Conference on World Affairs Assignment

Trevor Jones

4/21/17

Per. 8

Panel #1 - Torture: Human Rights and Wrongs

1. The main theme of this panel is the controversy regarding the practice and efficiency of torture in, but not exclusively, the United States military. The panelists each voice their opinions on the efficiency, morality and effects of torture along with their own personal history and experiences regarding the topic.
2. The theme of the panel is mostly valid because it addresses a controversial and current topic, but fails to give both sides of the efficiency and morality or torture (the panelists mostly stuck to how inefficient and immoral torture is).
3. Mark Fallon makes the points in his argument that torture is immoral, inefficient, not a necessity and against America’s core values. Mark elaborates his argument by saying torture is counterproductive, often producing false information, and rapport building techniques involving psychology are much more humane and efficient ways of extracting information. Janet B. Smith seemingly mirrors Mark’s opinions and gives examples of how destructive torture is to a people and a country with her experiences in Chile and Saudi Arabia.
4. Mark Fallon served as a Deputy U.S. Marshal (2 years), an NCIS Special Agent (27 years) and a Department of Homeland Security Senior Executive (2 years), as well as the author of Unjustifiable Means, giving an inside look into the dark side of torture in the U.S. Mark Fallon presents a plethora of descriptive facts and history regarding his stance on torture, easily sufficient enough to prove his point. Janet B. Smith gathered immense information on torture though her travels to Saudi Arabia and Chile and her interactions with individuals tortured for information. Janet B. Smith offers an abundance of information regarding torture outside of the United States, sufficient enough to support her argument.
5. I believe all of the information presented in the panel was accurate, due to the immense knowledge of the topic at hand, however the information was heavily opinionated and did not give both sides of the argument. The lack of both sides of the argument would not compromise the accuracy of the information presented, though.
6. The argument is being made from the perspective of a United States law enforcer and a wealthy reporter, for all intents and purposes.
7. I believe this is a valid perspective to take the stance on torture that they have taken, and certainly have the background knowledge and history to uphold their validity.
8. There is not, in fact, a multiplicity of perspectives given. The core perspective given is how torture in inefficient, inhumane and unnecessary. Torture is a controversial enough topic that opposition to this perspective would be greatly despised.
9. The key perspective left out is how efficient and humane torture is by an individual that has been tortured for information. Though this perspective would be very difficult to attain.

The panel ended with final questions addressed to both panelists forcing them to expand on their opinions towards torture. In my opinion this was a very informational panel because it taught me a lot of history regarding torture inside and outside of the United States, and presented me with perspectives on how torture is negative in almost every way and can be substituted with much more effective and humane alternatives. This being said I would highly recommend this panel to anyone who is interested in the topic.

Panel #2 - Clues to Prehistoric Times, Found in Blind Cavefish (TED Talk)

1. The main theme of this panel is how adaptations in species of blind cave-dwelling fish can be compared through their genetic composition to find a common ancestor, in order to prove how the continents broke apart millions of years ago (Pangea).
2. This was a very brief panel, an obvious summary of a career’s worth of work, but was backed by facts and easily provable information. This being said, the theme of the panel is valid and deals with a popular current topic.
3. The sole panelist, Prosanta Chakrabarty, spoke on how adaptations in the expression of rhodopsin (the pigmentation that allows for eyesight in animals) in fish over millions of years allow for fish originally with eyesight to lose the vestigial structures (eyes) that served no purpose in the dark cave environments. The study of similar fish thousands of miles away lead to the discovery of a common ancestor between the two, leading Chakrabarty and other Ichthyologists to proof of a conjoined prehistoric continent, namely Pangea.
4. Prosanta Chakrabarty is the Associate Professor and Curator of Ichthyology at Louisiana State University, and focuses on recovering the relationships of fish in order to better understand evolutionary and geological processes. Chakrabarty has devoted over a decade of his life studying and collecting data on the topic, providing an excellent summary of his work in the panel. The information provided is just sufficient enough to clearly express his work, but vague enough to maintain audience attention and comprehension.
5. Based on the above reasoning regarding Chakrabarty’s career studies, I believe the information presented in the panel is accurate and can easily be justified with work done by other acclaimed scientists.
6. This argument is being made by a successful field studies Ichthyologist.
7. This is a valid perspective because it presents a phenomenon and then addresses it through his collected data and findings.
8. Chakrabarty addresses his perspective which is the only perspective necessary to the panel because it is exclusively his work.
9. No perspectives are left out that were not addressed in the panel.

The panel ends with Chakrabarty telling the audience about how a newly discovered extinct cave-dwelling fish may give more information regarding ancient geological processes, perfectly concluding the panel by reintroducing the main idea. I thought this was a good panel because it presented an interesting phenomena that has been thoroughly researched by Chakrabarty and his team, resulting in actual, provable, theories. I would highly recommend this panel to anyone interested in biology because it is extremely interesting to hear about new information relating adaptation in an animal’s genome to something as wide-scoped as the formation of the earth’s continents. 

