Monday, November 12, 2007
Vocabulary: Jason Evert
Name:
Period:
1. Grand Canyon
2. manipulate
3. condemnation
4. morality
5. genitals
6. virgin
7. Ephesians
8. holy
9. scourging
10. Shroud of Turin
11. woven
12. cross-beam
13. pierce
14. pornography
15. emasculate
16. Maxim
17. air-brushed
18. computer generated
19. CDC
20. leprosy
21. Vogue
22. modesty
23. mu-mu
24. radiant
25. dignity
26. gentleman
27. lady
28. purity
29. concussion
30. submission
31. conscience
32. prude
33. respect
34. 4-D
35. estrogen
36. STDs
37. fertility
38. Mayo Clinic
39. injection
40. veterinarian
41. hormonal
42. uterus
43. conceive
44. PDR
45. herpes
46. asymptomatic
47. gonorrhea
48. HPV
49. cervical
50. vaccine
51. NIH
52. patriot
53. veil
54. CSI
55. breed
56. Proverbs
57. slack
58. eBay
59. random
60. allergy
61. eczema
62. Chlamydia
63. Depo-Provera
64. Armenia
Friday, November 09, 2007
Alicia Keys
Wednesday, November 07, 2007
EC: Hunger Strike in Britain
Radical Muslim cleric Abu Hamza and other inmates at Belmarsh prison have refused to eat their lunch in a protest at the jail's high security wing.
The Home Office said 22 of the 25 prisoners in the unit had taken part in the action, but all intend to eat normally on Wednesday.
A spokesman said they had refused food on the grounds of its quality.
Abu Hamza's lawyer claimed the men were not being properly fed and were having to pay for food to sustain themselves.
Muddassar Arani, who described the incident as a "hunger strike", said the other protesters included the men awaiting trial over the attempted bombings of London's transport network on 21 July.
But the Home Office rejected her claims that the protest began after bread was "thrown across a dirty table" at an inmate.
A spokesman said the men refused to eat on the grounds that the food was "not up to the usual standard".
Tuesday is the day when all inmates at the south London prison receive food they have bought with their own money, he added.
Abu Hamza was sentenced to seven years imprisonment at the Old Bailey in February for inciting murder and racial hatred.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/uk/4806820.stm
Published: 2006/03/14 18:44:53 GMT
© BBC MMVII
Tuesday, November 06, 2007
"Vote for Me: Politics in America" video vocabulary
Name: __________________________________________________________
Period: _________________
1. Oliver "Ollie" North
2. Newt Gingrich
3. Ray Charles
4. tenacity
5. pundits
6. precinct
7. invariably
8. ego
9. jaded
10. "happy warrior"
11. rolodex
12. Dennis Kucinich
13. strategy
14. Barney Frank
15. apathetic
16. Founding Fathers
17. alderman
18. Guiness
19. ward
20. city council
21. antiquated
22. initially
23. gamma rays
24. tangible
25. Jehovah's Witnesses
26. intimidate
27. argumentative
28. ethnic
29. prediction
30. Tip O'Neil
31. C.I.A.
32. CEO
33. shamrock
34. "riding coat tails"
35. precinct captain
36. journalist
37. Sammy Davis Jr.
38. Richard Daley
39. Fiorello La Guardia
40. "press the flesh"
41. Mario Cuomo
42. Magical Mystery Tour
43. "whistle stop tour"
44. Harry S. Truman
45. unconventional
46. ritual
47. plaza
48. marketable commodity
49. mystical
50. Ann Richards
51. "forced march"
52. constituents
53. pollster
54. Lincoln-Douglas Debate
55. slaughterhouse
56. "graveyard shift"
57. Odyysey
58. maniacal
59. union
60. Willie Horton
61. Nazi
62. "court stacking"
63. "kike" (bear in mind this is considered an offensive word, i.e., slang)
64. pornography
65. Jefferson
66. Adams
67. pictorially
68. chastity
69. French Revolution
70. Terminator
71. "tax & spend" candidate
72. surrogate
73. ironic
74. Lyn Nofziger
75. Federalist Party
Mid-Term Assessment Answer
the 1800s?
The British could have allowed home rule. Canada, Australia, and New Zealand all established home rule and were much happier and prosperous as a result. Ireland never was allowed any such freedom. They suffered under British oppression as a result. The Irish were starving in the Great Potato Famine, homes were being foreclosed, many were forced to emigrate, yet, England never relented. With home rule for Ireland, England would have enjoyed a loyal subject, yet, one that was based on more democratic principles, and a more equitable economic union.
Monday, November 05, 2007
Election Day Questions, 6 November 2007, World History II, Dr. Smith
Name: _________________________________________________________
Period: _____________
Questions to ask the voters:
What, in your opinion, is the biggest issue in American politics today?
What, in your opinion, is the biggest issue in Philadelphia politics today?
What other political issues, that you have not stated, are important to consider when voting?
Who do you think you will vote for in the 2008 Presidential election?
Why is voting important to you?
Questions to ask the Poll workers:
What "Third Parties," in addition to the Democrats and the Republicans, are on the PA ballot in this election?
How old does a person have to be in order to vote?
How would I find out where to vote?
How is the polling place an example of a "secret ballot?"
Questions to ask yourself:
What party do you think you will register for when you are old enough to vote?
What, in your opinion, is the biggest issue in American politics today?
What, in your opinion, is the biggest issue in Philadelphia politics today?
Who do you think you would vote for, or would vote for if you are old enough, in the 2008 Presidential election?
How long will it be--years, months, days--before you can register to vote?
Why is voting important?
Sunday, November 04, 2007
EC: Nationalism
By MANSUR MIROVALEV
Associated Press Writer
MOSCOW - A white supremacist from Texas lifted his black cowboy hat into the air as he stepped forward to address thousands of Russian nationalists at a rally Sunday in Moscow.
"I'm taking my hat off as a sign of respect for your strong identity in ethnicity, nation and race," said Preston Wiginton, 43, exposing his close-cropped head to a freezing drizzle.
"Glory to Russia," he said in broken Russian, as the crowd of mostly young Russian men raised their right hands in a Nazi salute and chanted "white power!" in English.
About 5,000 nationalists turned out for the Russian March, held for the third year on National Unity Day, a holiday the Kremlin created in 2005 to replace the traditional Nov. 7 celebration of the 1917 Bolshevik rise to power.
The Kremlin has tried to give the holiday historical significance by tying it to the 1612 expulsion of Polish and Cossack troops who briefly seized Moscow at a time of political disarray.
But extreme nationalists have seized on the holiday, reflecting a rise in xenophobia. More than 50 people have been killed and 400 injured in ethnically motivated attacks this year, according to the Sova rights center.
Rights activists say the extreme nationalist sentiments are a natural outgrowth of the Kremlin's attempts to rebuild a strong Russian state.
President Vladimir Putin, who celebrated Sunday's holiday by laying flowers at the monument to Moscow's 17th century liberators, told the military cadets and pro-Kremlin youth group members who accompanied him that there are people in the world seeking to split Russia and divide up its natural resource wealth.
"Some believe that we are too lucky to possess so much natural wealth, which they say must be divided," Putin said, speaking near the monument on Red Square. "These people have lost their mind," he added with a smile.
Pro-Kremlin youth groups and the liberal Yabloko party also held rallies Sunday, in part to counter the nationalist march.
