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Climate Change

Zach Romeo — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 21:34:33 +0000

Climate Change is Real

Thanks to extensive research and noticeable changes in weather and storm prevalence, it’s getting harder to turn a blind eye to the reality of climate change. Since the Industrial Age spurred the increasing usage of fossil fuels for energy production, the weather has been warming slowly. In fact, since 1880, the temperature of the earth has increased by 1 degree Celsius.

Although 72% of media outlets report on global warming with a skeptical air, the overwhelming majority of scientists believe that the extreme weather of the last decade is at least partially caused by global warming. Some examples of climate calamities caused partly by global warming include:

Hurricane Katrina
Drought in desert countries
Hurricane Sandy
Tornadoes in the Midwest

These storms, droughts, and floods are causing death and economic issues for people all over the world – many of whom cannot afford to rebuild their lives from the ground up after being wiped out by a tsunami or other disaster.

Evidence also indicates that the face of the Earth is changing because of warming trends. The ice caps of the Arctic are noticeably shrinking, the ice cap of Mt. Kilimanjaro alone has shrunk by 85% in the last hundred years, and the sea levels are rising at the rate of about 3 millimeters per year because of all the melting ice. Climate change is also affecting wildlife – for instance, Arctic polar bears are at risk of losing their environment; the Golden Toad has gone extinct; and the most adaptable species are evolving into new versions capable of withstanding warmer water.

Despite some naysayers with alternative theories about why global temperatures are rising – including the idea that the earth goes through natural temperature cycles every few millennia – the dramatic changes in the earth’s atmospheric makeup suggests humans are to blame. In fact, 97% of scientists agree humans are responsible for climate change. Since the Industrial Revolution, carbon dioxide levels increased 38% because of humans, methane levels have increased 148%, nitrous oxide is up 15% – and the list goes on and on, all because of human-instigated production, manufacturing, and organizations and individuals work hard to promote an Earth-friendly existence, resistance to change is rampant and actions are slow. For instance, while the US Environmental Protection Agency is still working on collecting data to support development of greenhouse gas reduction expectations for businesses, most of their efforts feel more like pre-research than actual change. Other countries have made efforts – such as signing to Kyoto Protocol to reduce their 1990 emission levels by 18% by 2020 – but the only solution will require the whole world band together.

Steps anyone can take to reduce global warming include:

Driving a car with good gas mileage, or investing in a hybrid or electric car
Switching from incandescent light bulbs to CFL or LED
Insulating your home and stocking it with energy efficient appliances
Recycling
Using green power available in your area

Check out the infographic below to see what else the changing climate is affecting.

Climate Change by LearnStuff.com is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at http://www.learnstuff.com/climate-change/.

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Evaluating the Quality and Authenticity of Web Content

Upload — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 18:47:42 +0000

Evaluating the Quality and Authenticity of Web Content

The World Wide Web offers a vast amount of information for everyone, from students to professionals. The Internet can become your own personal library, as you browse pages created by experts, organizations, governments and universities. However, the Web also acts as a double-edged sword: as anyone has the ability to create and host a website, there are plenty of websites that carry false information. Worse, there are even some websites that can be predatory, as they ask you for personal information and use location-based services to track down information about your Internet searches.

The following is a guide to help you evaluate the quality and authenticity of web pages when necessary.

Content and Evaluation

In order to evaluate the content of a website, you should first ask yourself who has created the website? Does the author have expertise? For example, if you are doing research on contemporary art history, what might be a good resource to go to? The Metropolitan Museum of Art–one of the largest museums in the world–has an excellent site that reviews this art movement. This is an example of a trusted Web resource, as it it created by an authoritative and respected institution. Other questions you should ask yourself is can the content be verified by other sources? This is most important if the website itself has no information on the author. You can check the expertise of an author via Google Scholar, as well as a simple Google search. Additionally, does the depth of the information meet your research needs? Does the site include contact information, and does it include relevant and appropriate links?

Source and Date

The source and date of relevant websites are also important to note when using a website for research purposes. The site should be currently maintained; you can check this, as most sites include last date entries. You can also check for posting, as well as editing dates. There should also be up-to-date information for topics that are required. You also want to know who is overseeing the website, and if references are fully cited. The latter is especially important if you are using the website for research purposes.

Structure

Is the website appropriately presented on the website? Do all the relevant links work? Is the information laid out in a coherent manner? Authentic websites are are regularly updated usually follow basic graphic design principles; the website’s text also correctly follows the rules of grammar and spelling, as well as literary composition.

Additional Resources

Here are some additional resources that further discuss how to evaluate the quality and authenticity of a web page.

UCLA Library, Thinking Critically about World Wide Web Resources: UCLA offers an excellent and thorough guide on thinking critically about valid web resources.
University at Albany: The University Libraries systems at University of Albany provides tips on evaluating web content.
San Diego State University, Library & Information Access: San Diego State University’s website provides information on why individuals should evaluate the content of websites, as well as questions to ask when reviewing a website’s content.
Lesley University: Lesley University lists the criteria for evaluating websites.

The World Wide Web provides endless resources through an infinite number of web sites, although some may present false information. (Image taken by John Foxx. Courtesy of Getty Images.)

The Drug Policy Alliance

Upload — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 18:44:05 +0000

The Drug Policy Alliance

The Drug Policy Alliance is the nation’s leading organization for the promotion of alternative legislation on drug policy. Its reform ideals are based on human rights, science, health and compassion.