Link to TED Talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sd7lvPpDDUg

The Election of 1912 | Progressive Era Video

                          by Trevor Jones, Timmy Cropanzano and Ben Deitsch

Political Figure's Influence on Reconstruction (Washington vs. Du Bios)

Trevor Jones
1/13/17
Per. 8

Washington vs. Du Bois

               Major political figures of the time, Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois both had drastically different views on how reconstruction should improve the life of blacks in the south. While Washington promotes a much more peaceful and smooth option, his plan is far too submissive and too closely resembles life as it was for blacks before to make change. The reason that I believe Du Bois offers the better plan for improvement is because it offers a much more progressive plan that enforces the rights of blacks and rejects their "alleged inferiority" as Washington's did not. Du Bois argues that is is not possible to effectively progress in society under economic lines if they are deprived of political rights and do not strive to improve themselves. Du Bois' plan also argues that the initiative of the richer and wiser black community will arouse encouragement for others to succeed. For these reasons, I believe W.E.B. Du Bois holds a much better plan for improvement. 

Gun Control Reflection (Extra Credit Assignment)

Coming from the perspective of the father of a 15 year old boy who died in the 1999 Columbine School Shooting, I imagined that gun control activist Mr. Tom Mauser would have a fairly extreme opinion about gun control and gun distribution in the United States, but his speech proved me wrong. Yes, it is true that Tom had a fairly liberal view on gun control, but it is also important to note that he is not an anti-gun activist, he in a gun control activist, therefore he can see the point of view of gun lovers and protest in a way that is somewhat neutral to his “opposition”. Before beginning his talk, Mr. Mauser explained how sensitive of a subject gun control is, which results in people dismissing it as a subject of discussion. Gun control is becoming an increasingly polarized topic for both schools of thought, making gun control harder to improve throughout the United States. Another important point to consider is how the Supreme Court reacts to the second amendment. Contrary to most conservative beliefs, the Supreme Court analyzed the second amendment to take into consideration gun control regulation programs, generally, on top of the right for citizens to bear arms. 

          This talk was specifically eye opening to me because it provided me with new pieces of evidence in support of a gun control activist’s point of view. Specifically, Tom talked about the loophole in the “Brady Bill”, which allows for purchase of guns without background checks, especially those at gun shows. Tom also offered an analogy of TSA screening in comparison to mandatory background checks for gun purchasing in the United States. The analogy goes: 40% of people get around background checks while purchasing guns in the U.S., how would you feel if the same 40% were exempt to TSA screening before boarding a plane? Previously, my opinion was split between slightly conservative and slightly liberal viewpoint on gun control, but Tom’s speech really opened up my eyes to the more liberal side of gun control (while still presenting both sides  of the argument). The fact that I can easily sympathize for Tom and his deceased son makes his persuasive speech all that much more impactful, and absolutely swayed my opinion in a way that others have not been able to. Tom’s speech was very thorough, but I still have one unanswered question: After mentioning the positives and negatives about absence and presence of gun control, what is the ideal balance between absence and presence that would result in harmony between conservative and liberal points of view on gun control. If there is an ideal balance, would this be the answer to gun control in the United States that could cut down on death and violence? 

Antebellum Era Editorial Letter

Dear Editor: 

Your publication of Excerpts from Narrative of the Life Frederick Douglass, an American Slave has truly inspired me. I am writing to voice my concern on the treatment of slaves in the colonies. 

I am an Abolitionist currently residing in Baltimore, Maryland and seen the effects of slavery on young black men and women, as well as their owners firsthand. As Douglass mentioned in his autobiography, conditions and treatment for slaves range from near equality between slave and slaveholder to an lesser treatment of slaves than that of farm animals. Although it is true, conditions in the Northern colonies are often much better than conditions in the South, I have seen my fair share of horrors. However, upon hearing of the vastly more horrid conditions of slave to slaveholder relationships in the South, I was appalled and determined to do something about it. 

First of all, the fact that babies born into slavery are taken away from their mothers upon birth is completely inhumane. In a society where human beings are bread into captivity under other human beings, family ties and friendship is everything. Without these ties, human slaves are reduced to angry workers with no recollection of love that have nothing to live for, no motives, no reason to continue working (other than the fact that they will be killed if they refuse to work). This results in a population of uneducated angry laborers who want to be free but have nobody to help them achieve this freedom in their own population. I admire Mr. Frederick Douglass for pursuing an education in order to be this achieving force, not only to educate slaves of the atrocities taking place across the country, but also the slaveholders, that they may see their flawed ways. If only word of Mr. Douglass’ autobiography spreads wide enough throughout the colonies, may the people realize their atrocious ways and change them so that all humans are created and treated equal in society. 