"This holiday is a gift for the most reactionary and dangerous group - the nationalists," Yabloko deputy chairman Sergei Mitrokhin told a crowd of about 1,500.
Thousands of pro-Kremlin youth activists marched through central Moscow and gathered near Red Square to sew together a "blanket of peace," symbolizing harmony among Russia's numerous ethnic groups.
The nationalists, who were kept away from the city center, marched along an embankment of the Moscow River to a small square, waving banners that read "Russians, stand up," "Russian order or war," and "Tolerance is AIDS."
What united the marchers was their opposition to nonwhite migrants from the Caucasus and Central Asia.
"Russia will be white," said Alexander Belov, leader of the Movement Against Illegal Migration. His last name, based on the Russian word for "white," is a nom de guerre.
"Our ultimate goal is our race and nation. Nation above all," he said, rephrasing the Nazi slogan "Germany above all."
A top immigration official down played the significance of the Russian Marches.
"This is just an outbreak of national identity feelings, which is noticeable worldwide, and it has affected Russia too," said Vyacheslav Postavnin, deputy director of the Federal Migration Service, the Interfax news agency reported.
In the first Russian March in 2005, thousands marched through central Moscow, some shouting "Heil Hitler." The march horrified many Muscovites, and the following year it was blocked by police.
"The first Russian March was unexpected good luck, the second one was about overcoming the resistance of the authorities, and the third one is already a new Russian tradition," said Konstantin Krylov of the nationalist Russian Social Movement.
City authorities approved Sunday's march but ordered it held on the river embankment away from the city center. Hundreds of police lined the route.
Nationalist marches also were held in other Russian cities.
In St. Petersburg, about 500 people rallied at Revolution Square in front of the Winter Palace. Police detained 12 men who attempted to break into a Chinese restaurant, the Regnum news agency reported.
____
Associated Press writer Bagila Bukharbayeva contributed to this report
EC: Immigration
Italians Urge Expulsion of Immigrants
By FRANCES D'EMILIO
Associated Press Writer
ROME - Opposition leader Silvio Berlusconi urged Italy to close its borders to Romanian workers and a conservative ally called Sunday for the expulsion of tens of thousands of immigrants amid public outrage over a wave of violent crimes blamed on foreigners.
Pope Benedict XVI added his voice to the debate over the balance between citizen safety and treatment of foreigners, reminding authorities that immigrants have both obligations and rights.
The pope weighed in as lawmakers prepared to debate the government's response to recent crime, including fast-track expulsions of Romanians and other EU citizens deemed dangerous and bulldozing shantytowns housing immigrants.
"In Rome alone, 20,000 expulsions should be carried out right away," right-wing leader Gianfranco Fini, a key Berlusconi ally, said on a TV talk show Sunday.
Romanians have been detained as suspects in several recent high-profile crimes, including the rape of a woman on church steps in northern Italy, a mugging that left a Rome cyclist in a coma for weeks before he died, and the robbery of a Milan coffee bar in which the elderly owner was beaten and her daughter raped.
Other recent crimes in which foreigners are suspected include the mugging of Oscar-winning director Giuseppe Tornatore, which sent him to the hospital; the holdup of a prominent TV anchorman and the mugging of a Rome municipal commissioner.
Berlusconi told La Stampa newspaper that Italy should enact a moratorium against Romanian workers.
"If I were in the government, I would have done it," the billionaire media mogul and former premier said.
After Romania joined the EU earlier this year, Romanians poured into Italy in search of work as maids, nannies, waiters, janitors and bricklayers, and they now account for nearly 1 percent of the population in Italy.
Last week, the Cabinet gave authorities the power to expel EU citizens with criminal records, or those deemed dangerous to public safety. The decree needs approval in parliament, where Premier Romano Prodi's center-left forces have a narrow majority, to remain in effect long-term.
The savage beating last week of the wife of an Italian naval commander triggered the emergency decree after a Romanian was arrested in connection with the assault.
Berlusconi said he was mulling whether his conservative lawmakers should approve the decree, while Fini said his forces would vote for it only if expulsions are expanded to include EU citizens without a means to support themselves.
Another right-wing leader, Roberto Calderoli, advocated vigilante patrols.
Italian authorities say statistics show foreigners commit a disproportionate number of crimes. Rome Mayor Walter Veltroni said 75 percent of arrests in the city in the last year involved Romanians. On a national level, less than 5 percent of Italy's population in 2004 - before Romania joined the EU - was foreign, yet foreigners accounted for 26 percent of those convicted of crimes.
The wave of crime has sparked a backlash against foreigners. Police were searching for several Italians attacked and wounded three Romanians with clubs and knives in a Rome parking lot on Friday night.
The attack prompted Romania's government to warn Italy against letting public concern over crime degenerate into xenophobia.
In Bucharest, Romanian's prime minister, Calin Popescu Tariceanu, summoned top Cabinet ministers Sunday to discuss the issue. Tariceanu's office said he would travel to Rome later this week.
"We should fight against the wave of xenophobia that is manifesting itself in Italy and we must fight against the bad image that Romanians who are working in Italy have," he said Saturday.
Pope Benedict expressed his concern.
"Those who deal with security and welcoming programs know how to use instruments aimed at guaranteeing the rights and duties that are at the foundations" of coexistence.
___
Associated Press writer Alison Mutler contributed to this report from Bucharest, Romania.
Monday, October 29, 2007
Mid-Term Assessment STUDY GUIDE
Chapter 17
Terms:
Natural law- pg. 545
social contract- pg. 546
natural right- pg. 546
philosophe- pg. 547
laissez faire- pg. 548
Thomas Hobbes- pg. 546
John Locke- pg. 546
Montesquieu- pg. 547
Voltaire- pg. 547
Diderot- pg. 547
Rousseau- pg. 547
Adam Smith pg. 548
pg.544 Reading Skills: draw a table like the one shown here. As you read the section, summarize each thinker's work and ideas.
pg. 544 Focus Question: What effects did Enlightenment philosophers have on government and society?
pg. 545 Check point : What convinced educated European to accept the powers of reason?
pg. 546 Check point: How did Hobbes and Lockediffer in their views on the role of government?
pg. 547 Check point: What topics were addressed by the philosophes in their Encyclopedia articles?
pg. 548 Check point: Why did Adam Smith support laissez faire?
Thinking Critically: 1. Draw Inferences- According to Locke, how should a land be governed? why do you think this is the case?
2. Identify Central Issues: Why does Locke say can happen if a government fails to protect the rights of its people?
pg. 547 Biography:
Voltaire
What did Voltaire attacked in his writings?
Montesque:
What did Montesque think was necessary to protect liberty?
pg. 547 Heated Debate: Compare the Beliefs of Rousseau and Voltaire.
Terms: pg. 550
censorship- pg.551
salons- pg. 551
Baroque- pg. 552
Rococo- pg. 552
enlightened despot- pg. 553
Frederick the Great- pg. 553
Catherine the Great- pg. 553
Joseph II - pg. 553
Taking Notes pg 550
Reading Skills: Categorize on a sheet of paper, draw a concept web to help you record information from his section.
Focus Question: pg 550
As Enlightenment ideas spread across Europe, what cultural and political change took place?
Satire by Swift pg 551 Why did writers hide thier feelings about society?
pg. 550 Checkpoint: What did those opposed to Enlightenment ideas do to stop the spread of information?
