ESL 5301-002 Gun Control
Data Commentary II
1. Data Commentary #2
According to the statistical data provided by Ipsos, most of the survey participants believed the law should allow citizens to obtain guns and use deadly weapons to protect themselves (Reuters/Ipsos poll: gun rights & regulations, 2012). However, about half of the supporters are not strong supporters. About 74% of the survey participants also indicated that the law should place a limitation on gun sales. Almost all participants believed checking background at gun sales was necessary. The survey result showed that most people agreed with gun carry with proper limitations probably due to the public security consideration. Lawmakers may consider what specific limitations they should place on gun sales and gun carrying to protect the people.
Comment: This is an online survey. The sample is 1,922 random selected American. I believed students in Texas Tech will respond similarly because people do not want to lose the right to carry a weapon to protect themselves but they do not want to be hurt by hostile gun holders either. (Ruizhi)
Reference
Reuters/ Ipsos poll: gun rights & regulations. (2012, April 12). Ipsos. Retrieved on September 17, 2015 from http://static.reuters.com/resources/media/global/editorial/interactives/ipsos-poll-gun-control/ipsos-poll-gun-control.html
2. Data Commentary 2
In the article “More than 6 in ten Americans say guns make homes safer”, by Justin McCarthy, a survey result on Americans’ idea about increasing house safety by having guns is shown in the chart. The poll was originally done by Gallup in 1993 and it was repeated every two years until 2014 to measure the variation of public idea on this subject. The chart demonstrates the result of the survey from 2000 to 2014 and participants are categorized as Democrats, Republicans and independents. As the chart shows, the percentage of people who believe having a gun in the house will improve safety is increasing for all categories. However, the rate of percentage growth for Republicans is higher compared to two other groups. The investigation shows that the percentage of Republicans who support this idea in 2014 was 81% which is almost twice the percentage amount in 2000 (41%). Among Democrats, this percentage changed from 28% in 2000 to 41% in 2014, and also for independents the variation was about 35% in 2000 to 64% in 2014. Therefore, as a result it can be understood that Democrats generally are less in favor of having guns to increase their home security compared to other group members. However, the percentage of people who support this idea has tended to increase over these years. (Soraya)
McCarthy, J. (2014). More than 6 in ten Americans say guns make homes safer. Gallup. Retrieved on September 17 from http://www.gallup.com/poll/179213/six-americans-say-guns-homes-safer.aspx
3. Data Commentary 2
According to the article “Concealed Carry on College Campuses Support”, a survey has been done regarding campus carry at the University of Texas at Austin. As described in the article, different variables were considered as effective parameters which could be taken into account. Political party, conservatism, liberalism and race were among those categories, and results were reported in bar graphs. The respondents were given five choices including strongly support, somewhat support, somewhat oppose, strongly oppose and don’t know. In one case, they were asked about the political party which they were leaning toward. The result bars were shown in blue, gray and dark red depending if they were Democrat, Independent or Republican respectively. As the results are demonstrated in the graph, eight percent of Democrats strongly supported campus carry and fifteen percent of them chose “somewhat support” as their favorable answer. However, fifty-seven percent of Democrats were strongly opposed to that as well as fifteen percent of moderate opposition as they chose “somewhat oppose”. Of course the remaining seven percent did not have any specific preference as they chose “Don't know”. On the other hand, thirty-five percent of the Republicans strongly supported campus carry followed by thirty four percent of moderates who support it as they chose “somewhat support”. Twenty-five percent of them where opposed to campus carry in which almost half of them felt strongly about that. Similar to the results for Democrats, seven percent of Republicans also did not know about their opinions.
The results for Independents were reported as thirteen percent strongly support, twenty percent somewhat support, twenty-two percent somewhat oppose, twenty-nine percent strongly oppose and sixteen percent did not know.
As it can be observed from the results, almost seventy percent of the Republicans are pro-gun carry on campuses, in contrast to Democrats who showed only twenty-three percent support. This shows that the political view of the respondents might play a key role in achieving a closer outcome to reality; so it seems essential to put that on future surveys, and it can be included for preparing a poll in Texas Tech University. This is not a surprise to see Republicans in favor of campus carry and Democrats with more opposition; however, it should be noted that political views of students could change dramatically from a more liberal city like Austin in comparison to Lubbock. It could mean that the ratio of Democrat population to Republican population should be considered as a variable as well. (Sina)
Concealed Carry on College Campuses Support (2015, February). University of Texas/Texas Tribune Poll. Retrieved on September 17, 2015 from http://texaspolitics.utexas.edu/set/concealed-carry-college-campuses-support-february-2015#party-id
4. Data Commentary 2
According to the article “Twelve facts about guns and mass shootings in the United States”, the author, Ezra Klein (2012), talks about the 12 facts about different aspects of gun control. The tenth fact is the survey conducted by Gallup (1990) that whether people think about “the laws covering the sale of firearms should be made more strict”. In the graph, it shows that the percentage of people supporting the laws more strict decreased from 78% in 1990 to 44% in 2010 while the percentage of opponents increased from 1990 to 2010 and even exceeded the percentage of supporters in 2009. It eventually reached 54% in 2010. For the reason that support for gun control decreases, Ross Douthat (2012) believed two factors result in this phenomenon. One is the reduction of crime rate. The other one is the attitude of personal right exceeds advocacy of social responsibility. Besides, it had a small fluctuation after 1999 when the most deadly high school shooting in American history happened. We can infer that people’s attitudes toward gun control laws were influenced if shooting accidents occurred. (Kai)
Reference:
Klein, E. (2012, December 14). Twelve facts about guns and mass shootings in the United States. The Washington Post. Retrieved on September 17, 2015. http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonkblog/wp/2012/12/14/nine-facts-about-guns-and-mass-shootings-in-the-united-states/
Douthat, R. (2012, July 24). The Gun Rights Tilt. The New York Times. Retrieved on September 17, 2015. http://campaignstops.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/07/24/the-gun-rights-tilt/?_r=0
5. Public supports many gun control policies
This is a bar graph that shows people who support many gun control policies. 98% are in favor of the policy of background checks. The other 2% are opposed to these background checks. The difference between those in favor and those opposed to the ban of semi-automatics is very small (58% and 42% respectively). The difference between those in favor and those opposed to the ban of high capacity clips is also not that large (60% and 40% respectively). 90% of people support the ban of guns for felons and the mentally ill, while 10% do not. The majority opposed the limit of guns for individuals (about 55%). 75% support gun registration while 25% oppose. However, 90% are opposed to complete abolition of guns while 10% are in favor of this.
Most people are in favor of guns. However, they are in favor of restrictions to be set in place to avoid any misuse of them. (Samah)
Reference:
Do Americans Want More or Less Gun Control? Both, Actually. (Dec 14, 2012). Retrieved: (Sept 17, 2015). From http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2012/12/do-americans-want-more-or-less-gun-control-both-actually/266312/
6. Data Commentary
According to the results from an Ipsos poll about gun rules and regulations conducted for Thomas Reuters, 75% of the participants in the survey are in favor of allowing law-abiding citizens to carry concealed firearms. Also 67% of participants believe in using deadly force in public spaces for the purpose of self-defense. However, 74% of the participants support a “law limiting the sale of automatic weapons” and as many as 91% of the participants believe that background check should be one of the requirements in allowing the sale guns. These results show that the majority of pro-gun people are also in favor of laws that prohibit wrong guns from falling into wrong hands. (Pouria)
Reference
Guns rights and regulations. (2012, Apr. 13). Ipsos/Reuters poll. Retrieved on September 17, 2015 from http://ipsos-na.com/news-polls/pressrelease.aspx?id=5586
7. Data Commentary #2
According to the annual mass shooting casualties graph in motherjones.com, the numbers of injured and fatalities has increased gradually from 1982 to 2012. Between 1982 and 1998, the number of fatalities are under 40 and the number of injured were under 60 except in the year 1991. In 1999, the number of fatalities increased to above 40 and the number of injured also increased to more than 80 because of Columbine high school. Between 2000 and 2012, the number of fatalities 20 and under, and the injured were under 80. The exception was in the year 2007; the number of fatalities was around 70 and injured 90. Also, in 2012 there were almost 79 fatalities and more than 140 injured because of Sandy Hook and Aurora Theater. Therefore, allowing the carry of guns on campus will increase the number of fatalities and injured. (Ebtehal)
Reference
Mass shootings in the US are on the rise. (2012)Mother Jones. Retrieved on September 17, 2015 from http://www.motherjones.com/special-reports/2012/12/guns-in-america-mass-shootings
8. Data Commentary
Regarding gun rights and regulations, Ipsos poll made a survey of people’s ideas from 1,922 Americans conducted from April 9th – 12th, 2012. The findings were listed in four charts. In the second chart, we can see there are 67% of participants who totally agree with the idea that the law should allow citizens to use deadly force to protect themselves in a public space. In contrast, 27% of people in the survey were against this proposal. In addition, 6% of participants had no clear idea on this argument. From the data, it shows that more than half the people hold the opinion that guns are protective tools when they are in danger and guns can be used in public places. (Lu)
Reference
Ipsos poll. (April 13, 2012). Ipsos/Reuters Poll: Gun Rights & Regulations. Retrieved on September 17, 2015 from
http://ipsos-na.com/news-polls/pressrelease.aspx?id=5586
Saturday, September 26, 2015
Monday, September 21, 2015
Data commentary I - campus carry & gun control
ESL 5301-002 Gun control
Data Commentary I
1. Graphic Summary
According to the graphic of Annual mass shooting casualties, from 1982 to 2012, the numbers of mass shooting casualties increased gradually. From 1982 to 1991, the total number of fatalities is around 120. In 1991, the number of victims is the highest; the total number of fatalities is around 35, and the number of injured is around 63. From 1992 to 2002, the total number of fatalities is around 130. In 1999, the number of victims is the highest; the total number of fatalities is around 43, and the number of injured is around 90. From 2003 to 2012, the total number of fatalities is around 265. In 2012, the number of victims is the highest; the total number of fatalities is around 79, and the number of injured is around 145. Since 2003, the total number of casualties has increased dramatically. (Xiaomiao)
Reference
Annual mass shooting casualties. (2012, December 28). Mother Jones. Retrieved on September 15, 2015 from
http://www.motherjones.com/special-reports/2012/12/guns-in-america-mass-shootings
2. Data Commentary #1
According to the statistical data provided by Mother Jones, the mass shooting casualties, including injuries and fatalities, in most of the years since 1982 are below 20 per year (Mass shootings in the US are on the rise, 2012). In the years with mass shooting casualties above 40, the number of casualties tended to increase over the years. In the 80s and early 90s, there were no years with casualties more than 70. However, in 1999, the year with the Columbine High School Massacre, the annual casualties reached around 90, and years with casualties more than 70 frequently occurred thereafter. In 2007, the year the Virginia Tech Shooting occurred, the casualties went above 80, and, the casualty number was more than 140 in 2012, the year the Sandy Hook Shooting and Aurora Theater Shooting occurred. The mass shooting in the United States is becoming more and more frequent and the casualties tend to increase over years. This may indicate that it is necessary to control weapons in order to reduce the likelihood of mass shooting events. (Ruizhi)
Reference
Mass shootings in the US are on the rise. (2012) Mother Jones. Retrieved on September 16, 2015 from http://www.motherjones.com/special-reports/2012/12/guns-in-america-mass-shootings
3. Data Commentary
According to the article "Ipsos/Reuters Poll: Gun Rights & Regulations”, a survey has been done by the Ipsos organization which originally was requested by Thomson Reuters Corporation to see what American people think of gun rights. As described in the article, different groups of respondents were asked including people form both political parties (Democrats and Republicans) and different races. In one case, respondents were asked whether they thought having legal firearms would keep them safer in public places. The results are reported in a circle graph which contains five sections; in which each section is corresponding to either strongly support, somewhat support, somewhat oppose, strongly oppose and unsure with use of different colors. In the graph, it can be seen that the section of people being unsure has the smallest distribution with six percent. Being strongly opposed and somewhat opposed has the second and third lowest distributions respectively. Consequently, sections regarding somewhat oppose and strongly oppose have largest distributions. As a whole, a total of sixty-seven percent of respondents supported using firearms in public for their protection followed by twenty-seven percent of opposition.
