what it takes to design and manufacture them. Furthermore, Physics has given me an understanding of the basic principles governing the natural world, while maths has provided me with the means of modelling real life situations; a combination of both has not only improved my problem solving skills but helped me to explain the world around me. For example, whilst pointing a pair of 3D glasses at a LCD TV I noticed that rotating them caused the image on the screen to change intensity, using the physics I had learnt I was able to reach the conclusion that the glasses had a Polaroid filter in them and the light from the TV must be polarised. I believe this skill of

  • Word count: 667
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Miscellaneous
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Travel Journal to Australia

Travel Date July 16, 2007 Day 1 of my journey Starting destination: New York, New York, USA Ending destination: Sydney, NSW, Australia Activity/Site #1: JFK International Airport What did you learn? Write facts about history, culture, geography, and government you remember. * JFK is located in the southeastern section of Queens County, New York City, on Jamaica Bay. It is fifteen miles by highway from midtown Manhattan. * JFK consists of 4,930 acres, including 880 acres in the Central Terminal area. * JFK consist of eight terminals. * JFK was originally known as Idlewild Airport. The name was changed on December 24, 1963 after the death of John F. Kennedy. * JFK is the busiest international aiport in the United States. Activity/ Site #2: Boeing 747 What did you learn? Write facts about history, culture, geography, and government you remember. * The 747-400 wing weighs 95,000 pounds. * For a typical international flight, one 747 operator uses about 5.5 tons of food supplies and more than 50,000 in-flight service items. * The 747-400ER can carry more than 63,500 gallons of fuel. * The 747 fleet has flown 3.5 billion people - the equivalent of more than half of the world's population. * The 747-400 tail height is 63 feet 8 inches. Dear Journal, July 16, 2007 Today, July 16, 2007, I am leaving the United States for Australia. I am excited

  • Word count: 8816
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Miscellaneous
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Why did the desegregation of schools become a major problem in the USA in the 1950s?

Why did the desegregation of schools become a major problem in the USA in the 1950's? Segregation was a policy employed by the Supreme Court. In 1896 the "Jim Crow Laws" ruled that all life for both races would be "separate but equal. Schools, hospitals and public transport were all segregated. However, black facilities were usually inferior. This was challenged by the Linda Brown case. This was helped by the NAAC, which were a group reacting to this. Many of its members were white. This meant that black people had a pressure group. In 1954, a man called Oliver Brown wanted his daughter Linda to go to the nearer Topeka school which was for white children. He took this to the Supreme Court, which led to the Supreme Court ruling that desegregated was illegal. Chief Justice Earl Warren said that the constitution was "colour blind" on 19th May 1954. However, there were many problems regarding the desegregation of schools following this. However, there were many problems in desegregating schools. Especially in the south, people were more likely to listen to the state government than the Federal government. This was because state laws were often more racist as governors in the south were white, mostly with racist views and kept segregation in school. As people in the south believed in white supremacy schools were more likely to follow state laws, rather than the Federal

  • Word count: 1163
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Miscellaneous
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Travel options to Paris and Manhattan

-1- Elliott Pateman A03 In this task I will analyse the choice of methods to travel to around two destinations. The destinations I have chosen are Disneyland Paris and Manhattan, New York. To do this I will have to carry out both primary and secondary research. Primary research involves getting original data directly about the product and market. Primary research data is data that did not exist before. It is designed to answer specific questions of interest to the customer - for example: What do customers think of an alternative to a popular travel route? To collect primary data I must carry out field research. The main methods of field research are: Face-to-face interviews - interviewers ask people on the street or on their doorstep a series of questions. Telephone interviews - similar questions to face-to-face interviews, although often shorter. Online surveys - using email or the Internet. This is an increasingly popular way of obtaining primary data and much less costly than face-to-face or telephone interviews. Questionnaires - sent in the post (for example a customer feedback form sent to people who have recently bought a product or service). Focus groups and consumer panels - a small group of people meet together with a "facilitator" who asks the panel to examine a product and then asked in -2- depth questions. This method is often used when a business

  • Word count: 6296
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Miscellaneous
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how desirable is censorship?