Checkpoint pg 552
How did the arts and literature change as Enlightnment ideas spread?
pg. 553 Checkpoint : Why were the philosophes interested in sharing their beliefs with European rulers?
pg. 555 Checkpoint: During this time, why did change occur slowly for most Europeans?
Thinking Critically pg 556
Draw Inference: how do you think composing an opera is different form composing a symphony?
Determine Relevance: Why did operas appeal to composers and musicians during the Enlightenment?
Map Skills pg 553
Although the center of the Enlightenment was in France, the ideas of reform spread to the rulers of Austria, Prussia, Russia
locate (a) Paris (b) Prussia (c) Austria
Location: Which enlightened despot ruled farthest from Paris?
Draw Conclusions: According to the map, approximately how much of Europe was affected by the Enlightenment?
pg 553 Note Taking Reading Skill: Summarize Fill in a concept web like the one below with information about the enlightened despots and their contributions.
Terms:
George III- pg 558
Stamp act- 560
George Washington- 560
Thomas Jefferson -560
Popular sovereignty- 560
Yorktown, Virginia- 561
Treaty of Paris- 561
James Madison- 562
Benjamin Franklin- 562
Federal republic 562
Map Skills pg. 558
cities in the english colonies were busy centers of trade and important to Britain's economy.
Locate (a) MFEMFEMFEMFE (b) Massachusetts (c) Boston
Region: Which colony had two separate pieces of land?
Analyze Information: What do almost all the colonial cities have in common based on the map? Why was this important?
pg. 559 Checkpoint: In what ways were the colonies already developing independence from britain?
pg 560 checkpoint: What Enlightenment ideas are reflected in the Declaration of Independence
pg. 561: Checkpoint: What advantages did the colonists have in battling Britain for their independence?
pg. 562 Checkpoint: Explain the influence of Enlightenment ideas on the United States Constitution and Bill of Rights.
Biography pg. 560: how did Washington hold the army together throught difficult times?: What did the Framers of the Constitution have in common?: Why was Franklin admired in France?
Pg 560 Primary Source: Drafting the Declaration Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson.
Chapter 22--- Section 1
Terms:
Otto Von Bismark: succeded where others had failed. he came from Prussia's Junker class, made up of conservative ladowning noble.
Chanceller: the highest official of a monarch.
Realpolitik: realistic politics based on the need of the state.
Annexed: took control of.
Kaiser: emperor.
Reich: empire.
NoteTaking:
Napoleon raids German lands.
Bismark became prime minister
Prussia declares war in denmark and Austria
Birth of the German Empire.
MAP SKILLS:
1. Prussia: East Germany
Silesia: East Germany
Bavaria: South
Schleswig: Northern.
2. Hanover was added to Prussia in 1866.
3. Because the empire was to late being added.
Checkpoints:
1. What was German Confederation? The German Conferation was a weak alliance headed by Austria.
2. What techniques did Bismark use to unify the German States? In 1886, Bismark invented an excuse to attack Autria. The Austro-Prussian war lasted just seven weeks and ended in a decisive Prussian victory. Prussia then annexed several other German States.
3. How was the new German government, drafted by Bismark, structured? A constitution drafted by Bismark set up two- house legisture. The Bundesrat, or upper house, was appointed by the rulers of the German states. The Keishstag, or lower house, was elected by universal male suffrage.
Chapter 22-----Section 2
Section 2
Kulturkampf- a name, given to a struggle between the the Roman Catholic
Church and the German government, chiefly over the latter's
efforts to control educational and ecclesiastical
appointments in the interest of the political policy of
centralization. pg. 698
William II- the second son of William the Conqueror who succeeded him as King of England; The new emperor was supremely confident in his abilities and wished to put his own stamp on Germany. In 1890, he shocked Europe by asking the dominating Bismarck to resign. “There is only one master in the Reich,” he said, “and that is I.” pg. 699
social welfare- programs to help certain groups of people pg. 699
Checkpoints
What factors did Germany possess that made industrialization possible there? pg. 697
-Germany became a industrial giant by the process of railroads and large companies. Also, ample iron and coal resources, the growing population, the much effort in the research and development of the sciences, and the discipline and education of the woorkforce helped the economy grow.
Why did Bismarck try to crush the Catholic Church and the Socialists? pg. 698
-Bismark wanted to crush the Catholic church because he thought that thier first loyalty was to the pope instead of Germany. He also wanted to crush socialist because he feared that socialist would undermine the loyalty of German workers and turn them toward revolution.
Why did William II ask Bismarck to resign in 1890? pg. 699
-William II asked Bismark to resign because he thought that his right to rule came from God.
Political Cartoon
A Political Game of Chess
This political cartoon shows Otto von Bismarck and Pope Pius IX trying to checkmate each other in a game of chess.
1.
How does this cartoon reflect the relationship between Bismarck and the Catholic Church? pg. 698
-The cartoon reflects the relationship between Bismark and the Catholic Church by showing the how they both try to overcome each other with stragity and competion.
2.
How did the conflict between church and state affect German politics in the 1870s? pg. 698
-It affect German policy by passing a law that gave the state the right to supervise Catholic education and approve appointed priest. Other laws closed some religious orders, expelled the Jesuits from Prussia, and made it madatory to get married by civil authority.
Biography
Otto von Bismarck
Otto von Bismarck (1815–1898) spent his early years on his father’s country estate. He worked briefly as a civil servant, but found the work boring. At 24, Bismarck resigned his post as a bureaucrat. “My ambition strives more to command than to obey,” the independent-minded young man explained.
The resignation did not end his career in government. While he was a delegate to a United Diet that was called by Prussian King Frederick William IV, Bismarck’s conservative views and passionate speeches in defense of government policies won him the support of the king. He then served as a diplomat to the German Federation. He became chancellor of the German empire in 1871, a position he held for 19 years. What path did Bismarck take to win political power? pg. 698
-Instead of getting power as a bureaucrat he resigned and became a delegate to the United Diet. He agreed with the government policies and won the support of the king. Soon he became chancellor of the German empire.
Chapter 22-------section 4
Section 4
Francis Joseph- inherited the Hapsburg throne. He would rule until 1916, presiding over the empire during its fading days into World War I. pg. 706
Ferenc Deák-a moderate Hungarian leader, helped work out a compromise that created a new political power known as the Dual Monarchy of Austria-Hungary
pg. 707
Dual Monarchy- the monarchy of Austria-Hungary pg. 707
Checkpoints
What actions did Francis Joseph take to maintain power? pg. 706
-He mad some limited reforms, he granted a new constitution that set up a legislature. The reforms thus satisfied none of the other national groups that populated the empire.
How did Hungarians and Slavic groups respond to the Dual Monarchy? pg. 707
-Hungarians welcomed the Dual Monarchy, but other resented it. Restlessness increased amoung slavic groups. By the early 1900's, nationalist unrest often left the government paralyzed in the face of pressing politics and social problems.
How did the European powers divide up Ottoman lands? pg. 708
-Russia pushed South toward the Black sea and Istanbul, which Russia still calls constantinople. Austria-Hungary took control of the provinces of Bosina and Herzegovina.
Map Skills
In the late 1800s, the Balkans had become a center of conflict, as various peoples and empires competed for power.
1.
Locate
(a) Black Sea-East of Romania (b) Ottoman empire-East of Greece (c) Serbia-West of Romania (d) Greece-South of Serbia (e) Austria-Hungary-North of
2.
Place
Which four large seas border the Balkan Peninsula? pg. 707
-The Adriatic Sea, The Aegean Sea, The Medditerranean Sea, and The Black Sea.
