Caucus+A--Vision

Home Who Is a Person in America? Debate--Caucus Table

__Group Members__: //Annie Trexler// //Ashley Murry// //Ben Clark// //Domenic Treboni// //Brooks Mason// Caucus A

Vision Statement, must include: (due October, 26) -how is this idea a perfect society? -identify significant values, relationships, incentives, and goals in your society

Our vision of an ideal society is based on reason. We believe that if you work to support yourself and/or family you will receive more freedoms. We do not feel that people should be able to get a free ride in life and let the government pay for them. If they are qualified they should be working and contributing to this society like most Americans who work. Illegal Immigrants are an issue because they are taking our jobs and tax money by using free healthcare and education benefits our government offers. This is not right! If they do not legally live here they should not have access to benefits of any kind and should go back to where they came from. Another belief we have is in the social contract. The government should exist only to enforce our natural rights and not be included in personal decisions. Abortion is a hot topic when it comes to natural rights. The right to life is being debated because some say after a certain amount of time, abortion is murder, and some say that it's no ones decision other than the mothers. Our group has more views on the pro-choice side even though we believe there should be a restriction on the timing of the procedure. Gay marriage is a current example of lassies fare. Marriage is a personal decision and shouldn't require the government holding court hearings over it and making laws putting restrictions on it. It blurs the line of where the right to the pursuit of happiness once stood. Lastly, our group believes in anti-affirmative action. Just because some are classified as a "minority" it doesn't mean they should receive special treatment. Colleges are having an issue with this because they want diversity but are going about it the wrong way. They are choosing these people based on their race and ignoring the things that matter; grades, test scores, past accomplishments, etc. Racially, everyone is equal when it comes to education, jobs and more. If someone lives in America and refuses to give up their past traditions and culture they should not assume we will make special acceptances for them. If they don't accept our culture then they shouldn't be here in the first place.

Introduction Paragraph: Our group, Caucus A, believes that the USA needs to be more forceful in their decisions and actions. The government is involved in many issues, some of which we believe they should forget about and move on. Decisions should be made by an individual, not the government, people should work for their living, and the government needs to lay off on some issues.

-three arguments (one per group member) -written in extended power paragraph -use evidence from history timeline, current topics, literature circles -MLA Citation -print off final copy
 * Statement of an ideal society**, must include: (due October, 25)

Ashley Murray Illegal immigrants should not have the same rights as legal Americans and they should not be allowed to stay in our country unless they live their lives the American way. Illegal immigrants need to earn their acceptance here; if they are not willing to do that, then why should we accept them into our country? According to John Schuman, America has had problems with immigrants in the past because we cannot trust them; they are foreign socially and culturally and we are not familiar with their ways of living. “It comes down to trust, if these immigrants don’t show that we can trust them they might never have full rights” (Schuman) Sometimes immigrants only want to come to our country because they want a “new beginning” or freedom, but they are not always willing to give up their native cultures and traditions in order to become a “real” American. According to Drew S.’s group, Junior, from the //Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian// by Sherman Alexie, was a Native American that wanted to be a “true American” without leaving his tribe, so he ended up undergoing many social challenges because other Americans would not accept him; if Native Americans want to be Native Americans that’s fine, but if they want to be a US citizen too, they have to choose one. Illegal Immigrants need to become legalized in order to stay in our country because they are taking educations and jobs away from rightful, legal Americans. “…Every classroom seat taken up by an illegal immigrant is one that can’t be filled by a law-abiding citizen.” says Phillip Brownlee, //Wichita Eagle// blogs. Immigrants coming to the United States need to prove that they want to live here by adapting to the country legally, socially, and culturally.

Brownlee, Phillip. "Pro/con: Instate tuition OK for illegal immigrants." //Wichita Eagle//. Kansas.com, 15 Oct. 2011. Web. 25 Oct. 2011. . S., Drew. “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie.” //Buchholtz/Sidor Wiki.// (Book group responses). Schuman, John. “Sacco and Vanzetti Put to Death.” //Buchholtz/Sidor Wiki.// (Class timeline project).

Brooks Mason

I believe the people of the USA should have the right to make their own decisions, not the government. In the US, citizens have the right to make their own decisions, and the government should not be able to take that right away. One example would be if abortion were to be banned; if abortion were to be banned or limited, the "government gets to control a woman's body" (Messerli), and that would break the right to one's body. The government cannot just take away a right that is guaranteed to you at birth. In Five Flavors of Dumb by Antony John, Piper had the choice to dye her hair pink. She wasn't told that she couldn't because she had the right to decide if she wanted to do it or not. In Graham's timeline project, a doctor helped in assisted suicide with people who were terminally ill. The people would "push a button that released the drugs that would end his or her own life" (Devine), so the people had the choice to end their own life or not. The government needs to lay off and let citizens have the right to their own decisions, like they were born with. Saving the Mother's Life) In a Nutshell." //Balanced Politics//. N.p., 30 June 2011. Web. 25 Oct. 2011. . ||
 * < Messerli, Joe. "Should Abortion Be Banned (Except in Special Circumstances Like


 * < John, Antony. //Five Flavors of Dumb//. New York: Penguin Group, 2010. Print. ||

//Wikispaces//. Web. 26 Oct. 2011. ||
 * < Devine, Graham. "1999 Jack Kervorkian Trial." N.d. BuchholtzSidor Wiki.