As it can be observed from the results, the majority of Americans believe that owing a gun can help them protect themselves rather than cause problems. However, in my opinion, they should also be educated about the consequences which the police and governments would face. For example, a simple street fight or even a misunderstanding could result in a mass shooting or chaos in which the police will not even be able to recognize whose fault it was. Only with bringing up various possible problems and informing people about them, we might get responses closer to reality. Moreover, it should be noted that on campus, the responses would probably be different, since people might find that it is already safer than any other public place and think guns would make it more dangerous than before. (Sina)
Ipsos/Reuters Poll: Gun Rights & Regulations. (2012, April 13). Ipsos. Retrieved on September 15, 2015 from http://www.ipsos-na.com/news-polls/pressrelease.aspx?id=5586
4. Data Commentary
In the article, “Reuters poll: most Americans support right to use deadly force in self defense”, by Blannelberry, Graph 4 shows survey results done by Reuters and Ipsos to investigate Americans’ idea on necessity of background check before selling guns to customers. The graph demonstrates that ninety-one percent of people who either support using guns or oppose it, found it essential to search the previous records of purchasers. The majority of participants, which is the darker green portion of the graph, strongly support this idea, or they choose the somewhat support option illustrated by the lighter green on the graph. Six percent of people voted against the background check and among them, only a small portion (darker orange in the graph) strongly opposed this idea, and finally three percent of participants in the survey were unsure about it (blue portion of the graph). I believe the logic which can describe this result is that checking the buyers’ history will reduce the chance of arming criminals and people with mental disorders who are not stable enough to be trusted with weapons. This might be the reason which caused people to vote in favor of background check before selling the weapons. Although background check can give us general information on buyers’ written history, it will not guarantee hundred percent safety. Many psychological criteria such as short temper may lead to loss of control in various situations. In the case of campus carry, critical psychological characteristics of young students should be considered in the investigation in addition to their criminal record check. (Soraya)
Blannelberry, S.H. (April 19, 2012). Reuters poll: most Americans support right to use deadly force in self defense. Guns.com. Retrieved on September 16, 2015 from http://www.guns.com/2012/04/19/reuters-poll-americans-support-deadly-force/
5. Data Commentary 1
A poll conducted by Thomson Reuters (2012) showed citizens’ attitudes about gun rights and regulations. Four graphs reveal proportions of whether citizens support or oppose the gun laws. In the graphs, they imply that most citizens want to limit weapons and support the idea that law-abiding citizens can get access to guns. However, when it comes to using guns to protect themselves, more than half of citizens consider it is necessary. Although they oppose mass sale of weapons outside of using them to protect themselves, what they mean is that such deadly weapons should be sold to good people and people should properly use them at the time they really need to do so. (Kai)
Reference:
Reuters, T. (2012, April 13). Reuters/Ipsos poll: gun right & regulations. Retrieved on September 15, 2015. http://www.ipsos-na.com/news-polls/pressrelease.aspx?id=5586
6. Data Commentary
According to the third graph, 74% of people in the survey support the idea that the law should limit the sale of automatic weapons. In contrast, the percentage of people who are against this statement is 22%. Meanwhile, there are 4% of participants in this survey who are not sure about their attitudes on this argument. The data come from an online survey conducted by Ipsos poll among 1,922 Americans. From this data, we can have a clear idea that the majority of citizens would like to see fewer guns and think the law has significance on the issue of gun control. In addition, it reflects the idea that the more sales of automatic weapons there are, the greater the chances of gun shooting in public. (Lu )
Reference
Ipsos poll. (April 13, 2012). Ipsos/Reuters Poll: Gun Rights & Regulations. Retrieved on September 15, 2015 from
http://ipsos-na.com/news-polls/pressrelease.aspx?id=5586
7. Data Commentary #1
According to Thomson Reuters in the Ipsos poll that he conducted about gun rights and regulations and published in Ipsos, one of the graphs is about lowering the limit on the sale of automatic weapons. The total who support it is 74% and the total of people who do not support it is 22%. The rest of them, which are 6%, are somewhat opposed. Therefore, most people would be against the carry campus law because it will lead to the campus being an unsafe place. Also, the carry campus law will increase the number of homicides. (Ebtehal)
Reference
Ipsos/Reuters Poll: Gun Rights & Regulations. (April 13, 2012). Retrieved on September 15, 2015 from http://www.ipsos-na.com/news-polls/pressrelease.aspx?id=5586
8. Gun Rights & Regulations
This is a pie chart that described the opinions of citizens regarding the use of deadly force to protect themselves in a public space.
There are 34% of people who strongly support using guns for self-defense. Moreover, there are 33% of citizens who support the use of guns sometimes. However, 17 % of citizens are somewhat against the use of guns. On the other hand, a small percentage (5%) are strongly opposed to the use of guns in a public space, even if it is for our own safety. 5% of citizens are unsure about the use of deadly force.
From this graph, we conclude that 67 % of citizens are in total support of having their own gun and using it for self-defense. On the other hand, 27% of citizens are totally opposed to that. Even if guns are dangerous to carry most of the time, the law allows them to be used in some situations to protect ourselves. (Samah)
References:
Reuters/Lpsos poll: gun rights & regulations. (April 13, 2012). Retrieved: Sept 15, 2015 from http://static.reuters.com/resources/media/global/editorial/interactives/ipsos-poll-gun-control/ipsos-poll-gun-control.html
9. Data Commentary
According to the chart located in the article “The NRA myth of arming the good guys” by Mark Follman, in a 30-year time period between 1982 and 2012, there has been a mass shooting incident almost every year. According to this chart, only in 1983, 1985 and 2002 has there been no mass shooting incidents. This graph also shows that the number of fatalities and casualties in each year varies from around 5 up to more than 140. The years with higher numbers of total fatalities and injuries happen to be those in which some of the most infamous mass shooting incidents happened (for example Columbine High School in ’99, Virginia Tech University in ’07, Sandy Hook Elementary school in ’12 and Aurora Theater in ’12).
This chart shows that mass shooting incidents cannot be viewed as isolated cases because they happen frequently enough. Therefore, when it comes to campus carry law, people might be afraid for their safety because of the frequency of occurrence of mass shooting incidents. (Pouria)
Reference
Follman, M. (2012, Dec. 28). The NRA myth of arming the good guys. Mother Jones. Retrieved on September 15, 2015 from
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/12/nra-mass-shootings-myth
Data Commentary I
1. Graphic Summary
According to the graphic of Annual mass shooting casualties, from 1982 to 2012, the numbers of mass shooting casualties increased gradually. From 1982 to 1991, the total number of fatalities is around 120. In 1991, the number of victims is the highest; the total number of fatalities is around 35, and the number of injured is around 63. From 1992 to 2002, the total number of fatalities is around 130. In 1999, the number of victims is the highest; the total number of fatalities is around 43, and the number of injured is around 90. From 2003 to 2012, the total number of fatalities is around 265. In 2012, the number of victims is the highest; the total number of fatalities is around 79, and the number of injured is around 145. Since 2003, the total number of casualties has increased dramatically. (Xiaomiao)
Reference
Annual mass shooting casualties. (2012, December 28). Mother Jones. Retrieved on September 15, 2015 from
http://www.motherjones.com/special-reports/2012/12/guns-in-america-mass-shootings
2. Data Commentary #1
According to the statistical data provided by Mother Jones, the mass shooting casualties, including injuries and fatalities, in most of the years since 1982 are below 20 per year (Mass shootings in the US are on the rise, 2012). In the years with mass shooting casualties above 40, the number of casualties tended to increase over the years. In the 80s and early 90s, there were no years with casualties more than 70. However, in 1999, the year with the Columbine High School Massacre, the annual casualties reached around 90, and years with casualties more than 70 frequently occurred thereafter. In 2007, the year the Virginia Tech Shooting occurred, the casualties went above 80, and, the casualty number was more than 140 in 2012, the year the Sandy Hook Shooting and Aurora Theater Shooting occurred. The mass shooting in the United States is becoming more and more frequent and the casualties tend to increase over years. This may indicate that it is necessary to control weapons in order to reduce the likelihood of mass shooting events. (Ruizhi)
Reference
Mass shootings in the US are on the rise. (2012) Mother Jones. Retrieved on September 16, 2015 from http://www.motherjones.com/special-reports/2012/12/guns-in-america-mass-shootings
3. Data Commentary
According to the article "Ipsos/Reuters Poll: Gun Rights & Regulations”, a survey has been done by the Ipsos organization which originally was requested by Thomson Reuters Corporation to see what American people think of gun rights. As described in the article, different groups of respondents were asked including people form both political parties (Democrats and Republicans) and different races. In one case, respondents were asked whether they thought having legal firearms would keep them safer in public places. The results are reported in a circle graph which contains five sections; in which each section is corresponding to either strongly support, somewhat support, somewhat oppose, strongly oppose and unsure with use of different colors. In the graph, it can be seen that the section of people being unsure has the smallest distribution with six percent. Being strongly opposed and somewhat opposed has the second and third lowest distributions respectively. Consequently, sections regarding somewhat oppose and strongly oppose have largest distributions. As a whole, a total of sixty-seven percent of respondents supported using firearms in public for their protection followed by twenty-seven percent of opposition.