3.
Identify Central Issues
Why do you think competing interests in the Balkans led the region to be called a powder keg? pg. 707
Because of a explosion that would or lead to WWI.
Chapter 22 Section 5
Checkpoint
Describe the social structure that existed in Russia during the 1800s. pg. 711
-Landowning nobles dominated society and rejected any change that would threaten their privledges. The middle class wass too small to have much influence. The majority of the Russians were serfs, or laborers bound to the land and to masters who controlled their fate.
How did Alexander III respond to the murder of his father? pg. 712
- He responded by reviving the harsh methods of Nicholas I. To wipe out liberals and revolutionaries he increased the power of the secret police, restored strict censorship, and exciled critics to Siberia. He then insisted on one language, Russian, and one church, Th Russian Orthodox. Many others were persecuted.
How did Russia industrialize? pg. 713
- They bagan to industrialize when focus was on economic development. Encourages the building of railroads to connect iron and coal mines with factories and to transport goods across Russia. Also secured foriegn capitals to invest in industry and transportation systems, such as the Trans-Siberian Railroad, which linked European Russia to the Pacific Ocean.
Why was Bloody Sunday a turning point for the Russians? pg. 714
-It was a turning point for them because workers wnet on strike, demanding shorter hours and better wages. Liberals called for a constitution and reforms to overhaul the government.
Chapter 23: The Growth of Western Democracies
Section 1: Democratic Reforms in Britain
In 1800s, Benjamin Disraeli and other political leaders slowly worked to bridge Britain’s “two nations” and extend democratic rights.
I. Reforming Parliament
§ In 1815, Britain was a constitutional monarchy with a parliament and two political parties. Although members of the House of Commons were elected, less than 5% of the people had the right to vote. Wealthy nobles and squires, or country landowners, dominated politics and heavily influenced voters. The House of the Lords, made up of heredity nobles and high-ranking clergy, could veto any bill passed by the House of Commons.
1. Reformers Press for Change
§ Long standing laws kept many people from voting such as the Catholics and non-Anglican Protestants.
§ In 1820s, reformers pushed the end religious restrictions and Parliament finally granted them equal political rights.
§ During the Industrial Revolution, rural towns lost so many people that they had few or no voters, yet local landowners in these rotten boroughs sent member to parliament.
§ Populous new industrial cities had no seats distribute in parliament because they had not exist as population of centers.
2. Reform Act of 1832
§ Whig Party largely represented middle-class and business interests.
§ The Troy Party spoke for nobles, lands owners, and others whose interest and income were rooted in agriculture.
§ Parliament finally passed the Great Reforms Act in 1832 and its redistributed seats in the House of Commons, giving representation to large towns and cities and eliminating rotten boroughs.
§ Electorate is the body of people allowed to vote.
§ The Reform Act of 1832 did not bring full democracy, but it did give a greater political voice to middle class men.
3. The Chartist Movement
§ The reform bill did not help rural or urban workers. In 1830s, protester known as Chartists drew up the People’s Charter demanding:
1. universal male suffrage
2. annual parliamentary elections
3. salaries for members of Parliament
§ Secret ballots allow people to cast their votes without announcing them publicly.
§ Their petitions were ignored.
II. The Victorian Age
§ From 1837 to 1901, Queen Victoria was a great symbol in British life. Her reign was the longest in British history. She exercised little political power but she set the tome for what is called Victorian Age.
1. Symbol of a Nation’s Value
§ Victorian ideals included duty, thrift, honesty, hard work, and above all respectability.
§ She married a German prince, Albert, and they raised a large family
2. A Confident Age
§ Victoria, the empress of India and ruler of some 300 million subjects around the world, became a revered symbol of British might.
§ Victoria witnessed growing agitation for social reforms and as the Victorian Age continued reformers kept pushing toward greater social and economics justice.
III. A New Era in British Politics
§ Benjamin Disraeli forged the Tories into the modern Conservative Party.
§ William Gladstone led the Whigs that evolved into the Liberal party.
§ Both Gladstone and Disraeli alternated as prime minster and fought for important reforms.
1. Expanding Suffrage
§ Disraeli and the Conservative Party pushed through the Reform Bill of 1867 by voting to many working class men.
§ In the 1880s, Gladstone and the Liberal Party extended suffrage. Reforms gave the vote to farm workers and most other men. The end of the centuries, male suffrage, the secret ballot, and other Chartist’s ambitions had been achieved.
§ Britain had truly transformed itself from a constitutional monarchy to a parliamentary democracy, a form of government in which the executive leaders are chosen by and responsible to the legislature, and also members of it.
2. Limiting the Lords
§ In the early 1900s, many bills passed by the House of Commons met defeat in the House of Lords.
§ In 1911, Liberal government passed measures to restrict the power of the Lords, including their power to veto tax bulls.
*
The government threatens to create enough new lords to approve the law, and the Lords backed down. The elected House of Commons would reign supreme.
outline
Chapter 23: Growth in Western Democracies
Section 2: Social And Economic Reform in Britain
Between 1815 and 1914, Parliament responded to widespread discontent with a series of social and economic reforms.
I. Series of Reforms
§ Parliament passed a wide variety of important new laws. One of the most controversial measures involved the issue of free trade, or trade between countries without quotas, tariffs, and other restrictions.
2. Free Trade and the Corn Laws
§ In the early 1800s, Britain taxed foreign imports in order to protect local economics but supporters of free trade demanded an end to such protective tariffs.
§ Some British tariffs were repealed in the 1820s; however, a fierce debate erupted over the Corn Law, which imposed high tariffs on imported grain.
§ Farmers and wealthy landowners supported the Corn Law because they kept the price of British grain high. Free trader want Parliament to repeal, or cancel, the Corn Law. They argued that repeal of these laws would lower the price of grain, make bread cheaper for workers and open up trade in general.
§ Parliament finally repealed the Corn Law in 1846 after widespread crop failures swept many parts of Europe.
3. Campaign Against Slavery
§ During the 1700s, Enlightenment thinkers had turned the spotlight on the evils of the slave trade. British ships were carrying more Africans to the Americas than any other European country.
§ Abolition movement is the campaign against slavery and the slave trade.
§ In 1807, Britain became the first European power to abolish the slave trade. In 1833, Parliament passed a law banned a low banning slavery in all British colonies.
4. Crime and Punishment
§ Other reforms were aimed at the criminal justice system. In the early 1800s, more than 200 crimes were punishable by deaths.
§ Capital offenses included not only murder but also shoplifting, sheep stealing, and impersonating an army veteran.
§ Some juries refused to convict criminals because the punishments were so harsh. Executions were public occasions, and the hanging of a well-known murderer might attract thousands of curious spectators.
§ Reformers began to reduce the number of capital offenses. By 1850a, the death penalty was reserved for murder, piracy, treason, and arson.
§ Many petty criminals were transported to penal colonies, or settlements for convicts.
§ In 1868, Parliament ended public hanging and reforms improved prison conditions and outlawed imprisonment due to debt.
II. Victories for the Working Class
§ Parliament had begun passing laws aimed at improving social conditions as early as the 1840s.
2. Improving Working Conditions
§ Working conditions in the early industrial age were grim and often dangerous.
§ In the late 1800s, the government regulated many safety conditions in factories and mines and sent inspectors to see that the laws were enforced. Other laws set minimum wages and maximum hours of work.