Annie Trexler Caucus A Gay Marriage

Gay marriage should not be a governmental decision, it should be one based on your own personal interests and religious views. It does not physically harm anyone or shows signs as being a threat to our country. We support “change” after all don’t we? During an interview on a Fox talk show with host Bill O'Reilly, Glenn Beck told him that gay marriage was not "a threat to the country" and that marriage is a religious, not a governmental issue (The Washington Post). Same-sex marriage is just another way for people to express themselves. If the government didn’t control it they wouldn’t have to campaign to get them to change their minds. If this was true most peoples views on it would change. They would be more open minded and not be as stressed because they wouldn’t feel pressured with it all of the time. In the book, //The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian// by Sherman Alexie, the main character (Junior) undergoes a great deal of bullying at his new school. He is mocked with prejudices and stereotypes constantly. He is judged based on past ideas and not taken seriously. All he wants is to be accepted, he has done nothing directly wrong to the people who accuse him. The lesson of the story (according to Jacob B's group) is that we should have the freedom to be the person we want to be and to not judge others for their actions/beliefs. This is something that would benefit the supporters of gay marriage because it shows that we should be more accepting and open minded of them. Many times in our country’s history you can find examples of over-reaction. In 1972 a 26 year-old African American broke into someone’s home and shot and killed the person. He was sentenced to life in prison and to the death penalty (Dennis). Our country is not based on Hammurabi’s “an eye for an eye” policy, we are more democratic. We use reasonable punishments that are universal for everyone; race and family history do not affect it. The court ruling on this case was obviously biased and unjust. They overreacted, just like many Americans are acting towards the thought of gay marriage. They are blowing it out of proportion and are coming up with their own drastic thoughts. Gay marriage is something that we could definitely learn to adjust to, we just don’t need everyone’s opinions flying around and making people feel forced to choose a side. It’s the couples own personal decision; it is not something that even the government needs to be involved in.

Works Cited:

Washington Post Staff Writer, Sandhya Somashekhar, and Nia-Malika Henderson

Washington Post Staff writer. "Same-sex Marriage Gains GOP Support." //The//

//Washington// //Post//. The Washington Post, 27 Aug. 2010.

. Rpt. in //Same-sex Marriage//. Washington DC: n.p.,

n.d. N. pag. //The Washington Post//. Web. 25 Oct. 2011.

.

B, Jacob. “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie.” // Buchholtz/Sidor Wiki. // (Book group responses).

Dennis, Corbin. “1972 Furman v Georgia.” // Buchholtz/Sidor Wiki. // (Class timeline project).

Ben Clark Buchholtz Sidor Am history p. 7-8 10/26/11 Do People Have the Right to Make Their Own Decisions?

Do people in the United States have the right to make their own decisions? This has been questioned throughout history, and I have found many cases in which they should have this right. In Graham’s timeline project, a man named Dr. Kevorkian assisted in the deaths of many terminally ill people (devine). The people who he assisted to kill, had the right to end their life, and they pressed the button that would end their life. Nobody should intervene with this, not the government, not anyone since it was the person’s choice. In the book //the absolutely true diary of a part time Indian//, Arnold chose to attend an all-white school, even though he was Native American he had this right. Many people in his reservation did not approve of his move, but he made the decision and it made him a more successful person. Mr. P, the man who influenced Arnold's decision to move schools, and it turned out to be a good one. Arnold discovers the plus side to attending a better school, like when he goes into the library he is astonished with how much he could learn. In an article that was reviewed by Vicki Saporta, she states “The National Abortion Federation (NAF) is committed to ensuring that women seeking reproductive health care receive the highest quality care, which includes accurate and complete information integral to their health care decisions.” Women have the right to their own body, and I think that they should be able to make their own decisions. My argument is that people should be able to do their own thing, without the government interfering. This falls into the idea of laissez faire, the idea that the government should lay off and trust that the people will make the correct decisions, and do the right thing.

Jost, K. (2010, September 10). Abortion debates. //CQ Researcher //, //20 //, 725-748. Retrieved from http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/

Alexie, Sherman. //The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian//. New York: Little, Brown and Company, n.d. Print.

===A meritocracy government is where people get what they deserve, and work for what they have. So therefore in this government there is no need for affirmative action, as long as someone is a citizen/legal because we will be a giant society were we are all treated equally and no special treatment is given to people of different races. In the book //The Bean Trees// Taylor would be a perfect candidate for affirmative action, but in a meritocracy she works very hard and and gets what she deserves, she moves from poor living conditions and poverty to where she has an apartment and a job with a small family of friends (Kingsolver). So Taylor uses the meritocracy to her advantage and works hard and she gets rewarded because the harder you work the more you get and deserve. In 1921 Tulsa, Oklahoma broke out into race riots because people where being segregated into groups and when that happens arguments brake out (Treboni). Affirmative action creates segregation between our country as a whole and makes arguments that make people fight when we could just be one big group and no argue. This type of government can only work for people whom are citizens because illegal immigrants create bigger arguments and they get treated differently, "400,000 illegal immigrants where deported last year, out of those 400,000, 214,000 were convicted felons (McCombsa). We shouldn't have to be creating arguments over people that are here illegally and creating problems as criminals, which is just a disruption to our community as a whole. Overall in a meritocracy, there is no need for affirmative action because as long as you work hard everybody is created equal and when everybody's equal no arguments over special treatment we can all get along.===

Work Cited:

McCombsa, Brady. "Us Deportations Set Record Even as Those from AZ Fall."//Ebscohost.com//. 19 Oct. 2011. Web. 25 Oct. 2011. .

Kingsolver, Barbara. //The Bean Trees: a Novel//. New York: HarperPerennial, 1992. Print.

Treboni, Domenic. "Tulsa Race Riots 1921" //Wikispaces//. Web. 25 Oct. 2011. .

Pictures Powerpoint, must include (due October 27/28): -wordle -timed rotation slides -relates to topics -keep in mind "ethos" method -upload to wiki when finished

Presentation, must include (due November 1st): -slideshow ready -information organized, notecards? -each member equally talks -interesting? eye catching? focused? -50 POINTS for presentation -20 POINTS for audience participation