As it can be observed from the results, the majority of Americans believe that owing a gun can help them protect themselves rather than cause problems. However, in my opinion, they should also be educated about the consequences which the police and governments would face. For example, a simple street fight or even a misunderstanding could result in a mass shooting or chaos in which the police will not even be able to recognize whose fault it was. Only with bringing up various possible problems and informing people about them, we might get responses closer to reality. Moreover, it should be noted that on campus, the responses would probably be different, since people might find that it is already safer than any other public place and think guns would make it more dangerous than before. (Sina)
Ipsos/Reuters Poll: Gun Rights & Regulations. (2012, April 13). Ipsos. Retrieved on September 15, 2015 from http://www.ipsos-na.com/news-polls/pressrelease.aspx?id=5586
4. Data Commentary
In the article, “Reuters poll: most Americans support right to use deadly force in self defense”, by Blannelberry, Graph 4 shows survey results done by Reuters and Ipsos to investigate Americans’ idea on necessity of background check before selling guns to customers. The graph demonstrates that ninety-one percent of people who either support using guns or oppose it, found it essential to search the previous records of purchasers. The majority of participants, which is the darker green portion of the graph, strongly support this idea, or they choose the somewhat support option illustrated by the lighter green on the graph. Six percent of people voted against the background check and among them, only a small portion (darker orange in the graph) strongly opposed this idea, and finally three percent of participants in the survey were unsure about it (blue portion of the graph). I believe the logic which can describe this result is that checking the buyers’ history will reduce the chance of arming criminals and people with mental disorders who are not stable enough to be trusted with weapons. This might be the reason which caused people to vote in favor of background check before selling the weapons. Although background check can give us general information on buyers’ written history, it will not guarantee hundred percent safety. Many psychological criteria such as short temper may lead to loss of control in various situations. In the case of campus carry, critical psychological characteristics of young students should be considered in the investigation in addition to their criminal record check. (Soraya)
Blannelberry, S.H. (April 19, 2012). Reuters poll: most Americans support right to use deadly force in self defense. Guns.com. Retrieved on September 16, 2015 from http://www.guns.com/2012/04/19/reuters-poll-americans-support-deadly-force/
5. Data Commentary 1
A poll conducted by Thomson Reuters (2012) showed citizens’ attitudes about gun rights and regulations. Four graphs reveal proportions of whether citizens support or oppose the gun laws. In the graphs, they imply that most citizens want to limit weapons and support the idea that law-abiding citizens can get access to guns. However, when it comes to using guns to protect themselves, more than half of citizens consider it is necessary. Although they oppose mass sale of weapons outside of using them to protect themselves, what they mean is that such deadly weapons should be sold to good people and people should properly use them at the time they really need to do so. (Kai)
Reference:
Reuters, T. (2012, April 13). Reuters/Ipsos poll: gun right & regulations. Retrieved on September 15, 2015. http://www.ipsos-na.com/news-polls/pressrelease.aspx?id=5586
6. Data Commentary
According to the third graph, 74% of people in the survey support the idea that the law should limit the sale of automatic weapons. In contrast, the percentage of people who are against this statement is 22%. Meanwhile, there are 4% of participants in this survey who are not sure about their attitudes on this argument. The data come from an online survey conducted by Ipsos poll among 1,922 Americans. From this data, we can have a clear idea that the majority of citizens would like to see fewer guns and think the law has significance on the issue of gun control. In addition, it reflects the idea that the more sales of automatic weapons there are, the greater the chances of gun shooting in public. (Lu )
Reference
Ipsos poll. (April 13, 2012). Ipsos/Reuters Poll: Gun Rights & Regulations. Retrieved on September 15, 2015 from
http://ipsos-na.com/news-polls/pressrelease.aspx?id=5586
7. Data Commentary #1
According to Thomson Reuters in the Ipsos poll that he conducted about gun rights and regulations and published in Ipsos, one of the graphs is about lowering the limit on the sale of automatic weapons. The total who support it is 74% and the total of people who do not support it is 22%. The rest of them, which are 6%, are somewhat opposed. Therefore, most people would be against the carry campus law because it will lead to the campus being an unsafe place. Also, the carry campus law will increase the number of homicides. (Ebtehal)
Reference
Ipsos/Reuters Poll: Gun Rights & Regulations. (April 13, 2012). Retrieved on September 15, 2015 from http://www.ipsos-na.com/news-polls/pressrelease.aspx?id=5586
8. Gun Rights & Regulations
This is a pie chart that described the opinions of citizens regarding the use of deadly force to protect themselves in a public space.
There are 34% of people who strongly support using guns for self-defense. Moreover, there are 33% of citizens who support the use of guns sometimes. However, 17 % of citizens are somewhat against the use of guns. On the other hand, a small percentage (5%) are strongly opposed to the use of guns in a public space, even if it is for our own safety. 5% of citizens are unsure about the use of deadly force.
From this graph, we conclude that 67 % of citizens are in total support of having their own gun and using it for self-defense. On the other hand, 27% of citizens are totally opposed to that. Even if guns are dangerous to carry most of the time, the law allows them to be used in some situations to protect ourselves. (Samah)
References:
Reuters/Lpsos poll: gun rights & regulations. (April 13, 2012). Retrieved: Sept 15, 2015 from http://static.reuters.com/resources/media/global/editorial/interactives/ipsos-poll-gun-control/ipsos-poll-gun-control.html
9. Data Commentary
According to the chart located in the article “The NRA myth of arming the good guys” by Mark Follman, in a 30-year time period between 1982 and 2012, there has been a mass shooting incident almost every year. According to this chart, only in 1983, 1985 and 2002 has there been no mass shooting incidents. This graph also shows that the number of fatalities and casualties in each year varies from around 5 up to more than 140. The years with higher numbers of total fatalities and injuries happen to be those in which some of the most infamous mass shooting incidents happened (for example Columbine High School in ’99, Virginia Tech University in ’07, Sandy Hook Elementary school in ’12 and Aurora Theater in ’12).
This chart shows that mass shooting incidents cannot be viewed as isolated cases because they happen frequently enough. Therefore, when it comes to campus carry law, people might be afraid for their safety because of the frequency of occurrence of mass shooting incidents. (Pouria)
Reference
Follman, M. (2012, Dec. 28). The NRA myth of arming the good guys. Mother Jones. Retrieved on September 15, 2015 from
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/12/nra-mass-shootings-myth
Thursday, September 17, 2015
Gun control Summaries III
ESL 5301-002 Gun control/campus carry
Summaries III
1. Summary III
According to Steffanie Atkins’s (2013) news report, Virginia 21’s survey indicated that 83% of Virginian college students did not agree with campus gun carry. “Some Second Amendment advocates” believed allowing people to carry weapons on campus can protect them from school shooting. The executive director for Virginia 21, Tom Kramer, was quoted as saying that students were against campus carry, especially in their dormitories, because sometimes they cannot even decide about their roommates. Virginia 21 would oppose any future campus carry proposal in the future. (Ruizhi)
Reference
Atkins, S. (2013, Jan. 19). Survey from students: no guns on campus. RVA News. Retrieved on September 10, 2015 from http://rvanews.com/news/survey-from-students-no-guns-on-campus/81614
2. Summary 3
In the article, Mr. Ferner, the author of “Gun Violence In Colorado: From Columbine To Aurora, Mass Shootings Reignite Gun Law Debate”, talks about the public debate on gun control laws in Colorado. Since two shooting massacres happened in Colorado, some public media did surveys on people’s attitudes about gun control laws. The result of the survey by New York Times/Quinnipiac/CBS shows that thirty-eight percent of voters supported more rigorous gun laws and half of voters felt we should not revise them. In contrast, the survey by Denver Post showed the opposite attitude, that fifty-six percent of interviewees held anti views on gun control laws while thirty-nine percent of them agreed with it. Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper said that it was a personal problem rather than Colorado problem since the murderer still can create crime without guns, such as explosive and poisonous gas. However, police chief Robert White held a reversed viewpoint. He said that such assault weapons owned by people had less value and actually they had no practical use. (Kai)
Reference:
Ferner, M. (2012, December 17). Gun violence In Colorado: From Columbine to Aurora, mass shootings reignite gun law debate. The Huffington Post. Retrieved on September 10, 2015 from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/17/gun-violence-in-colorado-_n_2316633.html
3. Summary
In the article “Say no to guns on college campuses”, the authors Jade Reindl and Jean Cocco debate about the campus carry issue in Florida State University. They raise this concern that gun lobbyists are trying to convince society that campuses will be reasonably safer if students can carry their firearms. The authors say that people who are in charge in colleges do not accept this idea. As mentioned by the authors, David Perry, the police chief at Florida State University believes that determining whether the intention of the shooter was upright or not, would not be clear. Furthermore, writers say that the majority of the university population does not agree with a campus carry bill. They mention that gun lobbyists think armed students can protect themselves from getting sexually assaulted. However, authors do not agree and state that wherever the number of guns went up in one area, the number of murdered women increased consequently. The writers also debunk this statement by the gun lobbyists in which licensed guns will only be given to citizens with very clean records. The authors refer to a report released by South Florida Sentinel in 2006, which showed hundreds of law-breakers with licensed guns. Last, the authors encourage everybody to show their opposition to this law because they believe that the university campus and classes are not places for guns. They think we have already enough problems like alcohol and drug consumption, so there is no need to add another issue. (S. Saravi)
Reindl, J. and Cocco, J. (2015, February 26). Say no to guns on college campuses. CNN. Retrieved on September 10, 2015 from http://www.cnn.com/2015/02/26/opinion/reindl-cocco-campus-no-guns/
4. Summary
