blog # 10

Shaniel Done

ENGL 101 – 0768

Dr. Vasileiou

Essay # 3

11/28/12

            You preferred unethical means and violation of privacy to ensure you’re safe?

            In history safety has been one of the most important subjects in order to protect and reduce any type of accident or criminal threats.  The world has made many changes in terms of safety, but each change has reduce personal privacy and freedom, this makes people uncomfortable because almost no one is willing to give their rights for safety or change their life style to follow a new safety system.  In this essay I will write about how our society is using unethical means and violating privacy to ensure safety and I will give my opinion of why should we do so regardless of the ethical considerations of the means necessary.  I will use the film of Free Will and Determination, an article of Stop and Frisk and an article of Violence Prevention after Columbine: a survey of high school mental health professionals, to support my position and to prove my point of view.

             Much high school has the metal detectors and securities agents to help reduce any type of school violation and to keep a safe environment for all students.  This prevents students to injure any other classmate or staff and it made student feel safe inside the school grounds.  In columbine high school “between June 1994 and June 1999, 177 homicides of student between ages five and 19 were committed at school. Eighty-four of these homicides involved firearms” this demonstrated that without a safety system student could be able to use any type of weapon and hurt or kill other student or staff, if this high school had metal detectors or any other system to be able to reduce these attacks from 1994 to 2000 things could be different and many student were alive even if the rights were taken away, but look what happened because they did have too much freedom. If a system during these homicides were made to help prevent such action like in the movie Free Will and Determination a system called pre-crime is used to prevent crimes of happening, is where the police target the potential criminals before they commit the crime, this is a system close to one we have in real life is called stop and frisk where basically you will be stop if the officer see you as one potential criminal,  this system is something that during 1994 to 2000 direct existed but now we do have it to prevent any other event like these in the future .                

The new system of stop and frisk has not been approved by many people or for these that are been targets of this new system. Many people do not see the safety systems as save, but as other way of ethnic discrimination, of been a target at the streets or many people thinks the government has something against them.  Latinos in many stated are afraid of being on the streets because just for their looks they may get stop and asked for their documents or they are tired of being stop, I has being stop a couple of time  from 2010 to 2012, it happened in from of my house, getting out of  my high school or in the train station, but if this help keep the country save this is what should be done for example this article says “ the city that never sleeps is celebrating after 24 hours without a savage attack… residents of the metropolis, with a population of more than eight million, experienced not a single murder, shooting or stabbing… in 1990 new York saw 2,300 in just 12 months… there have been 366 killings so far this year, with compares with 472 at this time last year” this mean that even when Latinos or black males criticize the stop and frisk system the number show that it is working that many people are not dead today because of this unethical system, this is one o the reason we should keep using the system regardless of the ethical considerations of the means necessary to protect and created a better tomorrow.

Many people are against of this unethical system. This country have many ethnic groups that come from a history of slavery or a place where the government control their lives complexly and for these reasons they made the decision of immigrated or fight for their independence.  when these people see that their rights are been take away they refuse and everything star to be black and white, they don’t see that they may be getting save, or that these unethical move made by the government are for they own benefit. For example in school with metal detectors the student needs to do a line in order to pass by the machine, they need to take their belt off, their jackets, back pack, hats and sometimes even the shoes, all of this take too long and the student may get late to classes and this is irritating but all the matters is that they are save does not matter how long it takes to get to class but that each of the student will be able to be educated in a place where their safety is more important.

In conclusion safety is important regardless of the ethical considerations of the means necessary to keep a good environment even when your rights are being violated because you still alive and that’s what is important. To many people has died because the place they where it was no safe enough, the only way of safety we have deprive us of many human rights but that’s the only things keeping us safe from any terrorist or any other type of attacks and into we created a new system that protects us without taking our rights this is the system we need to use.   

                                                        Works Cited

Crepeau, M.Franci, MaryLynne Fillacio, and Linda Gottfried. "Violence Prevention after Columbine: A Survey of High School Mental Health Professionals." 25 Mar. 2005: 157-65. Laguardia.edu/libary. Web. 1 Dec. 2012.

"Start Spreading the News. New York Enjoys Its First Day Free of Violent Crime; NO MURDERS, SHOOTINGS OR STABBINGS IN CITY." The Mirror (London, England) [ireland] 30 Nov. 2012: 1. Print.

Minority report. Dir. Steven Spielberg. Perf. Tom Cruise. Amblin, 2002. Film

bolg # 9

Shaniel Done

ENGL 101 – 0768

Dr. Vasileiou

Essay # 3

11/28/12

            You preferred unethical means and violation of privacy to ensure you’re safe?