Sincerely, Trevor Jones 

DBQ #1 on American Identity & Unity

         

          Major events leading up to the Revolutionary War helped to define the American people as a functioning unit. Events such as the Sugar and Stamp Acts strengthened American’s hatred towards Great Britain, effectively creating a sense of identity through a mutual enemy. On top of this, public opinion was heavily swayed by propaganda written by people of high position for the purpose of unifying the American people. By the eve of the Revolution, the colonists developed a major sense of identity as Americans as expressed through economic, cultural, and political unity.

          The colonists developed a sense of their identity and unity as Americans through cultural relations created before the eve of the revolution. Hector St. John Crevecouer’s Letters from an American Farmer describes how the cultural diversity of Americans gave birth to a new cultural identity, through which “individuals of all nations are melted into a new race of men” (Doc. H). During the colonial period, immigrants were coming into the colonies from all over Europe, in order to share in the colony’s newfound prosperity and independence. Regardless of his place of origin, “He is an American” who “extinguishes all his European prejudices” in order to contribute to a growing prosperity and independence, which would be later labeled as the American identity. This strengthening of unity is described in Richard Henry Lee’s (a member of the second continental congress) letter to Arthur Lee, where he writes: “all North America is now most firmly united and as firmly resolved to defend their liberties ad infinitum against every power on earth that may attempt to take them away” (Doc. C). This passage shows that the colonies are becoming increasingly stronger and more willing to fight for their liberties due to this increase in unity. With an increase in cultural unity throughout the colonies, an American identity is able to develop by the eve of the Revolution. 

          The colonists developed a sense of their identity and unity as Americans through political relations created before the eve of the revolution. Political tension began to grow between the British government and the colonial government along with the desire for self-government in the colonies. Pieces of propaganda, such as Ben Franklin’s “Join or Die” political cartoon, published in the Pennsylvania Gazette in 1754, depicted the ‘disunited state’ of the colonies, and stressed the importance of colonial unity (Doc. A). The cartoon of the cut up snake represents the functionality of the colonies on their own, useless, versus the functionality that the predator could possess if joined (i.e. if the colonies were united as one). Pieces of propaganda, such as this, were very successful in uniting the colonies in this time of conflict. Additionally, Edmund Burke’s “Notes for Speech in Parliament” describes how the idea of Great Britain governing an entire continent the way that they govern one of their own Towns is preposterous (Doc. B). Rather, the colonists should be in charge of their own government, functioning as “images of the British constitution”. This idea of political unity further contributed to the emergence of the American identity by the eve of the Revolution. 

          The colonists developed a sense of their identity and unity as Americans through economic relations created before the eve of the revolution. As the British Parliament tightened the constraints of certain colonial economies, most notably through the Trade Act of 1774, the remaining colonies united in assistance to provide relief for said economy. The Massachusetts Historical Society published a document listing “Contributors of Donations for the Relief of Boston”, which shows the enormous support Boston received from the other colonies upon economic restriction from the Trade Act (Doc. G). Even though events such as this united the colonies economically, it also evoked a greater sense of hatred towards the British, leading to the publication of Continental Congress’ “Declaration for the Causes of Taking up Arms” in 1775 (Doc. E). This declaration describes describes how colonists will take up arms and fight for their lives “in defiance of every hazard […] rather than live [like] slaves”. It is clear to see that by this time in American history, colonists have decided to unite and fight together to achieve independence for what will become a global role model of nations. 

          By the eve of the Revolution, the colonists developed a major sense of identity as Americans as expressed through economic, cultural, and political unity. Major events and documents played a part in the formation of the American identity, successfully connecting the colonies together in a ‘united state’. It is interesting to think that times of great struggle can prove to be such a good ‘bonding agent’ among a large group of people. It is certainly not the first or the last time that this phenomenon occurs in American History. An comparable event to the precursors of the American Revolution, such as the Boston Massacre, are the Terrorist events in New York City of 9/11. Resulting in thousands of deaths and injuries, the events of September 11, 2001 brought together millions of Americans through grief and sympathy, ultimately fueling America’s war on terror. In conclusion, through multiple hardships and with the assistance of declarations and propaganda, the colonists were able to come together in unity and develop a major sense of identity as Americans by the eve of the Revolution.

Virginia Linkage Activity

Trevor Jones
9/9/16
Per 8

Virginia Linkage

           Virginia during times of colonization was incredibly linked to slavery/servitude and the cultivation of tobacco. Tobacco became the core of Virginia's history at the time, acting as not only the major money-maker, but also as the settlement's currency. This pressured land owners to find helping hands for the cultivation process, turning to the enslavement of negros and indentured servitude. Indentured servitude was a way to gain passage to america under the condition that the individual must for for a certain amount of time to gain land ownership. Poor treatment of slaves and indentured servants lead to Bacon's Rebellion of 1676, an interracial rebellion composed of 500 slaves/servants fed up of these poor working conditions. This rebellion ultimately ended in failure for the slaves/servants but caused fear by the landowners for years to come.