In “Cautious optimism as the struggle with campus carry begins” by Davis Clark, the author believes that legislation of campus carry can have two main consequences in universities. The first one is ansafety issue; the concern of accidental or intentional shooting, or even mass shooting can be raised by allowing concealed guns onto the campus. Previous undesirable shooting experiences in universities can intensify the safety concern on campus. However, even if the university administrators and other people in charge can upgrade the security of the universities and provide a safe campus, psychological trauma may still exist. The stress that can grow between students, employee, and professors about the possibility of carrying a concealed gun by any other person, can be hurtful for an academic environment. For instance, in a situation when a student is not satisfied with his or her grade, the anxiety of dealing with an armed person can intimidate the professor easily. Therefore, the author believes by enacting campus carry, even if we can assure people about safe environment, the anxiety produced by this law can still be damaging. (Soraya)
Clark, D. (2015, July 28). Cautious optimism as the struggle with campus carry begins. The Daily Texan. Retrieved on September 10, 2015 from http://www.dailytexanonline.com/2015/07/28/cautious-optimism-as-the-struggle-with-campus-carry-begins
5. News Summary 3
According to the article, “Exposed handguns, concealed weapons, and the new ‘Campus Carry’ gun law,” Texas passed bills that allow people to carry guns in public space, including college and universities. The CEO of Whataburger openly announced that he would not allow people to carry guns in his restaurants, and he asked other restaurants’ owners to do the same. Police were against this bill as well. Republicans and Democrats have different point of views. Sen. Rodney Ellis, a Democrat, argued that this bill would make a less safe environment. Sen. Craig Estes, a Republican, had a strong belief in people who had concealed licenses. He thought they were responsible people. (Xiaomiao)
Reference
Mooney, N. (2015, September 10). Exposed handguns, concealed weapons, and the new “campus carry” gun law. Inquisitr. Retrieved on September 10, 2015 from http://www.inquisitr.com/2407303/exposed-handguns-concealed-weapons-and-the-new-campus-carry-gun-law
6. Summary
In this article, several opinions about campus carry were presented by the author, Paula Mooney. At first, the CEO of Whataburger insisted that they will not allow guns to be taken in their restaurant and he encouraged other restaurants to follow his advice (Mooney, 2015)). In addition, a person called Mary Johns agreed as well, saying there is no reason to carry guns in places full of children. In contrast, supporters of this bill thought they could be protected by themselves with guns. What's more, the author quoted Andrew Cuomo as saying “How many weeks do we have to have with the same story over and over and over about the insanity that this country is allowing to continue with violence and loss of life of innocent people, because we have people who have no business having guns having guns?” (Lu)
Reference
Mooney, P. (2015, September 10). Exposed handguns, concealed weapons, and the new ‘Campus Carry' gun law. INQUISITR NEWS. Retrieved on September 10, 2015 from
http://www.inquisitr.com/2407303/exposed-handguns-concealed-weapons-and-the-new-campus-carry-gun-law/
7. Summary #3
According to Ms. Castro-Crist in Concealed Carry Referendum will be open to Students, students with concealed handgun license will be able to carry their weapons inside campus next August. Therefore, the Texas Tech administration is working to make a plan for how the campus gun law will be applied. Also, The Tech Student Government Association is working to engage students’ voice in this issue by using a referendum. Some students and faculty have already posted their opinions in social media. One student that Ms. Castro-Crist mentioned is Michael Comfort. He is a sophomore and his major is history. He supports the right of having weapons, but he worried about having guns on campus. Ms. Castro-Crist quoted Michael Comfort as saying, “Safety above all, I think that people should be adequately trained. When it comes to bringing it on campus, there are still a lot of people on campus that aren’t the most mature of individuals.” (Ebtehal)
Reference
Castro-Crist, A. (2015, Augusts 26). Concealed carry referendum will be open to students. Daily Toreador. Retrieved on September 10, 2015 from http://www.dailytoreador.com/news/concealed-carry-referendum-will-be-open-to-students/article_8a829aac-4c69-11e5-92ab-03acd7a507a9.html
Article Summary
According to the article “No guns in my classroom No. 4: More killings with a legal gun now in Roanoke, more reason to stop campus carry” by David Smith-Soto, the shooting incident at Roanoke, Virginia, where two young reporters were murdered, was committed by a person who was using his legally purchased gun. The author uses this example to explain that because of the Texas campus carry law, every person in a classroom can become a target. The author provides more explanation by saying that a person with no criminal background and no mental illness history, who can have access to guns easily, can snap and commit homicide using a gun, just like the incident at Roanoke. According to the author, such a thing can happen on the campus or in a classroom because of the campus carry law. (Pouria)
Reference
Smith-Soto, D. (2015, August 30). No guns in my classroom No. 4: More killings with a legal gun now in Roanoke, more reason to stop campus carry. Borderzine. Retrieved on September 10, 2015 from http://borderzine.com/2015/08/no-guns-in-my-classroom-no-4-more-killings-with-a-legal-gun-now-in-roanoke-more-reason-to-stop-campus-carry/
Summaries III
1. Summary III
According to Steffanie Atkins’s (2013) news report, Virginia 21’s survey indicated that 83% of Virginian college students did not agree with campus gun carry. “Some Second Amendment advocates” believed allowing people to carry weapons on campus can protect them from school shooting. The executive director for Virginia 21, Tom Kramer, was quoted as saying that students were against campus carry, especially in their dormitories, because sometimes they cannot even decide about their roommates. Virginia 21 would oppose any future campus carry proposal in the future. (Ruizhi)
Reference
Atkins, S. (2013, Jan. 19). Survey from students: no guns on campus. RVA News. Retrieved on September 10, 2015 from http://rvanews.com/news/survey-from-students-no-guns-on-campus/81614
2. Summary 3
In the article, Mr. Ferner, the author of “Gun Violence In Colorado: From Columbine To Aurora, Mass Shootings Reignite Gun Law Debate”, talks about the public debate on gun control laws in Colorado. Since two shooting massacres happened in Colorado, some public media did surveys on people’s attitudes about gun control laws. The result of the survey by New York Times/Quinnipiac/CBS shows that thirty-eight percent of voters supported more rigorous gun laws and half of voters felt we should not revise them. In contrast, the survey by Denver Post showed the opposite attitude, that fifty-six percent of interviewees held anti views on gun control laws while thirty-nine percent of them agreed with it. Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper said that it was a personal problem rather than Colorado problem since the murderer still can create crime without guns, such as explosive and poisonous gas. However, police chief Robert White held a reversed viewpoint. He said that such assault weapons owned by people had less value and actually they had no practical use. (Kai)
Reference:
Ferner, M. (2012, December 17). Gun violence In Colorado: From Columbine to Aurora, mass shootings reignite gun law debate. The Huffington Post. Retrieved on September 10, 2015 from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/17/gun-violence-in-colorado-_n_2316633.html
3. Summary
In the article “Say no to guns on college campuses”, the authors Jade Reindl and Jean Cocco debate about the campus carry issue in Florida State University. They raise this concern that gun lobbyists are trying to convince society that campuses will be reasonably safer if students can carry their firearms. The authors say that people who are in charge in colleges do not accept this idea. As mentioned by the authors, David Perry, the police chief at Florida State University believes that determining whether the intention of the shooter was upright or not, would not be clear. Furthermore, writers say that the majority of the university population does not agree with a campus carry bill. They mention that gun lobbyists think armed students can protect themselves from getting sexually assaulted. However, authors do not agree and state that wherever the number of guns went up in one area, the number of murdered women increased consequently. The writers also debunk this statement by the gun lobbyists in which licensed guns will only be given to citizens with very clean records. The authors refer to a report released by South Florida Sentinel in 2006, which showed hundreds of law-breakers with licensed guns. Last, the authors encourage everybody to show their opposition to this law because they believe that the university campus and classes are not places for guns. They think we have already enough problems like alcohol and drug consumption, so there is no need to add another issue. (S. Saravi)
Reindl, J. and Cocco, J. (2015, February 26). Say no to guns on college campuses. CNN. Retrieved on September 10, 2015 from http://www.cnn.com/2015/02/26/opinion/reindl-cocco-campus-no-guns/
4. Summary
In “Cautious optimism as the struggle with campus carry begins” by Davis Clark, the author believes that legislation of campus carry can have two main consequences in universities. The first one is ansafety issue; the concern of accidental or intentional shooting, or even mass shooting can be raised by allowing concealed guns onto the campus. Previous undesirable shooting experiences in universities can intensify the safety concern on campus. However, even if the university administrators and other people in charge can upgrade the security of the universities and provide a safe campus, psychological trauma may still exist. The stress that can grow between students, employee, and professors about the possibility of carrying a concealed gun by any other person, can be hurtful for an academic environment. For instance, in a situation when a student is not satisfied with his or her grade, the anxiety of dealing with an armed person can intimidate the professor easily. Therefore, the author believes by enacting campus carry, even if we can assure people about safe environment, the anxiety produced by this law can still be damaging. (Soraya)
Clark, D. (2015, July 28). Cautious optimism as the struggle with campus carry begins. The Daily Texan. Retrieved on September 10, 2015 from http://www.dailytexanonline.com/2015/07/28/cautious-optimism-as-the-struggle-with-campus-carry-begins
5. News Summary 3
According to the article, “Exposed handguns, concealed weapons, and the new ‘Campus Carry’ gun law,” Texas passed bills that allow people to carry guns in public space, including college and universities. The CEO of Whataburger openly announced that he would not allow people to carry guns in his restaurants, and he asked other restaurants’ owners to do the same. Police were against this bill as well. Republicans and Democrats have different point of views. Sen. Rodney Ellis, a Democrat, argued that this bill would make a less safe environment. Sen. Craig Estes, a Republican, had a strong belief in people who had concealed licenses. He thought they were responsible people. (Xiaomiao)
Reference