            In history safety has been one of the most important subjects in order to protect and reduce any type of accident or criminal threats.  The world has made many changes in terms of safety, but each change has reduce personal privacy and freedom, this makes people uncomfortable because almost no one is willing to give their rights for safety or change their life style to follow a new safety system.  In this essay I will write about how our society is using unethical means and violating privacy to ensure safety and I will give my opinion of why should we do so regardless of the ethical considerations of the means necessary.  I will use the film of Free Will and Determination, an article of Stop and Frisk and an article of Violence Prevention after Columbine: a survey of high school mental health professionals, to support my position and to prove my point of view.

             Much high school has the metal detectors and securities agents to help reduce any type of school violation and to keep a safe environment for all students.  This prevents students to injure any other classmate or staff and it made student feel safe inside the school grounds.  In columbine high school “between June 1994 and June 1999, 177 homicides of student between ages five and 19 were committed at school. Eighty-four of these homicides involved firearms” this demonstrated that without a safety system student could be able to use any type of weapon and hurt or kill other student or staff, if this high school had metal detectors or any other system to be able to reduce these attacks from 1994 to 2000 things could be different and many student were alive even if the rights were taken away, but look what happened because they did have too much freedom.

The new system of stop and frisk has not been approved by many people or for these that are been targets of this new system. Many people do not see the safety systems as save, but as other way of ethnic discrimination, of been a target at the streets or many people thinks the government has something against them.  Latinos in many stated are afraid of being on the streets because just for their looks they may get stop and asked for their documents or they are tired of being stop, I has being stop a couple of time from 2010 to 2012, it happened in from of my house, getting out of my high school or in the train station, but if this help keep the country save this is what should be done.

Many people are against of this unethical system. This country have many ethnic groups that come from a history of slavery or a place where the government control their lives complexly and for these reasons they made the decision of immigrated or fight for their independence.  when these people see that their rights are been take away they refuse and everything star to be black and white, they don’t see that they may be getting save, or that these unethical move made by the government are for they own benefit. For example in school with metal detectors the student needs to do a line in order to pass by the machine, they need to take their belt off, their jackets, back pack, hats and sometimes even the shoes, all of this take too long and the student may get late to classes and this is irritating but all the matters is that they are save.

In conclusion safety is important regardless of the ethical considerations of the means necessary to keep a good environment even when your rights are being violated because you still alive and that’s what is important.

                         Works Cited

Crepeau, M.Franci, MaryLynne Fillacio, and Linda Gottfried. "Violence Prevention after Columbine: A Survey of High School Mental Health Professionals." 25 Mar. 2005: 157-65. Laguardia.edu/libary. Web. 1 Dec. 2012.

"Start Spreading the News. New York Enjoys Its First Day Free of Violent Crime; NO MURDERS, SHOOTINGS OR STABBINGS IN CITY." The Mirror (London, England) [ireland] 30 Nov. 2012: 1. Print.

Minority report. Dir. Steven Spielberg. Perf. Tom Cruise. Amblin, 2002. Film.

blog # 8

Shaniel Done

ENGL 101 – 0768

Dr. Vasileiou

Essay # 3

11/26/12

                                             Are you a puppet or a puppeteer?

            Have you stop and think for a second if you whether have the control over the strings of your life or if the strings that control your life are been move for you.  Many people believe that they are in control over their own life, that any actions they make or made was because they want or wanted to make it, but there are others that believe that something us has such power and that their fate have been already decide. The theme of free will is debatable by both sides, the people that believe on free will and the people who doesn’t mostly people that are involve in any type of religion. I will compare and contrast the perspective of the movie minority report and the play Oedipus the king on the issue of how much control humans have over their lives.

            In Oedipus the king is notable how Oedipus seen to fallow his curse step by step but that way I see it he make his own decisions, the problem is that his decisions are not the best and all his actions lead him one step closer to his curse.  One of the examples is when he fined out for the first time that he was curse and that he was support to kill his father and marry is mother, he decided to leave the city and that action lead him to kill a old man that happened to be his real father, but he was not force to do such a thing he act by his own will. He had two options when he was about to kill the old man in his way, one is that he could let the old man go or just kill him, Oedipus made his decision even when was the wrong one.  The way Oedipus move his strings is what give shape to his fate not other supernatural force.

