The Legal Drinking Age 18 or 21 - 1770 Words

When someone turns 18 they acquire certain rights. They can vote for legislation, enroll in the military and buy a house. Before 1984, they were also allowed to buy alcohol. This all changed when President Reagan signed the National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984. This act stated that the drinking age would change to 21 and it has remained that way since. There has been controversy on the effectiveness of the law because most people drink before they turn 21. Which side is right? Was Reagan correct for implementing the drinking age as 21 or are the multiple college president and chancellors of Amethyst Initiative that believe it should be 18? Between the 1920’s and 1933 the use and purchase of alcohol was illegal. In 1933 when†¦show more content†¦Also, a drinking license would be issued to people who pass the final exam at the end of the 40-hour course (Lenek 1958). A new effort is also being made by the group called Amethyst Initiative, which was introduced by Choose Responsibility. One hundred and thirty five chancellors and college presidents have signed the Initiative to support a new way to prepare the youth for drinking. It’s no surprise that college students drink, college chancellors are not oblivious and want to prepare their students. The American Journal on Public Health stated, â€Å"College students are more likely to engage in heavy drinking than their peers who do not attend college. Two in five students nationally engaged in binge drinking on at least one occasion in the past two weeks†(Nelson 987). It’s a big problem in the United States. Colleges have started taking action toward helping students with alcohol education. As I enrolled into University of Massachusetts this semester, it was mandatory to take â€Å"My Student Body† which is an online course that taught basic facts about alcohol and marijuana. It had two parts; a survey that determined whether you were a light, medium or heavy drinker, and then there were information articles about alcohol that you were tested on later. It seems silly that there would be an alcohol survey for the incoming class if the drinking ageShow MoreRelatedMicroeconomics Essay- Suppose the Government Raises the Legal Drinking Age in the Uk from 18 to 21. Conduct an Economic Analysis of This Policy to Examine Its Impact on Affected Markets.1260 Words   |  6 PagesSuppose the government raises the legal drinking age in the UK from 18 to 21. Conduct an economic analysis of this policy to examine its impact on affected markets. With reference to the above statement, if the UK government were to increase the legal drinking age from 18 to 21 there are two markets that would mainly be affected- the producers, which is the alcohol industry as a whole and the consumers who are the UK citizens between the age of 18 and 21. A market is a group of buyers and sellersRead MoreThe Legal Drinking Age Should Not Be Lowered988 Words   |  4 PagesThe Legal Drinking Age Should Not Be Lowered There are copious amounts of people who believe that the legal drinking age should be lowered to eighteen. Others think the drinking age needs to remain the same. A few of those also conclude the legal age of adulthood should be raised to 21. The belief is if the adolescent brain has not matured enough to support alcohol use by age 21, it cannot make the responsible decisions required at 18 years of age. Voters should make the decision toRead More The Drinking Age Should NOT Be Lowered Essay1006 Words   |  5 Pagesminimum legal drinking age. Choose Responsibility, a group founded by John McCardell, proposes that upon completion of a 40 hour course to educate young people about alcohol, 18, 19, and 20 year old people should be licensed to drink. The Amethyst Initiative, part of Choose Responsibility, is a petition to Congress to rethink the minimum legal drinking age. Several college leaders have signed this petition in the belief that lowering the minimum legal drink ing age will reduce binge drinking on collegeRead MoreShould The Legal Alcohol Age Be Changed?1560 Words   |  7 Pages To fight for our country at the age of 18 and seeing things that only you could imagine in the battlefield. Coming home from deployment and just wanting a simple beer for your hard work but not being able to buy any because you are not 21 years of age. How is that fair to the men in the military forces? Fighting for our country’s freedom but not being able to have a few beers with your closest friends and family members. The topic of the legal alcohol age being changed has been a great topicRead MoreKeeping the Minimum Legal Drinking Age1283 Words   |  6 Pagesminimum legal drinking age in the United