Mooney, N. (2015, September 10). Exposed handguns, concealed weapons, and the new “campus carry” gun law. Inquisitr. Retrieved on September 10, 2015 from http://www.inquisitr.com/2407303/exposed-handguns-concealed-weapons-and-the-new-campus-carry-gun-law
6. Summary
In this article, several opinions about campus carry were presented by the author, Paula Mooney. At first, the CEO of Whataburger insisted that they will not allow guns to be taken in their restaurant and he encouraged other restaurants to follow his advice (Mooney, 2015)). In addition, a person called Mary Johns agreed as well, saying there is no reason to carry guns in places full of children. In contrast, supporters of this bill thought they could be protected by themselves with guns. What's more, the author quoted Andrew Cuomo as saying “How many weeks do we have to have with the same story over and over and over about the insanity that this country is allowing to continue with violence and loss of life of innocent people, because we have people who have no business having guns having guns?” (Lu)
Reference
Mooney, P. (2015, September 10). Exposed handguns, concealed weapons, and the new ‘Campus Carry' gun law. INQUISITR NEWS. Retrieved on September 10, 2015 from
http://www.inquisitr.com/2407303/exposed-handguns-concealed-weapons-and-the-new-campus-carry-gun-law/
7. Summary #3
According to Ms. Castro-Crist in Concealed Carry Referendum will be open to Students, students with concealed handgun license will be able to carry their weapons inside campus next August. Therefore, the Texas Tech administration is working to make a plan for how the campus gun law will be applied. Also, The Tech Student Government Association is working to engage students’ voice in this issue by using a referendum. Some students and faculty have already posted their opinions in social media. One student that Ms. Castro-Crist mentioned is Michael Comfort. He is a sophomore and his major is history. He supports the right of having weapons, but he worried about having guns on campus. Ms. Castro-Crist quoted Michael Comfort as saying, “Safety above all, I think that people should be adequately trained. When it comes to bringing it on campus, there are still a lot of people on campus that aren’t the most mature of individuals.” (Ebtehal)
Reference
Castro-Crist, A. (2015, Augusts 26). Concealed carry referendum will be open to students. Daily Toreador. Retrieved on September 10, 2015 from http://www.dailytoreador.com/news/concealed-carry-referendum-will-be-open-to-students/article_8a829aac-4c69-11e5-92ab-03acd7a507a9.html
Article Summary
According to the article “No guns in my classroom No. 4: More killings with a legal gun now in Roanoke, more reason to stop campus carry” by David Smith-Soto, the shooting incident at Roanoke, Virginia, where two young reporters were murdered, was committed by a person who was using his legally purchased gun. The author uses this example to explain that because of the Texas campus carry law, every person in a classroom can become a target. The author provides more explanation by saying that a person with no criminal background and no mental illness history, who can have access to guns easily, can snap and commit homicide using a gun, just like the incident at Roanoke. According to the author, such a thing can happen on the campus or in a classroom because of the campus carry law. (Pouria)
Reference
Smith-Soto, D. (2015, August 30). No guns in my classroom No. 4: More killings with a legal gun now in Roanoke, more reason to stop campus carry. Borderzine. Retrieved on September 10, 2015 from http://borderzine.com/2015/08/no-guns-in-my-classroom-no-4-more-killings-with-a-legal-gun-now-in-roanoke-more-reason-to-stop-campus-carry/
Sunday, September 13, 2015
Gun control - Summaries II
ESL 5301-002 Summaries II –First Drafts
Gun Control / Campus Carry
1. News Summary
In this article, legislation in fifteen states may force colleges to allow people carry guns on campus. Texas has passed the law to allow concealed weapon on college campuses. In 2013, a survey showed that 80 percent of students felt unsafe if guns were allowed on campus, and more than 90 percent of faculty were against this idea. Supporters suggest that women can protect themselves if they carry guns on campus, since sexual assault has been a problem in colleges. However, in almost 33 percent of sexual assault cases, the victims’ intimate partners were the perpetrators. The solution of campus sexual assault requires involvements from different aspects, especially the improvement of women’s rights in communities, transparent case trial, etc. (Xiaomiao)
Guns on Campus’ Laws for Public Colleges and Universities, A Guide for Students and Parents, (2014). Armedcampuses. Retrieved on September 8, 2015 from
http://www.armedcampuses.org/
Kaufman, N. (2015, September 8). Concealed Carry on Colleges Campuses: What Could Possibly Go Wrong? Huff Post. Retrieved on September 8, 2015 from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nancy-kaufman/concealed-carry-on-colleg_b_8093306.html
2. Summary II
According to Robbins’s (2015) news report, Whataburger decided to prohibit the open gun carry in its restaurants because open carry may make customers and employees feel uncomfortable. Forbidding open carry in a property is the owner’s right protected by the law. Members of the public have different reactions to Whataburger’s new policy. While Moms Demand Action For Gun Sense in America appreciates Whataburger’s decision, Open Carry Texas founder C. J. Grisham believes the open carry prohibition is inappropriate and Whataburger may lose gun holder customers. However, Texas Restaurant Association CEO Richie Jackson expects that many restaurants may follow Whataburger’s policy. (Ruizhi)
Reference
Robbins, S. (2015, Jul. 13). Whataburger takes a stand on open carry law. Texas News. Retrieved on September 8, 2015 from http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/Whataburger-Takes-A-Stand-On-Open-Carry-Law-314334991.html
3. Summary
In the article “Student debate guns on campus-cons”, the authors Jenna Simsen and Lindsay Humphrey, discussed possible negative effects of campus carry in general and particularly in University of Houston-Clear Lake (UHCL). In their opinion, despite Texas Legislators’ point of view, guns will not make campus safer and consequently will make the students feel uncomfortable. In the authors` view, some occurrences like the shooting at Virginia Tech University cannot necessarily be avoided by giving licensed guns to the students as the shooter himself passed several security checks and had licensed firearms. Furthermore, the authors believe that alcohol consumption by the young students will increase the chance of shooting on campus; also viewers of a shooting incident could easily get hurt without having to do anything with the fight. Last, the authors bring up the fact that not only will students not feel safe with this law, but also the older students` kids as well as faculty`s kids, are not going to feel as safe as they used to, while their parents brought them on campus on different occasions. (S. Saravi)
Simsen, J and Humphrey, L (2015, September 8). Student debate guns on campus-cons. The Signal. Retrieved on September 8, 2015 from http://prtl.uhcl.edu/portal/page/portal/USN/TheSignal/Editorial?articleId=1286
4. Summary
According to the article “The truth about campus carry” by Madison Welch, safety of Texas Universities will not be endangered by campus carry. First of all, she refers to the fact that statistical investigation shows that people with licensed guns have committed fewer crimes. Furthermore, she states that improving university campus safety in order to allow the concealed licensed firearm is not completely necessary. She mentions that there are other places such as churches, malls, etc. which allow concealed licensed gun holders without these amount of safety upgrades; therefore, if it is not making any issues over there, why can it be a problem on campus? She believes that claimed costs associated with campus carry, are just political means to disapprove legislation and enacting this law. Furthermore, in the case of safety hazards caused by existence of guns in laboratories with chemical compounds, she believes that legal weapons will lead to less danger compared to illegal guns. (Soraya)
Welch, M. (2015, May 22). The truth about campus carry. TribTalk, Perspective on Texas. Retrieved on September 8, 2015 from http://www.tribtalk.org/2015/05/22/the-truth-about-campus-carry/
5. Article Summary
According to the article “Why I’ll soon have reason to fear my students“ by Joanna Cattanach, the law to allow students to have concealed handguns on the campus and even in the class will make teaching at a community college in Texas more challenging very soon. According to the author, she has had many students during her career as a community college teacher, who have experienced violence first hand (for example, a student who got shot during Christmas holidays or another student who had seen co-worker being shot “during a robbery at a fast-food restaurant”. According to her, a large number of her students don’t want to see guns on the campus. The author also mentions that the average student age on the campus where she works (North Lake College) is 27, meaning that most of the students in her classroom can have concealed guns on them during the class. According to the author, this will result in her classroom being an unsafe place, and every person in the classroom will be worried that “gun accidentally might go off when someone drops a backpack. Or that an unstable student might get mad”.
According to another article, “I support full concealed gun carry rights on DCCCD campuses” by Bill Metzger, which was written in response to the previous article, the author says that “Gun violence happens only in gun-free zones”. He mentions a few incidents involving educational campuses such as Columbine High School, Virginia Tech University and Sandy Hook Elementary. According to the author, these disasters could have been prevented if trained firearms owners were able to carry their weapons with them. The author also mentions that between the years 1996 and 2011, there were 30 incidents where a person with a permit to carry a gun committed homicide. He also mentions that in this 15-year period, “Nearly 4.3 million Texans applied for concealed carry licenses”. (Pouria)
Cattanach, J. (2015, August 18). Why I’ll soon have reason to fear my students. The Dallas Morning News, Retrieved on September 8, 2015 from
http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/latest-columns/20150818-joanna-cattanach-why-ill-soon-have-reason-to-fear-my-students.ece
Metzger, B. (2015, August 25). I support full concealed gun carry rights on DCCCD campuses. The Dallas Morning News, Retrieved on September 8, 2015 from
http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/latest-columns/20150825-an-armed-student-body-is-a-safer-one.ece
6. Summary
In the first article, Nancy talked about different reasons about supporting the argument that carry concealed weapons on campus and reasons to disagree this proposal. The author introduced the survey of students and professors' feelings on this argument. In the survey, 80% of students and nine of ten faculty members thought it would not be safe if law allows guns can be carried on campus. For the supporters, they believed that victims can protect themselves if they are in danger in case of sexual assault and it would cost millions of dollars in building protective system on campus which would be a heavy budget for public colleges and universities. However, Nancy pointed out that the reason for sexual assault is students involved in alcohol and the carrying of guns would result in more suicides and even homicides.
