The Great Debaters: The Wiley College Debate Team Essay -- Film, Movie

Introduction Conflict is inevitable in any personal relationship or among members of any group. While we encounter many types of conflict in our lifetime, we often look for ways to avoid conflict. So, why do we run away from dealing with our conflict? It is often because many of us fear the conflict will escalate into a situation we will not be able to sustain. â€Å"As conflicts escalate, they go through certain incremental transformations. Although these transformations occur separately on each side, they affect the conflict as a whole because they are usually mirrored by the other side. As a result of these transformations, the conflict is intensified in ways that are sometimes exceedingly difficult to undo† (Pruitt, and Kim 89). We see many of these intense moments of escalating conflict throughout the story of The Great Debaters. The Great Debaters is based on a true story of three African-American students faced with the escalating conflict of racism in the 1930’s, w ith their English College Professor, Melvin B. Tolson bringing them together to create the first African-American debate team. â€Å"An outspoken Wiley College professor who boldly challenged the discriminatory Jim Crow laws of the 1930s, Tolson's recognizes that his young debate students possess the spark of a new generation. Convinced that they could invoke great change if given the confidence and tools needed to do so, the tireless educator implores his students to take responsibility for the future while furtively attempting to protect them from his clandestine role as an organizer for the Southern Tenant Farmers Union. Chief among Tolson's promising young students is a 14-year-old prodigy named James Farmer, Jr. Farmer's father, James Sr., is a renown... ...y successful in eliminating the escalating conflict they were faced with; they were also given an opportunity to address the racism and oppression they had experienced over the years. Works Cited Buchanan, Jason. "The Great Debaters Plot & Synopsis." Rev. of The Great Debaters. Moviefone. AOL Inc., 13 May 2008. Web. 11 July 2010. . Pruitt, Dean G, and Sung Hee Kim. Social Conflict: Escalation, Stalemate, and Settlement. 3rd ed. 2004. New York: McGraw-Hill Higher Education, 2004. Print. The Great Debaters - Negroes should be admitted to the same college as whites. Denzel Washington. MGM, 2007. YouTube. Web. 11 July 2010. . Watkins, Karen. â€Å"When Co-Workers Clash.† Training and Development Journal, 2003: 26-27. Web. 11 July 2010.