States or not. Many Americans forbid the idea of legalizing the drinking age so that it would be profitable to the businesses. Likewise, there have been many advantages and disadvantages of why should the government allow young adults drink under the age of 21. To prevent this issue, many Americans have provided reasoning that will support the idea of keeping the minimum legal drinking age where it is now. The government should maintain the minimum legal drinkingRead MoreThe Legal Drinking Age Should Be Lowered From The Age Of 21 Essay980 Words   |  4 Pagesconsidered â€Å"adults† cannot even make their own decisions? The drinking age on alcohol is a controversial social and cultural issue in today’s society; all fifty states have a minimum drinking age of 21. The legal drinking age should be lowered from the age of 21 to 18 allowing young adults to be granted the right to drink in restaurants, bars, at social events, in the comfort of their own home, and so on. If anything, lowering the legal drinking age would have a positive impact on the United Sates economyRead MoreLegalizing the Drinking Age to 181624 Words   |  7 PagesLegalizing the Drinking Age to 18 When people turn to the age of eighteen, they are finally considered an adult. They can join the army, have the right to vote, buy cigarettes or tobacco products, get a tattoo and even die for our country, but they aren’t allowed to buy alcohol? A person can be responsible enough to live on his or her own, make money, pay bills, and yet they are not old enough to purchase or consume any type of alcohol. Underage drinking has been a major controversial issue forRead MoreThe Generations Of People Who Were Born After 1984 Have1284 Words   |  6 PagesThe generations of people who were born after 1984 have only known the minimum legal drinking age (MLDA) to be 21 years old. But, it was not so long ago when the minimum legal drinking age was 18. In 1984 Congress passed the MLDA Act as a result of the rise in drunk driving accidents involving teens and alcohol related deaths. This Act ultimately made the states raise their MLDA to 21 from 18 for fear of losing federal highway fun ds. There have been many debates about it and whether or not it shouldRead MoreThe Minimum Drinking Age Act1692 Words   |  7 PagesMinimum Drinking Age Act. This act stated that all states must raise their minimum drinking age to 21. Individuals under the age of 21 would now be prohibited from purchasing or being in public possession of any alcoholic beverage. Though not every state was keen on this idea, they all jumped to raise the minimum drinking age due to the government threat that they would lose up to 10% of their federal highway funding if they ignored the request. However, since the National Minimum Drinking Age Act wasRead MoreMinimum Legal Drinking Age Should Be Lowered1253 Words   |  6 Pages Minimum Legal Drinking Age Should the drinking age be lowered from 21 to a younger age? Ever since the end of prohibition in 1933 the United States government has placed the issue of minimum legal drinking age sensitively in the hands of the states, letting each decide for itself what the minimum age should be. At that time all agreed that the minimum legal drinking age should be 21, where it remained for all states until

How to Build Sentences With Appositives

An appositive is a word or group of words that identifies or renames another word in a sentence. As weve seen (in the article What Is an Appositive?), appositive constructions offer concise ways of describing or defining a person, place, or thing. In this article, you will learn how to construct sentences with appositives. From Adjective Clauses to Appositives Like an adjective clause, an appositive provides more information about a noun. In fact, we may think of an appositive as a simplified adjective clause. Consider, for example, how the following two sentences can be combined: Jim Gold is a professional magician.Jim Gold performed at my sisters birthday party. One way to combine these sentences is to turn the first sentence into an adjective clause: Jim Gold, who is a professional magician, performed at my sisters birthday party. We also have the option of reducing the adjective clause in this sentence to an appositive. All that we need to do is omit the pronoun who and the verb is: Jim Gold, a professional magician, performed at my sisters birthday party. The appositive a professional magician serves to identify the subject, Jimbo Gold. Reducing an adjective clause to an appositive is one way to cut the clutter in our writing. However, not all adjective clauses can be shortened to appositives in this fashion--only those that contain a form of the verb to be (is, are, was, were). Arranging Appositives An appositive most often appears directly after the noun it identifies or renames: Arizona Bill, The Great Benefactor of Mankind, toured Oklahoma with herbal cures and a powerful liniment. Note that this appositive, like most, could be omitted without changing the basic meaning of the sentence. In other words, its nonrestrictive and needs to be set off with a pair of commas. Occasionally, an appositive may appear in front of a word that it identifies: A dark wedge, the eagle hurtled earthward at nearly 200 miles per hour. An appositive at the beginning of a sentence is usually followed by a comma. In each of the examples seen so far, the appositive has referred to the subject of the sentence. However, an appositive may appear before or after any noun in a sentence. In the following example, the appositive refers to roles, the object of a preposition: People are summed up largely by the roles they fill in society --wife or husband, soldier or salesperson, student or scientist--and by the qualities that others ascribe to them. This sentence demonstrates a different way of punctuating appositives--with dashes. When the appositive itself contains commas, setting off the construction with dashes helps to prevent confusion. Using dashes instead of commas also serves to emphasize the appositive. Placing an appositive at the very end of a sentence is another way to give it special emphasis. Compare these two sentences: At the far end of the pasture, the most magnificent animal I had ever seen—a white-tailed deer—was cautiously edging toward a salt-lick block.At the far end of the pasture, the most magnificent animal I had ever seen was cautiously edging toward a salt-lick block—a white-tailed deer. Whereas the appositive merely interrupts the first sentence, it marks the climax of sentence two. Punctuating Nonrestrictive and Restrictive Appositives As weve seen, most appositives are nonrestrictive--that is, the information that they add to a sentence is not essential for the sentence to make sense. Nonrestrictive appositives are set off by commas or dashes. A restrictive appositive (like a restrictive adjective clause) is one that cannot be omitted from a sentence without affecting the basic meaning of the sentence. A restrictive appositive should not be set off by commas: John-Boys sister Mary Ellen became a nurse after their brother Ben took a job at a lumber mill. Because John-Boy has multiple sisters and brothers, the two restrictive appositives make clear which sister and which brother the writer is talking about. In other words, the two appositives are restrictive, and so they are not set off by commas. Four Variations 1. Appositives that Repeat a NounAlthough an appositive usually renames a noun in a sentence, it may instead repeat a noun for the sake of clarity and emphasis: In America, as in anywhere else in the world, we must find a focus in our lives at an early age, a focus that is beyond the mechanics of earning a living or coping with a household. —Santha Rama Rau, An invitation to Serenity Notice that the appositive in this sentence is modified by an adjective clause. Adjectives, prepositional phrases, and adjective clauses (in other words, all of the structures that can modify a noun) are often used to add details to an appositive. 2. Negative AppositivesMost appositives identify what someone or something is, but there are also negative appositives that identify what someone or something is not: Line managers and production employees, rather than staff specialists, are primarily responsible for quality assurance. Negative appositives begin with a word such as not, never, or rather than. 3. Multiple AppositivesTwo, three, or even more appositives may appear alongside the same noun: Saint Petersburg, a city of almost five-million people, Russias second-largest and northernmost metropolis, was designed three centuries ago by Peter the Great. As long as we dont overwhelm the reader with too much information at one time, a double or triple appositive can be an effective way of adding supplementary details to a sentence. 4. List Appositives with PronounsA final variation is the list appositive that precedes a pronoun such as all or these or everyone: Streets of yellow row houses, the ochre plaster walls of old churches, the crumbling sea-green mansions now occupied by government offices-- all seem in sharper focus, with their defects hidden by the snow. —Leona P. Schecter, Moscow The word all is not essential to the meaning of the sentence: the opening list could serve by itself as the subject. However, the pronoun helps to clarify the subject by drawing the items together before the sentence goes on to make a point about them.