How desirable is censorship? Most people think that censoring materials is going against people's right to information and press but in some cases censorship is unavoidable. Censorship is the suppression or deletion of material which may be considered objectionable, harmful or sensitive, as determined by a censor. But it is an arguable topic on who gets to censor materials and the criteria for a material not to be censored. Mainly censorship is done on three bases: materials regarding national security, liable materials which can damage an individual's or a firm's dignity and reputation and finally material that is obscene materials such as pornography. When it comes down to the security of a nation from attacks by terrorist and other countries, it is obvious that the material which put it in jeopardy is bound to be censored. Materials like maps of secret location like the Whitehouse and other government areas of most of the countries are censored on Google earth and out of reach of the local population because it provides an easy access for the terrorists as they will be able to view those places and plan their attacks. Other official papers also like of those of research done by a country and military tactics is censored because the linkage of the information may turn out to be a huge problem for a country. So these types of censoring are justified and are reasonable. But

  • Word count: 1008
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Miscellaneous
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The Presence of Telekinesis

The Presence of Telekinesis Stephen King, one of the most noted authors of today's times shot to fame with his classic novel titled 'Carrie', a book, which illustrates the life of a teenaged girl who happens to have mastered telekinetic powers. Well keeping in mind his style of writing it ended up being a horror story but in reality telekinesis, also called psycho-kinesis, is far from a fanciful horror story. Telekinesis or Psychokinesis (PK) refers to moving objects from one place to another without using physical contact. It also means re-shaping of objects using the mind's energies, such as bending a spoon, or key, by just holding it and focusing. Psychokinesis comes from the Greek words psyche meaning life or soul and kineisis meaning to move. Physical energy is created by electromagnetic impulses while universal life force energy, or psychic energy, is called 'Chi'. In telekinesis one taps into 'Chi' energy and then combines it with physical energy. Everyone has the potential to be able to be telekinetic. There are different things that can have a sort of psychotropic affect on the brain. This simply means that certain stimuli affect the mental activity and behaviour perception of people. Even stress and abuse can cause one to cultivate certain psychokinetic abilities. These should not be confused with the symptoms of mental illnesses. The brain is the hardware

  • Word count: 1040
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Miscellaneous
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Leisure Studies- Unit 5- A03

Unit 5- A03 Research Into And Analysis Of The Implications Of Changing Lifestyles And The Age Structure Of The Population For The Leisure Industry. People's lifestyles are constantly changing all of the time. Sometimes it can be to do with personal situations or the facilities that are on offer to them in their local area and this depends on where different people live as well. The government have created a white paper. A white paper is an authoritative report or guide that often addresses problems and how to solve them. White papers are used to educate readers and help people make decisions. They are used in politics and business. They can also be a government report outlining policy1. The white paper that the government has drawn up states what the government wants to achieve in the near and far future. The government have also released something called "choosing activity" and this is the government's action plan for improving the health of the nation and its activity levels. 'It pledges to achieve 50% participation in physical activity and sport by 2011 and 70% by 2020'2. Within this assignment I will be talking about the needs and changing lifestyles of the age of the nation and how this affects the leisure industry. '95% of people know that physical activity is important to their health. Unfortunately, only 28% of people know they should be doing at least 30 minutes

  • Word count: 3818
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Miscellaneous
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Children are active in constructing their own learning.

Children are active in constructing their own learning. To what extent do the four theories in Chapter 2 'Theories of development' support this statement? It is important to recognise that both the idea of children and their development changes throughout history and cultures. For many years, psychologists have devised, debated and provided us with many theories about child development. These theories can assist adults when making decisions that affect children by allowing us to have some understanding of their behaviour and development. This essay will examine 4 theories, Behaviourism, Social Learning Theory, Constructivism and Social Constructivism, which have been influential to explaining children's learning. I will then compare to what extent each theory views children as active in constructing their own learning. The idea that we can 'shape' children can be found as far back as the 17th and 18th centuries, Locke's (1632-1704) tabula rasa discourse believed that children are born as blank slates and we could teach them by setting good examples and rewarding appropriate behavior. In a similar way, Behaviourism was one of the first attempts to explain child development, focusing only on observable behaviours and disregarding mental events. Behaviourists believed that learning was no more than a change in behaviour often referred to as conditioning. There are two

  • Word count: 2165
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Miscellaneous
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20th Century Genius Award

20th Century Genius Award HUM 102 Intro to Humanities: Renaissance to Present A nominee for the 20th Century Genius Award should be Riley B. King. King has had an integral part in the history of the blues style of music since the mid 1950s. The manner in which he plays his guitar, Lucille, and his voice are very distinguishable. His style of instrumentation has carried over to other genres of music as well. He is hail as the reigning king of the blues. Most blues guitar solos will have some of the recognizable King inspired bent notes. Riley B. King, better known as B. B. King, was born September 16, 1925 to a family of poor sharecroppers in Mississippi. King's artistic contribution to the 20th century is music, most notably the Blues. In the blues arena, he is probably one of the greatest and most respected guitarists in the history of the genre. When one hears the name B. B. King, the music of the blues immediately comes to mind. His musical motivation came from the music in his church. At first, Riley wanted to become a gospel singer. The pastor in his church taught him the basics of guitar. He then became a self taught guitarist by using instruction books he ordered through the mail. Since his arrival on the scene in the mid 1940s, King has been the definition of blues for the world wide audience. In his youth, he would play his guitar on street corners for dimes.

  • Word count: 1109
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Miscellaneous
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