3. The Growth of Labor Unions
§ Trade unions were made legal in 1825 but it remained illegal to go on strike until later in the century.
§ Besides winning higher wages and shorter hours for worker, union pressed for other laws to improve the lives of the working class.
4. Later Reforms
§ During the late1800s and 1900s, both political parties enacted social reforms to benefit the working class. Disraeli sponsored laws to improve public health and housing for workers in the cities. Under Gladstone, education act called for free elementary education for all children.
§ Another force for the reforms was the Fabian Society, a socialist organization founded in 1883. They promoted gradual change through legal means rather than by violence.
§ In 1900s, socialist and union members backed the formation of a new political party, which became the Labour Party. It surpassed the Liberal Party and became one of Britain’s two major parties.
§ In the early 1900s, Britain began to pass social welfare laws to protect the well being of the poor and disadvantaged.
III. The Struggle to Win Votes for Women
§ In Britain women struggled against strong opposition for the right to vote.
2. Suffragist Revolt
§ By the early 1900s, Emmeline Pankhurst, a leading suffragist, had become convinced that only aggressive tactics would bring victory. They collected petitions and organized huge pubic demonstrations.
§ When mass meeting and other peaceful efforts brought no results, some women turned to more drastic, violent protest. Some suffragist went on hunger strikes, risking their lives to achieve their goals.
3. Victory at Last
§ Even middle class women who disapproved of such radical and violent actions increasingly demanded votes for women. Parliament refused to grant women’s suffrage.
§ In 1918, Parliament finally grants suffrage to women over 30.
IV. Instability in Ireland
§ In the 1600s, English and Scottish settlers colonized Ireland, taking possession of much of the best farmland.
§ Irish never accepted English rule because they bitterly resented settlers, especially absentee landlords who owned large estates but did not live on them.
§ Irish peasants live in desperate poverty, while paying high rents to landlords living in England. Irish’s majority were Catholics and they had to pay tithes to support the Church of England.
2. Irish Nationalism
§ Nationalist leader Daniel O’Connell organized an Irish Catholic League and held mass meetings to demand repeal of unfair laws.
§ Britain slowly moved to improve conditions in Ireland. In 1829, Parliament passed the Catholic Emancipation Act, which allowed Irish Catholics to vote and hold political office.
3. Struggle for Home Rule
§ The famine of Ireland left them with a legacy of bitterness and distrust toward Britain. In the 1850s, come Irish militants organized the Fenian Brotherhood. Its goal was to liberate Ireland from British rule by force.
§ Charles Stewart Parnell rallied Irish members to Parliament to press home rule, or local self-government.
* Political parties were so deeply split over the Irish questions that they could not take care of other business. Gladstone ended the use of Irish tithe money to support the Anglican church and tried to ease the hardship of Irish tenant farmers.
Chapter 23: The Growth of Western Democracies
Section 4: Expansion of the United States
In the 1800s, the American economy was growing rapidly, offering jobs to newcomers. The Constitution and Bill of Rights held out the hope of political and religious freedom.
1. Territorial Expansion
* The U.S followed a policy of expansionism, or extending the nation’s boundaries.
* At first the U.S stretched only from the Atlantic coast to the Mississippi River. In 1803, Pres. Thomas Jefferson brought the Louisiana territory from France. The Louisiana Purchase virtually doubled the size of the nations.
* By 1846, the U.S had expanded to include Florida, Oregon and the Republic of Texas. The Mexican added California and the Southwest.
* Americans claimed that their nation was destined to spread across the entire continent, from sea to sea. This was known to be Manifest Destiny.
* In 1867, it brought Alaska from Russia and in 1898 annexed the Hawaiian Islands.
2. Expanding Democracy
* Two crusades highlighted the limits of American democracy- the abolition movement and the women’s rights movement.
1. Calls for Abolition
* In the early 1800s, a few Americans began to call for an immediate and complete end to slavery.
* William Lloyd Garrisan pressed the antislavery cause through his newspaper, the Liberator.
* Frederick Douglass was born into slavery and escaped, and he spoke eloquently in the North about the evils of the system.
* Harriet Beecher Stowe’s novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin helped convince many northerners that slavery was a great social evil.
2. Women’s Right Movement
* In 1848, in Seneca Falls, New York, Lucretia Mott and Elizabeth Cady Stanton organized the first women’s right convention. It passed the resolution, based on the Declaration of Independence.
* The women’s right movement set as its goal equality before the law, in the workplace, and in education.
3. The Civil War and the Aftermath
* Lincoln opposed extending slavery into new territories. Southerners feared that he would abolish slavery altogether and that the federal government would infringe on their states’ rights.
1. North Verses South
* Most Southern states seceded, or withdraw, from the Union and formed the Confederate States of America. This action sparked the Civil War, which lasted from 1861 to 1865.
* The Southern fought fiercely to defend their cause. The Confederacy finally surrenders in 1865.
2. Challenges for African American
* Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, by which enslaved African Americans in the South were declared free. Three amendments to the Constitution banned slavery throughout the country and granted political rights to African Americans.
* In the South, state laws imposed segregation, or legal separation of the races, in hospital, schools, and in other public places. Other state laws imposed conditions for voters’ eligibility that, despite the 15th Amendment, prevented African Americans from voting.
4. Economic Growth and Social Reforms
* The U.S grew to lead the world in industrial and agricultural production. A special combination of factors made this possible including political stability, private property rights, a free enterprise system, an inexpensive supply of land and labor, and a growing network of transportations and communications technologies.
1. Business and Labor
* In factories, wages were low and conditions were often brutal. American workers organized labor unions such as the American Federation of labor because they sought for better wages hours and working conditions. Slowly, the workers made gains.
2. Populists and Progressives
* Farmers also organized themselves to defend their interests so in the 1890s, they joined city workers to support the new Populist Party. The Populist never became a major party, but their platform of reforms eventually became law.
* By 1900, reformers known as Progressive sought laws to ban child labor, limit working hours, regulate monopolies, and give voters more power. Also obtaining voting rights for women.
* American suffragists finally won the vote in 1920, when the 19th Amendment went into effects.
EC: Summarize and report back on the documentary
WHEN: Wednesday, November 14th, 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. (Doors open at 5:30 p.m.)
WHERE: WHYY, 150 N. 6th Street, Philadelphia.
COST: FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC! ($1 Parking after 5pm at AutoPark on 6th Street, between Arch & Market)
RSVP: http://pbsmail.org/whyy_e_services/events/unreasonableman/details.tcl. For questions or more information: cindy_burstein@itvs.org or 267-259-2059
Following the film, there will be an audience discussion about the two-party system in America led by Dick Polman, political columnist with the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Other participants will include Jim Musselman, a former Nader Raider who is featured in the film, and Dr. Sidney R. Waldman, a political science Professor at Haverford College and author of “America and the Limits of the Politics of Selfishness.”
This event is co-presented by ITVS, WHYY, Bread and Roses Community Fund, Committee of Seventy, League of Women Voters-Philadelphia, National Constitution Center, Philadelphia Student Voices and Scribe Video Center.