            In the movie minority report john the main character see himself in a world with a system called pre-crime, a system made to indentify a crime before it happened, but it only work with murders.  Pre-crime find the victim and the killer, but the problem is that the murderer has an option to no kill the victim, but they are arrested even when they haven kill no one yet.  John fall in the system hi is accused of murder but johns try to prove he is innocent by choosing not to kill the man that he was suppose to kill, this is something he decide to do, proving that pre-crime was not always correct.

            John and Oedipus both choose their path, they both were in power of their lives the differences between both is that one choose better options, for example Oedipus was able to changed his life, but his own decisions push him to his curse, John in the other hand saw a opportunity to change his fate choose to do so by choosing not to kill the man and that’s how he fined the true.

            In conclusion both the movie and the play show that your fate have not been written, is your actions what define your future, you have the strings on your hands and is all up to you to move them as you want.           

blog # 7

Shaniel Done

10/24/12

English 101

           “Situations in life where people live in an illusion or refuse to accept the truth”

           

            Many years ago people believe in magic or black magic, they believe that witches were real and many people still believing that they do.  If a man or woman were doing things that were not considered as normal, then she or he will be considered a witch. Many years ago theses person under that accusation of being a witch will have a penalty of death, they will be burned a life in from of all the people, but maybe that woman or man were just preparing medicine using organic ingredients like plants as many cultures does now, but back them they were kill for these reason. Now many people work as magicians or wizards but they don’t get kill for it because the world realize that such thing doesn’t exist that many people use what they call magic to impress people or get some money.                           

blog # 6

Shaniel Done

English 101

10/17/12

                                                           Destiny decide for you

             In the play Oedipus the king, Oedipus actions always attract him to his destiny, he is aware of his curse, he know that he is suppose to kill his father and marry his mother and doesn’t matter how he try to abort it, he end up following what is suppose to be his destiny.  Oedipus has no power to control his future or his own actions, for example in the moment that Oedipus and Teiresias are arguing Teiresias mention something “nothing I do will harm you. You, you and your fate belong to Apollo. Apollo will see to you” Apollo is the god created of Oedipus, who curses him, who own Oedipus life and will according to Teiresias. 

Teiresias is the prophet, the one who speck with Apollo, who know the true behind Oedipus shadows, Teiresias even know what will happen to Oedipus before it happen for example in one part of the play Oedippus joke about Teireisas blindness, there is when Teoresias tell Oedipus something about his own future “and I pity you for mooching my blindness. Soon everyone in thebes will mock you, Oedipus. They’ll mock you as you have mocked me” as we know when Oedipus find up that he play his part in the curse and his mother tock her life, Oedipus tock his eyes out and he was just as Teiresias both blind.  This demonstrated how every action of Oedipus has been calculated by Apollo and how Oedipus has no power in his actions.

            Oedipus was push to fulfill his destiny; every step, action, thought, make by him took him closer and closer to his destiny.  One example is when Teiresias says “you have eyes to see with, but you do not see yourself, you do not see the horror shadowing every step of your life, the blind shame in which you live”, something us that make me think that Oedipus has not control over his life is something also mention by Teiresias “that gift is your destiny. It made you everything you are, and it has ruined you” this support my idea that Oedipus doesn’t control his life, his life was given to him without his approval and no one has the power to change it no even himself.              

blog # 5

Shaniel Done

ENGL 101 – 0768

Dr. Vasileiou

Essay # 1

10/01/12

                                                           What is a real Utopia?

            Every improvement made in the history of the human race take us one step closer to what we call a Utopia, a place where everything is perfect, I mean nothing and again nothing goes wrong, where diseases are a myth and everyone is equal, we are moving away from a dystopia, a place with many mistakes and imperfections, but this does not mean we are there yet.  In this essay I will demonstrate how the world presented in the movie Gattaca is not a Utopia but a Dystopia by providing evidence and details of skill discrimination and others that support my point of view from the movie Gattaca, the views Annas offers in his essay, and examples from human history as well as the present.

            In the movie Gattaca from the beginning to the end of the movie one topic is always present and that topic is skills discrimination, is more than clear that the new ideal human, the genetically engineered human are in the top of the pyramid and the “normal” human are beneath. When a society or community separate two groups and call them different, that’s when one of the groups will feel discriminated by the other and the time will lead to confrontations, fights, and unhappiness, finally both groups will see the other as the enemy.  In this movie being normal is not a fortune, being normal means that you are not going to be eligible for many type of work, you will be limited.  Now is this a Utopia? –no—this is not something that I will call perfect, African American versus the white man, Dominican versus Haitian, poor people versus the rich… this fights goes on and on it doesn’t stop, this is something that is keeping us away from a Utopia dream.