Rights and Status of Women Free Essays

Overall, the rights and status of women have improved considerably in the last century; however, gender equality has been threatened within the last two decades. Blatantly sexist laws and practices are slowly being eliminated while social perceptions of â€Å"women’s roles† continue to stagnate and even degrade back to traditional ideals. It is these social perceptions that challenge the evolution of women as equal on all levels. We will write a custom essay sample on Rights and Status of Women or any similar topic only for you Order Now In this study, I will argue that subtle and blatant sexism continues to exist throughout educational, professional and legal arenas. Women who carefully follow their expected roles may never recognize sexism as an oppressive force in their life. I find many parallels between women’s experiences in the nineties and Betty Friedan’s, cofounder of the National Organization of Women, in her essay: The Way We Were – 1949. She dealt with a society that expected women to fulfill certain roles. Those roles completely disregarded the needs of educated and motivated business women and scientific women. The subtle message that society gave was that the educated woman was actually selfish and evil. I remember in particular the searing effect on me, who once intended to be a psychologist, of a story in McCall’s in December 1949 called â€Å"A Weekend with Daddy. † A little girl who lives a lonely life with her mother, divorced, an intellectual know-it-all psychologist, goes to the country to spend a weekend with her father and his new wife, who is wholesome, happy, and a good cook and gardener. And there is love and laughter and growing flowers and hot clams and a gourmet cheese omelet and square dancing, and she doesn’t want to go home. But, pitying her poor mother typing away all by herself in the lonesome apartment, she keeps her guilty secret that from now on she will be living for the moments when she can escape to that dream home in the country where they know â€Å"what life is all about. † (Fetzer, 57) I have often consulted my grandparents about their experiences, and I find their historical perspective enlightening. My grandmother was pregnant with her third child in 1949. Her work experience included: interior design and modeling women’s clothes for the Sears catalog. I asked her to read the Friedan essay and let me know if she felt as moved as I was, and to share with me her experiences of sexism. Her immediate reaction was to point out that, â€Å"Betty Friedan was a college educated woman and she had certain goals that never interested me. † My grandmother, though growing up during a time when women had few social rights, said she didn’t experience oppressive sexism in her life. However, when she describes her life accomplishments, I feel she has spent most of her life fulfilling the expected roles of women instead of pursuing goals that were mostly reserved for men. Unknowingly, her life was controlled by traditional, sexist values prevalent in her time and still prevalent in the year 2000. Twenty-four years after the above article from McCall’s magazine was written, the Supreme Court decided whether women should have a right to an abortion in Roe v. Wade (410 U. S. 113 (1973)). I believe the decision was made in favor of women’s rights mostly because the court made a progressive decision to consider the woman as a human who may be motivated by other things in life than just being a mother. Justice Blackmun delivered the following opinion: â€Å"Maternity, or additional offspring, may force upon the woman a distressful life and future. Psychological harm may be imminent. Mental and physical health may be taxed by child care. There is also a distress, for all concerned, associated with the unwanted child, and there is the problem of bringing a child into a family already unable, psychologically and otherwise, to care for it. In other cases, as in this one, the additional difficulties and continuing stigma of unwed motherhood may be involved. † (Goldman, 205) I feel the court decision of Roe v. Wade would not have been made in 1949. Even in 1973, it was a progressive decision. The problem of abortion has existed for the entire history of this country (and beyond), but had never been addressed because discussing these issues was not socially acceptable. A culture of not discussing issues that have a profound impact on women is a culture that encourages women to be powerless. The right of abortion became a major issue. Before 1970, about a million abortions were done every year, of which only about ten thousand were legal. Perhaps a third of the women having illegal abortions – mostly poor women – had to be hospitalized for complications. How many thousands died as a result of these illegal abortions no one really knows. But the illegalization of abortion clearly worked against the poor, for the rich could manage either to have their baby or to have their abortion under safe conditions. (Zinn, 499) A critic of the women’s movement would quickly remind us that women have a right to decline marriage and sex, and pursue their individual interests. However, I would argue that the social pressure women must endure if they do not conform to their expected role is unfair. The problem goes beyond social conformity and crosses into government intervention (or lack thereof). The 1980’s saw the pendulum swing against the women’s movement. Violent acts against women who sought abortions became common and the government was unsympathetic to the victims. There are parallels between the Southern Black’s civil rights movement and the women’s movement: Blacks have long been accustomed to the white government