Mission Statement

The DPA’s mission is to assist in the development of new drug policy initiatives that promote sensible drug reform and alter current drug policies that are harmful or excessive. DPA has helped hundreds of thousands of people that were facing jail time avert incarceration and treatment programs. DPA also works to shape the perception of drug users. For instance, DPA assists those that use drugs such as medicinal marijuana and works to ensure they are not viewed as a criminal. As a result of new policy reforms, states such as California have saved more than $2.5 billion by eliminating ineffective laws and procedures. DPA’s ultimate vision is to create a world where people are not prosecuted for the substances that they choose to put in their bodies.

The History of Alliance

The DPA was founded in July 2000 as a result of merging the Lindesmith Center, a drug policy think-tank and the Drug Policy Alliance. The Drug Policy Foundation was founded in 1987 by a professor at American University, Arnold S. Trebach JD PhD, and an attorney, Kevin Zeese, who was the former director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. Together, they introduced a number of initiatives for drug reform along with a regular publication, and an awards program to recognize noteworthy drug reform policies.

The Lindesmith organization, on the other hand, was founded in 1994 by a professor of politics at Princeton University, Ethan Nadelmann JD, PhD, who had written a number of papers on drug policy. The two organizations, Lindesmith and the Drug Policy Foundation, merged on July 1, 2000 and began operating as the Drug Policy Alliance. It’s supporters are both varied and affluent, and come from a number of industries. Arianna Huffington, Russell Simmons and Sting are some examples of its supporters, just to name a few.

Policy Advanced by the Alliance

DPA has advanced several projects since 2000. One of its most recent projects is its participation in the Rhode Island decriminalization project, which successfully played a part in urging Governor Chafee to sign the marijuana decriminalization bill.

Another recent accomplishment was sparking the debate about drug policy reform in Latin America. As a result of DPA’s lobbying, several presidents in Latin America including Colombia, Costa Rica and Guatemala began to discuss decriminalizing marijuana. Guatemalan President, Otto Perez Molina, garnered worldwide attention after delivering a speech about the decriminalization of marijuana.

The most recent accomplishment in 2012, however, was the passing of the Good Samaritan law in California, which encourages people to call 911 during an overdose in exchange for immunity or a low-level drug violation charge.

Future Projects

Future DPA projects entail the legalization of marijuana in the United States. This undertaking has been divided into two projects. The first is focused on urging President Obama to end the federal criminalization of marijuana, which in some cases overrides state laws such as in California and Colorado. The second part urges people to contact their legislators in hopes of garnering support for the federal bill that would end federal marijuana prohibition.

Additional Resources

CA Driver Safety Guidelines
The Top 11 Driver Distractions
The Role of Driver Distractions in Accidents: The AAA report on driver distractions and accidents
Distraction.Gov: The official government website for distraction driving
Types of Distracted Driving: The Center for Disease Control’s lists types of distracted driving.
State Laws Against Texting While Driving: A state by state map disclosing which states have a ban on texting while driving
Shocking Statistics on Texting While Driving: A CBS report on texting on driving .
Don’t Text and Drive: Statistics about texting and driving.
Mothers Against Drunk Driving Statistics
Impaired Driving Statistics: Drunk driving statistics provided by the Center of Disease Control.

Ethan Nadelmann of the Drug Policy Alliance.

(Image provided courtesy of World News Inc.)

Kansas State Legislature

Upload — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 18:38:34 +0000

Kansas State Legislature

Located in Topeka, the Kansas legislature is a bicameral assembly comprised of two chambers: the lower House of Representatives, which has 125 members and the upper Senate with 40 members. Members work part-time and the legislature generally meets once a year for 90 days, beginning in January.When it is necessary, the governor has the authority to call special legislative sessions.

Bills

According to the Kansas constitution, either chamber may introduce a bill or statute for discussion. It then goes through a series of of steps before it can be signed into law.

After a bill is proposed, it is referred to a committee which conducts hearings and deliberations and can propose amendments. Following the initial committee consideration, the bill is then sent back to the house of origin for further deliberations and amendments. It is then voted on by the entire house and sent to the second house.

The second house repeats the steps of the first house before the bill can be recommended to the governor. The second house has the chance to accept the bill as is, amend it or even send it back to the house of origin for clarification for more deliberation.

Once approved by both houses, the governor may sign the bill into law. However, if the bill is vetoed, it is sent back to the assembly where each chamber must pass it again but this time with two thirds majority in order to override the veto.

Statutes

Statutes work in a similar fashion to bills, however, as in other states or governing bodies, statutory laws are not meant to be enforced by the executive branch like regulatory laws. They are designed to be general, codified laws which courts or regulatory bodies may then apply to specific situations. In Kansas these statutory laws apply to everything from the certification of public accountants or providing consumer credit scores to elections and taxation.

Current Kansas State Statutes

Kansas Congressional Resources

Kansas Legislature Educational Resources

Additional Kansas Legislative Resources

A view of the Capitol Building in Topeka, Kansas.

(Photo by Nikopoley. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.)

State Government Database

Upload — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 22:58:32 +0000

This state and local government database provides links to official state websites. It also includes links to the governor office’s homepage and each state’s legislative and judicial branches. Using the information provided by this database, you can voice your opinion about current political issues and advocate for your community through the policy makers who represent your area.

Each state offers users a way to contact their elected state and national congressmen online, as well as a way to email the Office of the Governor. Typically, this can be done by visiting the websites of the legislative or executive branch online. There is also a telephone number and physical address for these offices listed on each website if you would rather call or visit the office of your elected official.