            George j. Annas mention the novella “Animal farm” by George Orwell where “all animal are equal, but some are more equal than others” George j. Annas is trying to demonstrate how the perfect human will see themselves as more equal than the other and how better does not mean perfect.  George j. annas essay shows all the negative sides of the movie Gattaca it explain that such future is not a utopia and that to become one it most have several changes.  For example is all humans were able to live more than nineties years or so than wont we have problem with overpopulation or will all the natural reassures be enough for such amount of people?  Of course the eradication of terminal illnesses, the environmentally safe means of transportation the advances in technology etc… are really good thing for the word and we want to get there, but all of that does not mean we are in utopia yet, no into all problems are solved.

            In Gattaca Vincent face many struggles and he find himself skill discriminated because he is normal, his goal is to travel to space, but for been normal the closer to a spaceship he gets is to clean the office of the company.  In his world you have a job according to your genes, skill and if you are a genetically engineered human, the better you are the better your job.  This clearly demonstrates the discrimination over normal humans and how their skills are what represent each one.

Lest think about phones, almost every year about five to six new phones are made and each more and more expensive, people buy them because “they are better than the old ones”, but is this really truth.  Well many people prefer the old because the battery holds more, are more indestructible for the material is made, are less expensive and does its job.  Now the new phone does not look so better, this is a example from today and also a metaphor to compare a genetically engineered human and the normal human in terms of skills for example in Gattaca Anton the younger brother the perfect one “the new” surpasses his older brother in many aspects including in the game call “chicken” where they swing as far as they can and the first to give up and swing back to the shore is the loser, Anton used to win, hi was good at that game but Vincent the normal brother he finally prove that he is not imperfect by defeating his younger brother twice.

            Is more than clear that the word presented in Gattaca is not a utopia because still have negatives sides and a utopia for all we know shouldn’t have such problems or mistakes it should be perfect in every sense of the word, Gattaca is a better dystopia than today for all the advances in the fields of technology, medicine et.. but upon anything the human survival.       

Blog #4: essay #1 complete draft

blog # 3

Shaniel Done

ENGL 101 – 0768

Dr. Vasileiou

Essay # 1

10/01/12

                                                          What is a real Utopia?

            Every improvement made in the history of the human race take us one step closer to what we call a Utopia, a place where everything is perfect, I mean nothing and again nothing goes wrong, where diseases are a myth and everyone is equal. In this essay I will demonstrate how the world presented in the movie Gattaca is not a Utopia but a Dystopia by providing evidence and details that support my point of view from the movie Gattaca, the views Annas offers in his essay, and examples from human history as well as the present.

            In the movie Gattaca from the beginning to the end of the movie one topic is always present and that topic is discrimination, is more than clear that the new ideal human, the genetically engineered human are in the top of the pyramid and the “normal” human are beneath. When a society or community separate two groups and call them different, that’s when one of the groups will feel discriminated by the other and the time will lead to confrontations, fights, and unhappiness, finally both groups will see the other as the enemy.  In this movie being normal is not a fortune, being normal means that you are not going to be eligible for many type of work, you will be limited.  Now is this a Utopia? –no—this is not something that I will call perfect, African American versus the white man, Dominican versus Haitian, poor people versus the rich… this fights goes on and on it doesn’t stop, this is something that is keeping us away from a Utopia dream.

            George j. Annas mention the novella “Animal farm” by George Orwell where “all animal are equal, but some are more equal than others” George j. Annas is trying to demonstrate how the perfect human will see themselves as more equal than the other and how better does not mean perfect.  George j. annas essay shows all the negative sides of the movie Gattaca it explain that such future is not a utopia and that to become one it most have several changes.  For example is all humans were able to live more than nineties years or so than wont we have problem with overpopulation or will all the natural reassures be enough for such amount of people?; Of course the eradication of terminal illnesses, the environmentally safe means of transportation the advances in technology etc… are really good thing for the word and we want to get there, but all of that does not mean we are in utopia yet, no into all problems are solved.

            Lest think about phones, almost every year about five to six new phones are made and each more and more expensive, people buy them because “they are better than the old ones”, but is this really truth.  Well people prefer the old because the battery holds more, are more indestructible for the material is made, are less expensive and does its job.  Now the new phone does not seen so better, this is a example from today and also a metaphor to compare a genetically engineered human and the normal human.

            Is more than clear that the word presented in Gattaca is not a utopia because still have negatives sides and a utopia for all we know shouldn’t have such problems or mistakes it should be perfect in every sense of the word, Gattaca is a better dystopia than today for all the advances in the fields of technology, medicine et.. but upon anything the human survival.