In the second article, the author introduced the fact that there were several states have been allowed carrying guns on campus for many years, such as Colorado for 12 years. (Lu)
Reference
Kaufman, N.K. (2015, September 8th). Concealed Carry on Colleges Campuses: What Could Possibly Go Wrong? Retrieved on September 8, 2015 from
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nancy-kaufman/concealed-carry-on-colleg_b_8093306.html
7. Summary
Teresa Welsh, in her article “Should the Colorado theater shooting spur more gun control?”, introduces the shooting accident in the Colorado Theater where 12 people were murdered. Also, she mentions another shooting massacre in Colorado, called “Columbine High School Massacre”, in 1999. Two students killed a teacher and 12 students and finally committed suicide. Obama said that the government would take care of injured people and punish the killer while the Brady Campaign made a statement to oppose it. Citizens felt angry about government letting guns be owned by dangerous people and called for gun laws changing. Also, opponents of gun control laws considered that people should have guns to defend themselves, since murderers would still initiate a crime under the laws. (Kai)
Reference:
Welsh, T. (2012, July 20). Should the Colorado theater shooting spur more gun control? U.S. News. Retrieved on September 8, 2015 from http://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2012/07/20/should-the-colorado-theater-shooting-spur-more-gun-control
8. Summary #2
According to Nancy Kaufman in Concealed carry on colleges campuses: what could possibly go wrong? By next year, individuals will be able to carry guns in colleges and universities after the campus carry law has been passed in 15 states with Texas one of them. According to survey that happened in 2013, 80 percent of students and 9 out of ten of faculty are against the campus carry law because it will lead to unsafe environment. The National Rifle Association supports this law as a solution for campus sexual violence. However, adding guns with sexual assault in campus will lead to more problems. In addition to that universities will need more money for security reasons, victims in sexual assault might use guns with attackers. Also, there is a high chance that attackers will grab guns from victims. Students could also kill any one trying to rape them. (Ebtehal)
Reference
Kaufman, N. (2015, September 8). Concealed carry on colleges campuses: what could possibly go wrong? Huffington Post. Retrieved on September 8, 2015 from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nancy-kaufman/concealed-carry-on-colleg_b_8093306.html
Gun Control / Campus Carry
1. News Summary
In this article, legislation in fifteen states may force colleges to allow people carry guns on campus. Texas has passed the law to allow concealed weapon on college campuses. In 2013, a survey showed that 80 percent of students felt unsafe if guns were allowed on campus, and more than 90 percent of faculty were against this idea. Supporters suggest that women can protect themselves if they carry guns on campus, since sexual assault has been a problem in colleges. However, in almost 33 percent of sexual assault cases, the victims’ intimate partners were the perpetrators. The solution of campus sexual assault requires involvements from different aspects, especially the improvement of women’s rights in communities, transparent case trial, etc. (Xiaomiao)
Guns on Campus’ Laws for Public Colleges and Universities, A Guide for Students and Parents, (2014). Armedcampuses. Retrieved on September 8, 2015 from
http://www.armedcampuses.org/
Kaufman, N. (2015, September 8). Concealed Carry on Colleges Campuses: What Could Possibly Go Wrong? Huff Post. Retrieved on September 8, 2015 from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nancy-kaufman/concealed-carry-on-colleg_b_8093306.html
2. Summary II
According to Robbins’s (2015) news report, Whataburger decided to prohibit the open gun carry in its restaurants because open carry may make customers and employees feel uncomfortable. Forbidding open carry in a property is the owner’s right protected by the law. Members of the public have different reactions to Whataburger’s new policy. While Moms Demand Action For Gun Sense in America appreciates Whataburger’s decision, Open Carry Texas founder C. J. Grisham believes the open carry prohibition is inappropriate and Whataburger may lose gun holder customers. However, Texas Restaurant Association CEO Richie Jackson expects that many restaurants may follow Whataburger’s policy. (Ruizhi)
Reference
Robbins, S. (2015, Jul. 13). Whataburger takes a stand on open carry law. Texas News. Retrieved on September 8, 2015 from http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/Whataburger-Takes-A-Stand-On-Open-Carry-Law-314334991.html
3. Summary
In the article “Student debate guns on campus-cons”, the authors Jenna Simsen and Lindsay Humphrey, discussed possible negative effects of campus carry in general and particularly in University of Houston-Clear Lake (UHCL). In their opinion, despite Texas Legislators’ point of view, guns will not make campus safer and consequently will make the students feel uncomfortable. In the authors` view, some occurrences like the shooting at Virginia Tech University cannot necessarily be avoided by giving licensed guns to the students as the shooter himself passed several security checks and had licensed firearms. Furthermore, the authors believe that alcohol consumption by the young students will increase the chance of shooting on campus; also viewers of a shooting incident could easily get hurt without having to do anything with the fight. Last, the authors bring up the fact that not only will students not feel safe with this law, but also the older students` kids as well as faculty`s kids, are not going to feel as safe as they used to, while their parents brought them on campus on different occasions. (S. Saravi)
Simsen, J and Humphrey, L (2015, September 8). Student debate guns on campus-cons. The Signal. Retrieved on September 8, 2015 from http://prtl.uhcl.edu/portal/page/portal/USN/TheSignal/Editorial?articleId=1286
4. Summary
According to the article “The truth about campus carry” by Madison Welch, safety of Texas Universities will not be endangered by campus carry. First of all, she refers to the fact that statistical investigation shows that people with licensed guns have committed fewer crimes. Furthermore, she states that improving university campus safety in order to allow the concealed licensed firearm is not completely necessary. She mentions that there are other places such as churches, malls, etc. which allow concealed licensed gun holders without these amount of safety upgrades; therefore, if it is not making any issues over there, why can it be a problem on campus? She believes that claimed costs associated with campus carry, are just political means to disapprove legislation and enacting this law. Furthermore, in the case of safety hazards caused by existence of guns in laboratories with chemical compounds, she believes that legal weapons will lead to less danger compared to illegal guns. (Soraya)
Welch, M. (2015, May 22). The truth about campus carry. TribTalk, Perspective on Texas. Retrieved on September 8, 2015 from http://www.tribtalk.org/2015/05/22/the-truth-about-campus-carry/
5. Article Summary
According to the article “Why I’ll soon have reason to fear my students“ by Joanna Cattanach, the law to allow students to have concealed handguns on the campus and even in the class will make teaching at a community college in Texas more challenging very soon. According to the author, she has had many students during her career as a community college teacher, who have experienced violence first hand (for example, a student who got shot during Christmas holidays or another student who had seen co-worker being shot “during a robbery at a fast-food restaurant”. According to her, a large number of her students don’t want to see guns on the campus. The author also mentions that the average student age on the campus where she works (North Lake College) is 27, meaning that most of the students in her classroom can have concealed guns on them during the class. According to the author, this will result in her classroom being an unsafe place, and every person in the classroom will be worried that “gun accidentally might go off when someone drops a backpack. Or that an unstable student might get mad”.
According to another article, “I support full concealed gun carry rights on DCCCD campuses” by Bill Metzger, which was written in response to the previous article, the author says that “Gun violence happens only in gun-free zones”. He mentions a few incidents involving educational campuses such as Columbine High School, Virginia Tech University and Sandy Hook Elementary. According to the author, these disasters could have been prevented if trained firearms owners were able to carry their weapons with them. The author also mentions that between the years 1996 and 2011, there were 30 incidents where a person with a permit to carry a gun committed homicide. He also mentions that in this 15-year period, “Nearly 4.3 million Texans applied for concealed carry licenses”. (Pouria)
Cattanach, J. (2015, August 18). Why I’ll soon have reason to fear my students. The Dallas Morning News, Retrieved on September 8, 2015 from
http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/latest-columns/20150818-joanna-cattanach-why-ill-soon-have-reason-to-fear-my-students.ece
Metzger, B. (2015, August 25). I support full concealed gun carry rights on DCCCD campuses. The Dallas Morning News, Retrieved on September 8, 2015 from
http://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/latest-columns/20150825-an-armed-student-body-is-a-safer-one.ece
6. Summary
In the first article, Nancy talked about different reasons about supporting the argument that carry concealed weapons on campus and reasons to disagree this proposal. The author introduced the survey of students and professors' feelings on this argument. In the survey, 80% of students and nine of ten faculty members thought it would not be safe if law allows guns can be carried on campus. For the supporters, they believed that victims can protect themselves if they are in danger in case of sexual assault and it would cost millions of dollars in building protective system on campus which would be a heavy budget for public colleges and universities. However, Nancy pointed out that the reason for sexual assault is students involved in alcohol and the carrying of guns would result in more suicides and even homicides.
In the second article, the author introduced the fact that there were several states have been allowed carrying guns on campus for many years, such as Colorado for 12 years. (Lu)
Reference
Kaufman, N.K. (2015, September 8th). Concealed Carry on Colleges Campuses: What Could Possibly Go Wrong? Retrieved on September 8, 2015 from
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nancy-kaufman/concealed-carry-on-colleg_b_8093306.html
7. Summary
Teresa Welsh, in her article “Should the Colorado theater shooting spur more gun control?”, introduces the shooting accident in the Colorado Theater where 12 people were murdered. Also, she mentions another shooting massacre in Colorado, called “Columbine High School Massacre”, in 1999. Two students killed a teacher and 12 students and finally committed suicide. Obama said that the government would take care of injured people and punish the killer while the Brady Campaign made a statement to oppose it. Citizens felt angry about government letting guns be owned by dangerous people and called for gun laws changing. Also, opponents of gun control laws considered that people should have guns to defend themselves, since murderers would still initiate a crime under the laws. (Kai)
Reference:
Welsh, T. (2012, July 20). Should the Colorado theater shooting spur more gun control? U.S. News. Retrieved on September 8, 2015 from http://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2012/07/20/should-the-colorado-theater-shooting-spur-more-gun-control
8. Summary #2
According to Nancy Kaufman in Concealed carry on colleges campuses: what could possibly go wrong? By next year, individuals will be able to carry guns in colleges and universities after the campus carry law has been passed in 15 states with Texas one of them. According to survey that happened in 2013, 80 percent of students and 9 out of ten of faculty are against the campus carry law because it will lead to unsafe environment. The National Rifle Association supports this law as a solution for campus sexual violence. However, adding guns with sexual assault in campus will lead to more problems. In addition to that universities will need more money for security reasons, victims in sexual assault might use guns with attackers. Also, there is a high chance that attackers will grab guns from victims. Students could also kill any one trying to rape them. (Ebtehal)
Reference
Kaufman, N. (2015, September 8). Concealed carry on colleges campuses: what could possibly go wrong? Huffington Post. Retrieved on September 8, 2015 from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nancy-kaufman/concealed-carry-on-colleg_b_8093306.html
Monday, September 7, 2015
Summaries - Gun control (I)
ESL 5301-002
Summaries
1. News Summary I
According to
Karen Michael’s (2015) news report, Texas Tech University will allow concealed
handgun license holders to carry weapons in campus beginning on Sep. 1, 2016
due to the new state gun legislation. The university will prepare a guideline
to regulate concealed handgun license (CHL) holders on campus by Oct. 1, 2015.