Dream Act for Dreamers

DREAM Act for DREAMers Life is not easy to be a perfect for anyone. Everyone needs something all the time. People always try to effort to get what they want and need. Many people including me come to the United States to get a better future life but immigration to a new country is not as easy as what we expected. Majority of people come to the United States to achieve their dreams. Some immigrants have real documents enter into the United States but some do not. Those people who do not have real documents are called illegal immigrants.Most of them made across the border enter into the United States. No matter what they are legal or illegal, all of them are here looking for a good life. Many different people from different countries come to the United States because America is a land of immigrants. Legal immigrants are properly becoming the United States citizenship under the laws but illegal immigrants are still waiting to fulfill their dreams. We might have a question to ask,  "Should immigration law change for the illegal immigrants to gain their legal status†? Answer may vary from different views.Some people agree that immigration law should change if undocumented immigrants, who already here for many years, they pay taxes, obey the laws and are a good man for the country. Some people do not agree that immigration law should change for the undocumented immigrants because they enter into the U. S. by breaking the law. One of the undocumented immigrants, Jose Antonio Vargas, shares his own experience of living as an illegal immigrant in the United States in his two articles â€Å"My Life as an Undocumented Immigrant,† and â€Å"Not Legal Not Leaving. Vargas was born in Philippine and grew up in the United States from his teen age. His mother sent him to the U. S. without real documents to live with his grandparents when he was 12 years old. Finally, he found out that he came to the U. S. with fake documents after he turned to age of 16. He c oncerned about someone figured out his secret one day and then he kept his status for many years. It made him uncomfortable upon people who help him a lot, he finally decided to announce about his real life and identity to the public.He is not only an undocumented immigrant but also a gay. He declared his status and requested for the DREAM Act (the Development, Relief, and Education for Alien Minors Act), which would help the people, who did not have real documents, to be a legal citizenship available to them. Unfortunately, Vargas does not qualify for the program because of his age —- now he is over 30. Although Vargas does not have a chance to apply the program, he fights for the young undocumented immigrants. The Dream Act is eligible for young people who arrived to the U.S. as minors, graduated from high school in the U. S. , and lived in the U. S. at least 5 years. Lately, the Department of Homeland Security announced that young people who were in the country illegally w ould stop deportation and got work permits under the program. However, The DREAM Act legislation has not passed yet. The U. S. Congress should pass the DREAM Act for the DREAMers who eligible for the program so that they can finish their higher education, contribute to the societies, and make more economic growth in the future for our country.The DREAMers, young people who are illegal immigrants, have grown up here and already assimilated into the culture. All of them were brought here illegally by their parents and relatives. They didn’t have their own choice to come to the United States. According to Vargas’s article â€Å"Not Legal Not Leaving,† there are estimated 11. 5 million people of illegal immigrants live in the United States and they are still struggling like him for a better life (Vargas, 2012, p. 1). Like Vargas, all of illegal immigrants were brought to the United States when they were children.They all are here to find for their better future. The y might face many more problems than regular immigrants face because they didn’t have real documents to show proof of live here legally. Some undocumented immigrants are already deported but some are still remained. Vargas said, â€Å"I am sorry for what I did, but I did it because I had to live and survive† (Vargas, 2012, p. 5). They broke the law because they had no choice for living and surviving their lives in a new country. Although they pay taxes that the U.S. citizens do, they do not get equal rights as a citizen. They only get a benefit from their efforts is a stressful life. We should consider those young people to fulfill their American dream. The Congress should pass the DREAM Act for those young people who eligible to apply the program. If DREAM Act will pass, more DREAMers can finish their education and get well-paying jobs. For example, if some of them will become doctors, they can cure different diseases to safe many people lives.And also they can give m ore support to their societies and the country. Similarly, the DREAMers were obliged by their parents and relatives they had no choice. They did not break the law directly. However, their parents and relatives broke the law. The adults got only one reason which they wanted to give a better future life for their children. Vargas told us that he believed himself as an American even though America didn’t count him yet for an American (Vargas, 2011, p. 2). Like Vargas, they all believe that America is their home.They were raised here and they knew nothing where else. They all are creating a better life and hoping their dream comes true. Vargas describes, â€Å"I’ve created a good life. I’ve lived the American dream† (Vargas, 2011, p. 2). They all are same as like Vargas and they have their own story why they are here. No matter what they break the law or not, we should allow the young people who have educated here, paid taxes and being a good man to gain thei r status to be a legal immigrant.If the DREAM Act will pass, the minors can step towards their American dream. If so, those millions of minors can make our country to be a better place and more economic growth in the future. The Congress should pass the DREAM Act for those young undocumented immigrants because they have been living here for many years and they are educated, worked, and paid taxes like other residents and American citizens. People are never perfect; we make a mistake at least one time in our whole life. We should give a chance to try their lives better.If the DREAM Act is passed, they will be allowed to stay like permanent residents and will have to contribute more their communities or societies and make their lives better than before. To fulfill their dream come true, the DREAM Act should pass for the minors (or) DREAMers. References Vargas, J. (2011, June 22). My life as an undocumented immigrant. New York Times. Retrieved from http://www. nytimes. com/2011/06/26/m agazine/my-life-as-an-undocumented-immigra nt. html? Vargas, J. (2012). Not legal not leaving. (Cover story). Time, 179(25), 34-44.

Should Old People Be Allowed to Drive - 1416 Words

Should Old People be allowed to Drive? The debate of whether old people should be allowed to drive is often brought up by younger drivers, the reality is that all able bodied people who are healthy should be able to drive but as old age arrives it is inevitable our health will decrease. There are many different arguments on this subject and it is a wide spoken debate amongst road users, I will concentrate on both opinions and arrive at a conclusion as to whether old people should be allowed to drive. A survey conducted on surveycentral.org showed 76.5% of people voted that old people should be able to drive if they can pass a driving test. (fig 1) It would be immoral to say that old people should not be allowed to drive. This kind of†¦show more content†¦If old people are unable to think clearly when under pressure on the road they should not be allowed to drive (4). Furthermore it is proven older drivers have fewer accidents than younger drivers there is a tendency that they will be involved in more fatal accidents as they are older and their bodies more frail than younger drivers. (4) Reaction times is a serious and complex issue amongst drivers and especially older drivers, the term â€Å"reaction time† can be split into 3 categories; (6) †¢ Mental Processing Time †¢ Movement Time †¢ Response Time There is a fine line between this argument as although it is well established that older people have slower reaction time (fig 4). Older people have more experience on the road and have the ability to foresee any danger. Henceforth the deficiency which is caused by old age is made up by the fact that old people drive slower and have more experience. (6) Eyesight is an extremely extensive subject and varies amongst different people, and most old people do develop eyesight problems as they get older. (7) Studies suggest 1 in 5 people over 75 live with sight loss. (7) These figures show the clear link between eyesight problems and old age. One must realise that other people’s lives are being taken into the hands of the driver whilst he/she is driving and if a driver is unable to see the features of objects he or she looks at, such as colour, shape, size, details, depth, and contrastShow MoreRelatedDriving Age Should Not Be Raised812 Words   |  4 Pagesage should not be raised Vroom, vroom! The first time behind the wheel alone--exciting, nerve-racking, free. No parents or instructors, just yourself and the car; all decisions are solely made by you. Are you ready, are you... old enough? The discussion of keeping the minimum driving age at 16 or raising it to 21 revolves around generic maturity, but there is more than just that to look at. 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