being unsympathetic to violent acts against them. During the civil rights movement, legal action seemed only to come when a white civil rights activist was killed. Women are facing similar disregard presently, and their movement is truly one for civil rights. A national campaign by the National Organization of Women began on 2 March 1984, demanding that the US Justice Department investigate anti-abortion terrorism. On 1 August federal authorities finally agreed to begin to monitor the violence. However, Federal Bureau of Investigation director, William Webster, declared that he saw no evidence of â€Å"terrorism. Only on 3 January 1985, in a pro-forma statement, did the President criticize the series of bombings as â€Å"violent anarchist acts,† but he still refused to term the acts as â€Å"terrorism. † Reagan deferred to Moral Majoritarian Jerry Falwell’s subsequent campaign to have fifteen million Americans wear â€Å"armbands† on 22 January 1985, â€Å"one for every legal abortion† since 1973. Falwell’s anti-abortion outburst epitomized Reaganism’s orientation: â€Å"We can no longer passively and quietly wait for the Supreme Court to change their mind or for Congress to pass a law. † Extremism on the right was no vice, moderation no virtue. Or, as Hitler explained in Mein Kamph, â€Å"The very first essential for success is a perpetually constant and regular employment of violence. † (Marable, 40-41) This mentality continued on through 1989 during the Webster v. Reproductive Health Services (109 S. Ct. 3040 (1989)) case. â€Å"The Reagan Administration had urged the Supreme Court to use this case as the basis for overturning Roe v. Wade. † (Goldman, 767) It is disturbing that the slow gains achieved by the women’s movement are so volatile and endangered when conservative administrations gain a majority in government. To put the problem into perspective: a woman’s right to have an abortion in this country did not come until 1973. Less than two decades later, the president of the United States was pushing to take that right away. It seems blatant that society is bent on putting women in their places. From the above examples, it appears American culture prefers women as non-professional, non-intellectual, homemakers and mothers. This mentality is not easily resolved, because it is introduced at a young age. Alice Brooks experienced inequality on the basis of her race and her sex. In her autobiography, A Dream Deferred, she recalls the reaction of her father when she brought up the idea of college to him: â€Å"I found a scholarship for veterans’ children and asked my father to sign and furnish proof that he was a veteran. He refused and told me that I was only going to get married and have babies. I needed to stay home and help my mother with her kids. My brother needed college to support a family. Not only was I not going to get any help, I was also tagged as selfish because I wanted to go to college. † (Fetzer, 234) This is another example of women being labeled as selfish for wanting the same opportunities as men. Alice Brooks is seemingly a very courageous woman; having the ability to overcome any oppression she may encounter. She states that â€Å"women who succeed in male dominated fields are never mediocre – they are extraordinary achievers. † Her insight encapsulates much of the subtle sexism that exists today. I feel that no one can truly be equal in a society when only the â€Å"extraordinary achievers† are allowed to succeed out of their expected social role. This attitude of rising blatant and subtle attacks on women’s civil rights is further exemplified in recent reactions to affirmative action plans. These plans have been devised to try to give women and minorities an opportunity to participate in traditionally white male dominated areas. However, we see the same trends in legal action for the use of affirmative action plans as we saw in the 1980’s backlash against the Roe v. Wade decision. A few interesting points were presented in the case, Johnson v. Transportation Agency, Santa Clara (480 U. S. 616 (1987)). Mr. Paul E. Johnson filed suit against the Santa Clara County Transportation Agency when he was denied a promotion, feeling the company’s affirmative action plan denied him of his civil rights. Some interesting facts were presented in this case: â€Å"Specifically, 9 of the 10 Para-Professionals and 110 of the 145 Office and Clerical Workers were women. By contrast, women were only 2 of the 28 Officials and Administrators, 5 of the 58 Professionals, 12 of the 124 Technicians, none of the Skilled Crafts Workers, and 1 – who was Joyce – of the 110 Road Maintenance Workers. † (Goldman, 784) The above statistics show women have been considerably underrepresented at the Santa Clara County Transportation Agency. These numbers are not uncommon and are found throughout business. It is interesting to note the current popular perception is that affirmative action precludes white males from finding employment with companies that implement these plans. The truth is in the numbers, however. The fact that Mr. Johnson felt he was denied his civil rights because an equally qualified woman was given a promotion, instead of him, is just a small window into the subtle sexism that exists today. Most critics of affirmative action do not consider the grossly unequal numbers of men in management and professional positions. Secondly, it never seems an issue of debate that a woman may have had no other previous life opportunities in these male dominated areas. I do not intend to argue that affirmative action is good or bad, but only wish to point out that the current backlash against these programs is heavily rooted in sexism and racism. Often blatant violence or unfair acts against