CHL holders may not carry weapons in specific campus areas or during specific
events. The university may offer voluntary classes for CHL holders to inform
them of additional law information for campus carry. “Open carry of weapons”
will not be allowed on campus. The Texas Tech Chancellor Robert Duncan believes
the new campus weapon regulation will not cause unnecessary panic. (Ruizhi)
Reference
Michael, K. (2015, August 30). Texas Tech to Have Guidelines for
Campus Carry by Oct. 1. Lubbock Online.
Retrieved on September 1, 2015 from http://lubbockonline.com/filed-online/2015-08-30/texas-tech-have-guidelines-campus-carry-oct-1#.VebGXfn0F4d
2.
Texas Tech Campus Carry
According
to the article, “Texas Tech to have guidelines for campus carry by Oct. 1” by
Karen Michael, Presidents of each one of the Texas Tech campuses have appointed
a committee to prepare a list of guidelines regarding concealed handgun license
(CHL) holders by October 1. These guidelines then will be used to determine
permanent and temporary off limit areas for weapons. An example for a permanent
off limit building can be a federal laboratory. Also, according to this
article, an off limit building is a building holding an event where ‘weapons
would not be appropriate’, such as a ‘court session for law school’. University
presidents will also use these guidelines to make recommendations to the Board
of Regents for the rules concerning campus carry on their campuses.
Furthermore, those with CHL who are carrying guns on the campus will need to go
through training to know do's and don'ts in certain situations (for example, ‘in
the case of an active shooter’). (Pouria)
Reference
Michael, K. (2015, August 30). Texas Tech
to have guidelines for campus carry by Oct. 1. Lubbock Online. Updated on August
31, 2015. Retrieved on September 1, 2015 from http://lubbockonline.com/filed-online/2015-08-30/texas-tech-have-guidelines-campus-carry-oct-1#.VeZ7v_kYued
3. Summary
In the article “Allowing guns on campus will cost Texas Tech $7 million dollars” by Carol Morgan, the author states that campus
carry can cause additional expenses for the universities. She mentions fiscal
analysis results done by HC writer Lauren McGaughy, in which Texas Tech University’s
cost estimation for allowing guns on campus will be about $7 million dollars. She expresses that
additional cost is going to be paid by students and their
parents because it is not funded. Furthermore, the money is not the only
issue with this law; she also believes that by enacting and executing this
law, the college
campus safety will be at
risk. She refers to a scientific fact
that the human brain is still developing even in their older ages;
therefore, students between
18 to 25
years old are not psychologically adult enough to be armed. She believes that legislators and people who are
in favor of campus carry, do not have
advanced and sufficient knowledge on human psychology to understand the safety risks caused by this law. However they have enough power to
control the other people who are against it. (Soraya)
Morgan, C.
(2015, February 22). Allowing guns on campus will cost Texas Tech $7 million
dollars. Lubbock Avalanche Journal.
Retrieved on September 1,
2015 from http://lubbockonline.com/interact/blog-post/carol-morgan/2015-02-22/allowing-guns-campus-will-cost-texas-tech-7-million#.VeZ8-fldXYj
4. Summary
According
to the article “Say ‘no’ to concealed carry
on college campuses”, the author, Faith
Alford, emphasizes the negative effects
that campus carry could have.
From her point of view, the gun is not something that could be tolerated in
classrooms and in
general, academic atmosphere.
As mentioned in the article, Senator Rodney Ellis has addressed this
matter as an issue in which educating the younger generation should be
preferred rather than arming them with deadly guns. Furthermore, Alexis Woods, a biology student,
has brought up this point that campus carry would convert the university into a more dangerous place
and thinks it
should be decided
by people who
are going to
face it; not
the ones who have not experienced
the college life for many years. The article also addresses another issue
regarding huge extra costs which the university will be facing mostly for
security increase, hiring more officers and gun storage areas. It is mentioned that these extra
costs would have a negative impact on research funds and consequently will shut down some
essential projects. An estimation of 47 million dollars cost has
been reported in
this article, prepared
by Houston Chronicle, which The University of
Texas at Austin
and University of
Houston should spend
combined to update
their campus for
this matter. (Sina)
Alford, F. (2015, March 5). Say ‘no’ to concealed carry on college
campuses. The Cougar.
Retrieved on September 1, 2015 from
http://thedailycougar.com/2015/03/05/say-no-concealed-carry-college-campuses/
5. Summary
The article, “Colorado Shooting Shows the
Failure of Gun Control Laws”, written by Erich Pratt, talks about some shooting
cases and arguments about government’s attitude after the shooting. The author
lists two types of accidents where one is in “gun free” zones and the other is
in “gun free” kill zones. It causes many victims in “gun free” zones such as
Columbine High School, Virginia Tech and Fort Hood while shooter was killed by
a citizen in “gun free” kill zone, where different laws cause different
consequences. In addition, it is argued by gun control advocates that people need
less guns, which is opposed by the author, who argues that some people who are involved
in danger or an emergent situation can protect themselves with guns. Also, the
author disagrees with their argument, explaining that human rights rather than
needs can make people live longer. In conclusion, the author holds the point
that people should protect themselves with guns and properly use them. (Kai)
Reference:
Pratt, E. (2012, July 26). Colorado Shooting
Shows the Failure of Gun Control Laws. U.S.
News.
http://www.usnews.com/debate-club/does-the-colorado-shooting-prove-the-need-for-more-gun-control-laws/colorado-shooting-shows-the-failure-of-gun-control-laws
6. Summary
In this article, there are two people who
argue against each other by stating their points of whether women should carry
guns in campuses or not. Leah Gunn Barrett, the executive director of New
Yorkers Against Gun Violence, thinks that women should not carry guns on
campuses. He points out that campuses are "some of the safest places"
and women are not strong enough to carry guns. What's more, the chances of
shooting would be increased if women were allowed to carry guns because guns of
women are more easily turned on women than those of men. However, Vasilinda, victim of “attempted rape”
while in college, disagrees with Barrett, insisting that women can protect
themselves with guns. She blamed that she would be rescued if she had the
chance to carry guns during the rape.
(Lu)
Reference
Hawkins, A.
(2015, August 25). Gun Control Proponent: Women Too Weak To Carry Guns For
Self-Defense. Retrieved on September 1, 2015 from
7. Summary
According to Karen Michael in Texas Tech to have Guidelines for Campus
Carry by Oct. 1 Texas has passed a law that allowed people who have
concealed handgun license to carry their weapons inside college campus.
Therefore, Texas Tech is going to prepare guideline about how the implication
is going to be by next Oct 1. The guideline will mention the places where people
are not allowed to use weapons, such as daycare center or court in law school.
Also, Tech will provide lockers in restricted areas for gun holders to store
their weapons. Texas Tech will provide classes to train students and staff, who
are 21 years old and older and pass their background check, on campus carry
instructions. One of the concerns that campus carry law is not a big problem is
that most Tech students are under 21. Also, statistically, people who have
concealed handgun license are less likely to commit crimes than those who don’t
have licenses. (Ebtehal)
Reference
Michael, K. (2015, August 31). Texas Tech to
have guidelines for campus carry by Oct.1. Lubbock Online. Retrieved on
September 1, 2015 from http://lubbockonline.com/filed-online/2015-08-30/texas-tech-have-guidelines-campus-carry-oct-1#.VeYxfD1RE5s
8. News Summary
On
August 27, 2015, a student was shot at Savannah State University. This incident
raised discussion about campus carry. Since 2013, there were four campus
shootings in Georgia. Georgia state has not been able to pass the law to allow
firearms on campus during recent years. Opponents strongly believed that a
university should be a safe environment for students and faculty to study and
work. Proponents argued that people should have the right to protect themselves
wherever they were. (Xiaomiao)
Redmon, J. (2015, August 29). Savannah State
shooting revives focus on campus carry. AJC.com. Retrieved on September 1, 2015 from
Sunday, September 6, 2015
Model Dissertations
(Ruizhi)
Managing retirement resources: evidence from the HRS
Christopher M. Browning
Dec. 2013
http://repositories.tdl.org/ttu-ir/handle/2346/58201
(Pouria)
Title: Thermo-Mechanical Properties of Cross-linked Epoxy Based Systems: a Molecular Simulation Study
Author: Ketan Sudhakar Khare
Link: https://repositories.tdl.org/ttu-ir/handle/2346/58580
(Soraya)
Author: Dale D. Slabac
Title: A Surrogate Model Approach to Refinery-Wide Optimization
Year: 2004
URL: http://hdl.handle.net/2346/18330
(Kai)
Title: Analysis and evaluation of bicyclist's limitations and accessibility to Texas Tech University campus in Lubbock, Texas
Author: Timothy Key
http://hdl.handle.net/2346/58559
(Lu)
Title: Bilingual education in the United States: An overview of its history, public policy, and controversy
Author: Tracee Tomlinson
http://hdl.handle.net/2346/ETD-TTU-2010-12-1110
(Ebtehal)
Title: Implementing Reading Workshop: Why Do Teachers Find it so Hard? A Case Study of Two Elementary Teachers
Author: Satterwhite, Macy D.
http://hdl.handle.net/2346/ETD-TTU-2011-05-1548
(Sina)
Author: Visveswaran Thiagarajan
Title: Domain Formation in Cholesterol/POPE/POPC Lipid Bilayer Membranes
Date: August, 2005
Department: Chemical Engineering
URL: http://hdl.handle.net/2346/16627
Saturday, September 5, 2015
Teaching Philosophies
ESL 5301-002
Teaching Philosophies – 2nd
draft
1. Teaching Philosophy
As a graphic design instructor, my teaching
philosophy has been influenced by a fusion of Western and Chinese cultures. In
Chinese culture, teaching has two inseparable folds: Passing on knowledge and
nurturing of minds. As such, I define teaching as not only a process by which I
instruct students in the acquisition of knowledge but also as a process that
encourages students to become independent thinkers. I have observed that some students
feel that learning is all about memorizing information and following
instruction in the classroom. When one possesses this type of mentality for
learning, they often want instant answers for questions with little attention
to how to formulate the right answers, or how to resolve problems
independently. A proverb from Western culture states, “If you give a man a
fish, you feed him for a day; if you teach a man to fish, you feed him for a
lifetime”; I try to emphasize to students that memorization of graphic design
concept and theories, and practice of technique skills is only a fraction of
what should be learned. The most important and challenging part of learning is
the understanding of the rationale underlying the concepts and theories. It is
knowing how, why, and when to apply learned material to solve novel problems in
design process. (Xiaomiao)
2. Teaching Philosophy
One of the major jobs for a Personal
Financial Planning instructor is to train future financial planners. In order
to become a competent financial planner, one has to remember voluminous laws
and regulations about income tax, investment, retirement, and estate.