ITVS Community Cinema Events are FREE and Open to the Public and feature advanced screenings of films coming to PBS on independent Lens! ITVS partners with public television stations and local organizations to present films that engage audiences in some of today's key issues! For a complete calendar of events: http://www.myspace.com/communitycinemaphilly. AN UNREASONABLE MAN is coming to PBS on Independent Lens, Dec 2008: http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/unreasonableman/
Nina Bloch
Office Administrator
The Committee of Seventy
8 Penn Center
1628 JFK BLVD
Suite 1002
Philadelphia, PA 19103
p. 215-557-3600 ext. 124
f. 215-557-3608
c. 267-738-4807
www.seventy.org
nbloch@seventy.org
Sunday, October 28, 2007
America Vocabulary
Name:
Period:
1. Centennial Exhibition
2. refining
3. Alexander Graham Bell
4. Thomas Alva Edison
5. republic
6. agrarian
7. craftsmen
8. homespun
9. looms (factory)
10. treadmill
11. Sam Slater
12. Eli Whitney
13. interchangeable parts
14. mass production
15. cash crop
16. dormitories
17. strike
18. turnpike
19. Conestoga
20. Erie Canal
21. Dewitt Clinton
22. Cyrus McCormick
23. transcontinental
24. Promitory Point
25. lard
26. processing
27. Longhorn
28. Chisholm Trail
29. refrigerator
30. Dakotas
31. millers
32. Iron Horse
33. Henry Bessemer
34. Andrew Carnegie
35. ferment
36. George Westinghouse
37. elevated
38. John D. Rockefeller
39. Cornelius Vanderbilt
40. J.P. Morgan
41. monopoly
42. prosperity
43. U.S. Maine
44. agriculture
45. Western Hemisphere
46. whalers
47. clipper ships
48. Yankee
49. expansion
50. export
51. spheres of influence
52. manifest destiny
53. Alfred Thayer Mahan
54. imperialism
55. Queen Lydia Liliuokalani
56. collaborators
57. William Randolf Hearst
58. Joseph Pulitzer
59. intervention
60. Philippines
61. cedes
62. Open Door Policy
63. John Hay
64. guerilla war
65. Platt Amendment
66. Guantanamo Bay
67. Roosevelt Corollary
68. The Great White Fleet
69. armada
Friday, October 26, 2007
EC: Putin on Russian Missiles
Russian President Vladimir Putin has compared US plans for a missile shield in Europe to the Cuban missile crisis of the 1960s.
The crisis saw the US and Soviet Union go to the brink of nuclear war.
Mr Putin, at a summit with EU leaders in Portugal, said the situation was "technologically similar".
But he argued there would be no repeat because Russia and the US were "not enemies anymore... we are partners" and President Bush was a "personal friend".
The 1962 stand-off was triggered when US spy planes discovered Soviet missile bases in Cuba, within striking distance of the American mainland.
Moscow's decision to deploy these weapons in Cuba was at the time seen as a response to the build-up of powerful US missiles in Europe.
Tensions were only defused when Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev agreed to dismantle the bases in return for guarantees that Washington would not attack communist Cuba.
'Similar situation'
US President George W Bush has said there is a "real and urgent" need for a missile shield in Europe as a defence against possible attack by Iran and countries in the Middle East.
His defence secretary suggested this week that the development of the bases in countries such as the Czech Republic and Poland could be slowed while Russian concerns were addressed.
President Putin said: "Let me recall how relations shaped up in a similar situation in the mid-1960s.
"Similar actions by the Soviet Union, when it deployed missiles in Cuba, provoked the Caribbean crisis. For us, technologically, the situation is very similar."
But he said the current tensions would not reach the pitch attained during the Cuban crisis.
"I agree completely with President Bush when he says that Russia and the US are not enemies anymore... we are partners. I am fully justified in saying that just as he calls me a friend, I can call him a personal friend too."
Mr Putin said Russia had put forward proposals in the area of security but "we have unfortunately not yet received any answers".
US state department spokesman Sean McCormack said there were "clear historical differences" with the Cuban crisis.
"I don't think that they are historically analogous in any way, shape or form."
Simmering tensions
EU leaders at the Portugal summit were hoping to speed progress towards a long-term agreement with Russia, that would extend to sensitive areas such as energy supplies.
The EU depends on Russia for a third of its energy needs and has seen gas supplies disrupted for two successive winters.
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso confirmed a deal had been reached on sharing information on energy supplies to pre-empt sudden shortages.
"We have agreed today on a specific early warning mechanism to deal with problems in supply before they become a possible crisis," he said.
An agreement was also reached in Portugal on working together to curb the trafficking and consumption of illicit drugs and on raising the quota for Russian steel exports to the EU.
The US is adamant that the shield - a sophisticated link-up of radar and missile systems - is intended to catch missiles in mid-air if launched from places like Iran
BBC Europe editor Mark Mardell
Disagreements with Russia over human rights and foreign policy overshadowed the start of the summit, with Russia's envoy to the EU warning that Moscow didn't "want to listen to any lectures".
In separate appeals, both Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have urged EU leaders to speak firmly and with one voice about what the groups call the Kremlin's worsening human rights record.
The Kremlin also opposes the stance pursued by several EU members on Kosovo and Iran.
Russia opposes independence for the Serbian province of Kosovo and has also criticised recent moves to impose sanctions on Iran.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/europe/7064428.stm
Published: 2007/10/26 21:21:05 GMT
© BBC MMVII
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Chapter 23 Growth of Western Democracies: 1815–1914
Parliamentary Election of 1836 Though most were unable to vote, many townspeople gathered in the marketplace to cheer or harass the candidates. Graphic source: Pearson SuccessNet.
Chapter 23 Growth of Western Democracies: 1815–1914
Section 1 Democratic Reform in Britain
Terms, etc.
rotten borough-p. 723
electorate-p. 723
secret ballot-p. 723
Queen Victoria-p. 724
Benjamin Disraeli-p. 725
William Gladstone-p. 725
parliamentary democracy-p. 725
Checkpoint
How was the British Parliament reformed during the early 1800s? p. 723
Checkpoint
What values did Queen Victoria represent and how did these values relate to economic reform? p. 724
Checkpoint
How was Parliament reformed during the late 1800s and early 1900s? p. 725
Reading Skill: Identify Main Ideas As you read this section, complete an outline of the contents. p. 723
Section 2 Social and Economic Reform in Britain
free trade-p.727
repeal-p. 727
abolition movement-p. 727
capital offense-p.727
penal colony-p. 727
absentee landlord-p. 730
home rule-p. 730
Note Taking
Checkpoint
How did abolition and criminal justice reform reflect Victorian values? p. 727
Checkpoint
Describe several social welfare reforms during the 1800s and early 1900s. p. 728
Checkpoint
Why do you think women disagreed about how best to gain suffrage? p. 729
Checkpoint
How did English policies toward Ireland affect the cause of Irish Nationalism? p. 730
Thinking Critically
1. (a) What were some possible “pull” factors for Irish emigrants? (b) How do the “push” and “pull” factors for voluntary migration differ from those for involuntary migration?