a group of people will cause that group to pull together and empower themselves against their oppressors. The women’s movement has made large steps to eliminate many of these blatantly sexist acts in the last century. Now the real difficulty is upon us: subtle acts of sexism and the degrading social roles of women in today’s conservative culture. Alice Brooks so eloquently described her experiences with inequality, stating, â€Å"the worst pain came from those little things people said or did to me. † (Fetzer, 236) As these â€Å"little things† accumulate in the experience of a young woman, she increasingly finds herself powerless in her relationships, employment, economics, and society in general. The female child has as many goals as the male child, but statistically she is unable to realize these goals because of the obstacles that society sets in front of her. Society and media attempt to create an illusion that women have every right that men enjoy. However, women will never be equal until the day female scientists, intellectuals, professionals, military leaders, and politicians are just as accepted and encouraged to participate in all of society’s arenas as males. How to cite Rights and Status of Women, Essay examples

Argument On Sexting free essay sample

The term â€Å"sexting† is a combination of the words sex and texting, and refers to the practice of sending sexually photos electronically. Sexting seem like fun and games in the beginning, but it can take its toll. The act of sexting has many negative consequences that people are yet to realize. Sexting gives teenagers the feeling of acceptances and the chance to be popular by gaining attention. What they fail to realize is the attention they are receiving is negative and it affects their reputation. However, sexting has become a widespread experience that has destroyed lives and has caused emotional distress to many teenagers and young adults today. A 13 year old girl named, Hope, committed suicide. She sent a topless picture to a boy she likes, and then he let one of his friend’s uses his phone and that person located the picture that Hope had sent to him, and the girl sent it around the school. We will write a custom essay sample on Argument On Sexting or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page When Hope returned back to school students was calling her â€Å"Slut† and â€Å"Whore† and that became bullying. Although Hope regrets sexting there is nothing she can do about it now. Every day she attended school it became harder and harder to ignore the bullying. When her family asked her what’s wrong? She remains positive and acted like everything is okay. It was one day when she realizes she was tired of fighting, tired of the name calling. Hope hanged herself in her bedroom and was pronounced died. Suicide and sexting goes hand in hand because sexting can lead to suicide if you bully the person to their breaking point. Hope wasn’t a bad girl, she just made bad choices. Her death was second in nation connecting to sexting and teen suicide. People commit suicide because they don’t like what they going through, they believe that’s the easy way out. I feel that that’s probably how Hope felt she was tired of being bullied every time she came to school. I am not saying it’s a good thing that she done. There were alternatives that Hope could have thought about other than death. She could have seek counseling to talk about her issues, talk to her principal about the constant bullying that took place at school, or even if it was that bad at school she could’ve consider asking your parents can you transfer schools. Bad behavior does face dire consequence and that’s exactly what Hope faced. Kids participate in sexting without thinking about the consequences. But in one impulsive move, they can alter their lives from that point forward. As bullying, ridicule and embarrassment escalate around the sexting, teens can start to feel hopeless and become depressed. They also may contemplate suicide which is what Hope later went into. The consequence that Hope had to go through was unbearable for her to handle so she decided to end it all. When Hope was going through the bullying at school she did not tell no one. She lacked of communication, I think if she would’ve talked to her parents, teachers, and counselors I truly believe her life could’ve been saved. Whenever she had problems she turned to her journals expressing her thoughts. But I feel like she should have come to an adult because they could have stopped the bullying or even talked her out of life changing decisions. She may have felt like she was alone she just needed to know that people care and that people are willing to help her no matter what. In Conclusion, Hope learned from her experience, as in the article Hope said she learned and just wanted to move past the incident but her peers at school didn’t let her. She did wish she can take it all back but at that moment it was too late the damage was already done. If Hope’s parents were more involved I truly believe they could’ve saved a life. Parents should have shown up at Hope’s school checked in with the teachers more frequently it would’ve helped. Sexting should be prohibited from young teen maybe 18 of age seems a little more reason able. I believe that no child should ever have to go through these feelings. Hope opened a lot of young teen’s eyes to stop the sexting. Sending someone nudes can have so much effect on you and it’s not even worth it at the end of the day. It may be fun now but can take a toll on your life later. If you do think about sexting also think about the consequence and is it all worth it in the long run. If your answer is no, then you don’t need to be sexting at all.