2. Connections to Today Use news sources to read about an example of recent migration. Write a one paragraph summary of the migration including explanations of push and/or pull factors influencing the migration. p. 732
Section 3 Division and Democracy in France
Napoleon III-p. 734
Suez Canal-p. 734
provisional-p. 735
premier-p. 735
coalition-p. 735
Dreyfus affair-p. 736
libel-p. 736
Zionism-p. 736
Note Taking
Checkpoint
What were some of the successes and failures of Napoleon III’s Second Empire? p. 734
Checkpoint
What challenges did the Third Republic face during its 70 years in power? p. 735
Checkpoint
In what ways was the Zionist movement a reaction to the Dreyfus case? p. 736
Checkpoint
Describe two social reforms during the late 1800s and early 1900s in France. p. 737
Section 4 Expansion of the United States
expansionism-p. 740
Louisiana Purchase-p. 740
Manifest Destiny-p. 740
secede-p. 742
segregation-p.742
Note Taking
Checkpoint
Describe the United States’ physical expansion during the 1800s. p 740
Checkpoint
How did the abolition and women’s rights movements highlight the limits of American democracy? p. 741
Checkpoint
What changes did the Civil War bring about for African Americans? p. 742
Checkpoint
Describe the factors that helped the United States become an industrial and an agricultural leader. p. 743
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
A Motivated 17 Year Old
Beth Stackpole
October 23, 2007 (Computerworld) Whatever you do, please don't call Stephanie Lee a geek. Sure, she's majoring in information technology and marketing at Marquette University in Milwaukee, where she's a senior.
But she doesn't write code, she isn't gadget-crazed or Internet-obsessed, and she positively isn't interested in a career as a programmer or tech support jockey.
What Lee is interested in is strategy. During a high school summer internship, she was charged with finding a way for a manufacturing company to more efficiently track packages overseas. Lee combed the Web for research. She chatted up employees to understand the process and the pain points. She even came up with an ROI strategy that convinced upper management to adopt her technology choice to fix their problem.
The experience ignited a passion in Lee to pursue a career in IT. "I've known ever since I was 17 that IT is for me," says Lee. "Most people assume that IT [people are] stuck in front of a computer the entire time, coding away. They don't understand that that's only one small component to our tool set -- our role is so much broader than that."
Dream employee? Absolutely. Does that mean hiring managers can expect Lee's contemporaries to enter the workforce equipped with a similar grasp of the big-picture concepts of a career in IT?
Well, no, say IT executives, human resource professionals and computer science professors.
Members of Generation Y -- roughly, the group born between the early 1980s and the late 1990s -- are arriving on the job market armed with up-to-the-minute technology skills, but they're lacking in other areas, such as business communication skills, employers say. Moreover, many are wary of IT as a viable career choice.
Tech lifestyle or tech career?
Certainly, when it comes to considering a career in technology, Generation Y is more jaded than generations past. The number of freshmen pursuing a computer science track has fallen by 70% since 2000, according to the Computing Research Association. The reasons are myriad.
Would-be technologists are turned off by the tech crash of the early '00s, the shift of jobs overseas to outsourcing providers, and an overall perception of IT as a go-nowhere, nuts-and-bolts profession, observers say.
And the up-and-coming generation puts a premium on work/life balance, having seen firsthand the toll working around-the-clock took on its parents. As a result, they tend to shy away from jobs that demand the 40-hour-plus workweeks typical of IT.
This is the group that simultaneously IMs, blogs, surfs the Web and downloads podcasts. In the end, ironically, it might be this extreme comfort with technology that most deters these young people from pursuing IT as a favorable, even desirable, career.
"To another generation, IT was cool because no one else knew much about it," notes Kate Kaiser, associate professor of IT (and one of Lee's instructors) at Marquette. "This generation is so familiar with technology, they see it as an expected part of life" -- and therefore not worthy of consideration as a full-time career.
When she's not teaching, Kaiser is an academic liaison with and charter member of the Society for Information Management (SIM). One of her responsibilities there is to work with other universities, technology companies and IT professionals to try to alter the perceptions today's youth have of technology careers.
Another of Kaiser's responsibilities is to work with other SIM members and peer professors to modify the IT curriculum nationwide. The goal is to reflect the need for up-and-comers to have stronger business, communication and project management skills -- all areas where this latest generation comes up short. "People in IT today have to be more well rounded -- they can't just have technical expertise," Kaiser says.
Web-ready collaborators
Technical proficiency is an area where newbies certainly aren't lacking. While they may not possess the tech skills of old -- expertise in outdated areas like NetWare, Cobol, even ColdFusion programming -- this new generation packs a punch with mastery of things like HTML programming and a complete comfort level with business basics like Microsoft PowerPoint and Excel, not to mention Web 2.0 advances like blogging and social networking.
Today's young workers are far more likely than their older counterparts to try using these new social and Web-based tools to solve old business problems, and they have a strong team orientation, which lends itself to the virtual collaboration so vital for today's global economy.
"By and large, this generation is very fluent with technology and with a networked world," notes James Ware, executive producer at The Work Design Collaborative LLC, a Berkeley, Calif., consortium exploring workplace values and the future of the workforce. "They're comfortable working with people in remote locations, they're comfortable multitasking, and they're not afraid to go looking for stuff. They have a sense of all things possible."
IM-speak in an IT world
Communication and basic math and writing skills, on the other hand, are not Gen Y's strong suit. According to a survey of 100 human resource professionals by outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc., although only 5% of college graduates overall were judged to be lacking in basic technical skills, more than half of entry-level workers possessed deficient writing skills and 27% were underperforming in critical thinking.
Some managers and academics attribute the skills gap to this generation's proclivity for cell-phone- and instant-messaging-induced "textspeak," regardless of whether it's for business or personal communication.
Other industry watchers view Generation Y's preference for virtual interaction in the digital world as a hindrance to developing face-to-face communications skills, a critical asset for a modern IT career. (See this article for more on what today's managers say are the hottest skills right now.)
"Part of the IT job is to teach others how to use technology, and the patience level of this generation is less than that of other workers," says Stephen Pickett, a longtime IT executive and current chairman of the SIM Foundation, a philanthropic organization dedicated to promoting IT as a career option. "We need to teach them how to talk to a leader -- how to relate to someone who's not as technically savvy as they happen to be. But all of that is learned behavior that can be changed."
Marquette's Kaiser has experienced Gen Y's communication shortcomings firsthand. She says some of her technology students often hand in work that isn't written in complete sentences, and their inclination to give an instantaneous response means they're less interested developing in writing and presentation skills.
"I'm not sure a lot of the technology things kids are doing promote their listening skills -- with IM or even Facebook, it's cryptic one-liners where they respond right away," Kaiser says. "And when you're writing with all this Web 2.0 stuff, no one cares how well you spell a word. It's a very different way of communication."
Chris Dodge is one student who certainly has his tech credentials in line. Thanks to his parents, both of whom worked in the tech sector, Dodge has been exposed to PCs since birth and knows enough to design and launch a blog, produce a podcast, or shoot, edit and post a YouTube video.
Dodge, now a sophomore at Georgetown University majoring in international politics at the School of Foreign Service, doesn't deny that his generation spends hours online in chat rooms or e-mailing and texting. But he takes exception to the suggestion that his generation's communication skills are compromised.
"Five minutes after [students] write their one-line text messages, they go to class and take five pages of notes or go back to their rooms and write 10-page research papers," he says. "I think the world is absolutely valuing speed over quality, but that doesn't mean we're incapable of appropriately expressing ourselves."
Worker Bee 2.0
The Generation Y crowd also has a different take on what it means to be an employee. While their parents may be company loyalists willing to put in long hours or pack up and move for the good of the business, not so for Generation Y.
These young people have seen firsthand the physical and emotional damage that working long hours can have on family life and health, say human resource experts. They also came of age witnessing the trauma of corporate downsizing and the outsourcing of technology-oriented positions to low-cost labor regions like India.
The new generation, therefore, is a lot less willing to bend to corporate politics and policies and has a certain air of entitlement when it comes to employment.
Generation Y, for instance, expects to be handed state-of-the-art technology (read: smart phone, laptop and wireless) as soon as they come on board, and they are less willing to start at the bottom rung and work their way up the corporate ladder.
"Generation Y is interested in wrangling their way through an organization, testing the waters and moving here or there if it so suits them," explains Jeff Alderton, principal for human capital at Deloitte Consulting LLC. "They're eventually going to get where they want to go, but in their way, not in the traditional fashion."
The new generation is also far bolder in asking for entitlements, whether it's a pay raise, training on the company's dime or simply time off. "They ask questions I never would have asked," says Mark Banks, vice president of human resources at Sciele Pharma Inc., an Atlanta-based pharmaceuticals company. "It's not about what they can do for you, but what as a company can you do to develop them."
One of the primary concerns of Generation Y is a flexible schedule and healthy work/life balance. This is a generation raised in the era of 24/7 connectivity, of wireless access and of being able to work wherever and whenever it suits them. The idea of trading in that flexibility for a structured workplace doesn't sit well with them.
Technology, they reason, is the enabler for letting people get their work done independently, without having to be in a certain place for a certain period of time.
"We have different expectations about what a work environment should be like," says Dodge. "I think a lot of us hope the age of the daily commute, the 9-to-5 workday and the cubicle farm are in the past. Certainly, with new technology, there is less of a need for the centralization of work production in an office, so long as the work gets done."
The SIM Foundation's Pickett isn't the only IT executive to say that kind of thinking is much too optimistic, if not downright deluded. Anyone looking to eventually reach a high-level management job in IT or finance -- or nearly any field, for that matter -- needs to be in the office, Pickett says. A lot.
"You can't develop relationships from afar or show leadership from afar. If you want to learn about the business, you pretty much have to be there," Pickett says. "To develop relationships with key executives, you've got to be in front of them. And you can't learn leadership skills unless you're watching how others lead."
Still, smart companies are aware of the misalignment and, where possible, are beginning to implement new policies and procedures to bring their work environments more in line with Generation Y's expectations.
Give 'Em What They Want
That's not to say companies should kowtow to the unreasonable demands of a new generation. Rather, they need to be open to embracing new work styles and finding some sort of middle ground.
"Large organizations that simply try to maintain their way of doing things in a monolithic fashion and which don't listen to and learn from younger folks are going to have problems attracting, retaining and motivating talent," says The Work Design Collaborative's Ware. "Companies have to change a bit."
Sciele Pharma is taking that message to heart. The company, where the average worker is in his mid-20s, equips its employees with state-of-the-art laptops and cell phones and has also implemented a variety of flexible work programs.
For instance, employees can adopt an alternative schedule, if approved by Banks and their managers, where they can work from home one day a week or come in between the hours of 6 a.m. and 9 a.m. and leave as early or late as they want, provided their work is done. Employees work 36.5-hour weeks, the company closes at 4 p.m. on Fridays, and workers are able to leave at noon the day before a holiday.
IT people in particular have the option of working from home. Those who have operational-type responsibilities -- monitoring and troubleshooting systems or doing EDI work, for example -- are encouraged to work at home a day or so a week and are given the equipment to make that happen, says David Bennett, IT director at Sciele Pharma. Those with development jobs are eligible to take advantage of flextime as well.
"Any job that lends itself to routine operations or where there is a need for a lot of solitary time to dig into a problem, [those employees] can work from home as long as it doesn't interfere with any planned meetings," Bennett says. "It creates benefits for the employee and the environment and makes for a better quality of life."
With quantifiable kinds of roles, Sciele can easily measure employees' results and hold them accountable, which in turn helps the company monitor whether its flextime arrangement is working, Bennett explains.
As progressive as Sciele Pharma may be, all of its work/life balance programs have essentially kept it in the hiring game but not necessarily given it an edge. "Employees today come in with these expectations," Banks says. "This has helped us retain our workforce, not attract a new workforce."
Stackpole has reported on business and technology for more than 20 years.
Bismarck Video Vocabulary: Due 24 October 2007, the printer has been down since last Thursday, you will need to print a copy yourself.
Bismarck Video Vocabulary
NAME:
PERIOD:
1. kaiser
2. Fatherland
3. imperial
4. balance of power
5. Iron & Blood
6. Hessians
7. Prussia
8. parliamentarian
9. statesman
10. chaos
11. economic
12. abdication
13. Queen Victoria
14. prime minister
15. order
16. profitable
17. unification
18. Germanic
19. Schleswig-Holstein
20. Denmark
21. embarked
22. Habsburgs
23. squandering
24. mobilizing
25. lurch
26. indissoluably
27. protector
28. exploit
29. rearguard
30. excellency
31. majesty
32. permeating
33. nationalism
34. Franz Joseph
35. Hohenzolleren
36. expediencies
37. reparations
38. relinquish
39. anarchy
40. insurrection
41. consent
42. yearned
43. unassailable
44. unfaltering
45. despotism
46. Sieg Heil
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Current Events: Russia
MOSCOW (AFP) - Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev founded a new political movement on Saturday aimed at fighting democratic abuses in Russia, but not at challenging President Vladimir Putin's rule.
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"We are putting our hopes in the efforts that Putin is making" to reform Russia, Gorbachev told some 200 delegates at the founding congress of the Union of Social-Democrats in central Moscow.
But Gorbachev, 76, who will lead the movement, also highlighted "negative tendencies," including a lack of real political debate, pressure being put on non-governmental groups and high levels of corruption.
"We are fighting for power, but only for power over people's minds," said Gorbachev.
His new movement is not a political party and will therefore not take part in parliamentary elections in December.
United Russia, the dominant party in the Russian parliament, is set for a landslide victory in the elections after Putin announced earlier this month that he would run as its top candidate.
The deadline for parties to register for the elections passed on October 17.
A statement issued by the movement said that "the potential for free democratic choice and political competition is being limited.... This is why social-democrats are uniting to fight for the values of freedom and fairness."
Gorbachev was the last general secretary of the Communist Party and is generally unpopular in Russia as he is associated with a period of political upheaval and economic collapse.
After his attempts at reforming Communism fell through and the Soviet Union broke apart in 1991, he became head of the Russian Social-Democratic Party, which failed to win any seats in the 2003 parliamentary elections.
He has received numerous awards in the West and is a frequent speaker at international events. He has a more visible public role in Russia as head of the Gorbachev Foundation, which funds charity and education.
In his speech on Thursday, Gorbachev praised Putin for not changing the country's constitution to allow himself to run for a third consecutive term, when his period in office runs out next year.
"The president was under pressure and the fact that he did not give in to it is important from the point of view of democracy," Gorbachev said, referring to calls for Putin to change the constitution.
Putin, who came to power in 2000, remains very popular in Russia as he is credited with the country's economic revival and with boosting Russia's role in world affairs.
Russians are to elect a new president in March 2008 but there is still uncertainty about what role Putin could play in Russia's political future and who his favoured successor might be.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
FAQ; How do I look up vocabulary words? (You may need a Period 1 or Period 2 Code but the procedure is the same)
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Type in your User name and password:
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Period 4:
B30280F36307C8E635E7
Once you accessed the Pearson success net site, scroll down the middle of the page to Research Center.
Once there, click on it, and you will have a dictionary, a thesaurus, etc. to look these terms up.
Try this and let me know how it goes, what you can't find, what questions you have etc.