Simply reading materials to students
in the class is inefficient and even ineffective. The best way is to have the
students read the book before the class. In-class quizzes can ensure that the
students do their reading assignment. Students can obtain an overall
understanding of the knowledge when they read the book. The instructor
therefore has enough time to introduce important knowledge in class. Students
tend to get confused about regulations. I encourage students to ask questions in
class or after class if they have any confusion about the material. Solving
problems in class helps all of the students who have similar confusion.
It is important to ensure that the
students understand how to utilize the knowledge they learn. Students can
quickly find out how to deal with real clients in specific situations if they
go through some case studies. A financial planner is supposed to have a
comprehensive understanding of his or her case. Therefore, I will design cases
for students to practice and give some adapted past real cases for them to
read. The case study will be assigned to each individual student so that each
student can consider all the details of the case. I will encourage my students
to discuss cases with each other and find out the best solutions so that they
can potentially find out different opinions. The discussion can occur on
Blackboard or meetings after class. Software will be introduced to help
students solve problems efficiently.
Assessment methods can be different
depending on the specific courses. For most courses, the exam simulates the
certification exam (Certified Financial Planner) and helps students prepare for
it. For a lab course introducing software, case studies are the best because a
student cannot finish the case without having a comprehensive understanding of
the software. (Ruizhi)
3. Teaching
Philosophy
As a
graduate student pursuing a PhD degree in the field of chemical engineering,
one of my future career options would be to become a faculty member. One of my
main duties will be to teach courses related to my research area and my field
of study to undergraduate and sometimes graduate students as a faculty member.
Therefore, I often think about myself becoming a teacher. I have attended many
classes during my undergraduate studies and have had many teachers. I have also
had the opportunity to teach a few classes as a teaching assistant and hold discussion
sessions for undergraduate students since the beginning of my graduate studies.
I believe that I can use my own experience as student and as a teaching
assistant to develop methods and ideas that could help me become a good
teacher.
It
is important to know that nowadays, teaching is no longer the process of making
students memorize the contents of so many books and evaluating them by testing
how quickly they can recall the information memorized in the form of
limited-time exams. Nowadays, anybody with access to the internet can find the
information they need online very quickly and very easily. Therefore, I believe
the students need to learn how to approach the problem they’re facing (for
example, the design of a chemical plant), how to find and acquire information
that will help them solve the problem, and how to apply those information in
order to solve the problem. In other words, I want to teach my students
fishing, rather than just giving them the fish. For example, instead of writing
down a list of mathematical expressions and relations, I can show the students
how to derive them.
I also
believe that learning is done through doing. For example, one can only learn to
drive once one sits behind the wheels of a car and starts driving. Students
will learn how to apply useful information to solve a problem by actually
applying different problem solving methods to various problems, which can be
done through examples and exercises. These exercises can be in the form of in-class
quizzes, which serve the purpose of helping students to understand the concept
they learned in the classroom and how it can be applied to practical problems.
Furthermore,
I believe that critical thinking is an important skill for any student to have,
as good questions are usually the results of critical thinking. These good
questions can in turn lead to gathering more information about the problem,
which leads to an easier solution. Developing the critical thinking skill in
students can be achieved through group assignments (for example, a take home
exam or a project on which a group of students can work while having more than
enough time), where students can discuss various problems with each other,
listen to each other’s ideas and also question each other’s ideas. Through this
process, I believe students can learn about different ways of thinking, expand
their views on various problems and learn how to approach a problem from
different perspectives.
I
believe that the more traditional methods of teaching are not efficient
anymore, and teachers who can bring innovation to their methods are more
successful in training skilled engineers. I hope that my teaching philosophy
can be categorized among the more successful ones. (Pouria)
4.
Teaching philosophy
In this essay, I will introduce
my teaching philosophy in teaching immigrant students. Teaching immigrant
students whose English is limited requires more special teaching skills than
teaching local students. For me, I think there are two teaching strategies I
would like to implement in my classes.
Making knowledge clear to
students is a very important teaching strategy for bilingual teachers. It means
that teachers should use special teaching methods to make knowledge easily
understood by students. For instance, when teachers are teaching kindergarten
immigrant students’ objects, such as, different kinds of fruit, instead of
telling students directly the English name of fruit, showing ELLs (English
Language learners) the real fruit is a better choice. By hearing, touching,
feeling, and smelling the real objects, students will learn English
effectively.
Another teaching philosophy
that appeals to me is making students involved in my class. There are several
ways to involve students in class. For example; in teaching ELL’s vocabulary, teachers
model the commands and continually repeat and review them until the students
can carry out the commands with no difficulty. Specifically, teachers may give commands,
such as “stand up” and “sit down,” then they do the commands; by repeating
these, students know what is meant by “stand up” and “sit down.” After that,
teachers give comments to students and make them involved in this activity. By
this kind of physical activity, teachers involve students in the class. (Lu)
5.
Teaching Philosophy
When it comes to being a
teacher, some people consider that a teacher must be equipped with abundant
professional knowledge and responsibility of teaching students. However, these
are merely fundamental qualities of being a teacher. In my point of view, it requires
effective methods of teaching as well.
Unfortunately, I have no
experience of being a teacher, but I have undergone undergraduate education of
landscape architecture for 4 years. During these times, I took many courses by
different teachers and felt various teaching methods and class atmospheres.
Some are good while others are not. As a result, I gradually got some ideas
about teaching philosophy.
If I were a landscape
architecture teacher who was teaching undergraduate students, I would be responsible
for every student. Since undergraduate students are mainly undeveloped or being
developed while they are eager to achieve professional skills; it is crucial
for me to help them look for methods of knowledge acquisition and foster their
personality during undergraduate studies. For undergraduate students, they
already have the capability of grasping knowledge from books, so teachers
should focus on the key information of the topic rather than convey knowledge
by mechanically reading a textbook to students. In my teaching philosophy,
cultivation of students’ confidence and ability for independent thinking should
be taken into account. First, every student should be prepared for each class,
with questions and critical thinking in mind. I will let some students
summarize the articles and encourage them to express their viewpoints
respectively instead of entirely accepting what I teach. Second, starting a
discussion consists of producing questions and getting other students to solve
them. I will focus on making a full explanation of those questions that no one
could answer. Third, I will emphasize the main concept of this topic and make
sure everyone has understood it.
For landscape architecture
students, they may have no idea of design while concept learning is not enough.
Showing them pictures or videos of the design process helps construct an idea
of it and is also conducive to grasping their attention and makes a better
understanding. In this way, students will achieve more success. Also, it is
essential to share various aspects of experiences in my career, because
students can be directly aware of how to apply the knowledge in their career
and what personality should be built, which contributes to their final growth.
Meanwhile, I strongly consider students should work in groups, as they
gradually form a sense of being cooperative and develop ability of leadership;
especially in landscape architecture, not all projects can be finished by
oneself, either in university or in one’s career. Students must learn how to
communicate and work with others, accepting and sharing different ideas,
finishing their own work on time and integrating everyone’s work, to present a
perfect design.
Last, different teachers have
different teaching philosophies and the best is always the one that can be
accepted by students and effectively beneficial to them. I believe the teaching
philosophy that I mentioned can let students achieve more success in the
future. (Kai)
6. My Teaching Experience
I have
always wanted to be a teacher
from an early age. I used to teach math
to my
younger brother as well as
neighbor kids since I was 12 years old. I believe that has something to do with the fact that my father,
a civil engineer, used to be a private math
teacher and would
do it as
a second job. I
remember observing him
teaching for hours
without having a
single clue about
what he was
talking about. When
I entered the
university, I was
not able to
think of any
job which would
suit me other than
being a professor.
I was completely sure this was
going to be the
career I
was going to
do for a
living. There was only one problem.
All the students
seemed to be
bored in most
classes or at
least they were not
fully comfortable. That
was when I realized teaching could
be just a
job like any
other career, or
it could turn
into an art
if the person
who was doing
that, cared about
it greatly. So I
tried to use
my experience as
a student and
turn it into
my materials as a teacher.
I was
fortunate enough to be a
teacher when I
was studying my
Master of Science. I have had
over 300 students
in 4 years,
all in the chemical
engineering field such
as mass transfer,
chemical reactions and
thermodynamics. These experiences
made me realize
I should always
consider two goals. First,
always try to
get better and
try to be
the most updated,
fun, knowledgeable teacher
for your students.
Second, you will not
achieve goal number
one! So it
is almost impossible
to make all
of the students
satisfied at all
times and there
will always be
some students who
do not agree
with your points
or your method
of teaching. However,
nothing horrible would
be coming out
of hard working
and pursuing goal
number one!
I think in
general a teacher
should be very
focused on the
core concepts of
the course he
or she is
teaching. I personally
used to spend
enormous amount of time before
each class to
own the topic
because to be
honest, even a
student who knows
nothing about a
topic will get
the sense if
you are not
prepared. In this
way the teacher
would lose the
student`s trust and
consequently his own
confidence. But surprisingly
having a vast
knowledge of a
certain topic is
not enough as
we see many
great researchers and
scientists are not
necessarily decent teachers.
One should try
to get better
in the art
of passing the
wisdom and knowledge
to students with
use of various
examples and expose
them to different
aspects of that
particular problem. He
or she should
help students to
visualize the case
or at least
give them an
imagination about what
is really going
on instead of
just formulating the
problem using pure
math or physical
definition. This is
really common in the
engineering area because
often you see
students who are
brilliant in math
and are able
to do many
engineering problems despite
of having no
idea or deep
understanding about the
features of them.
Another trick that
I eventually learned
to use was
to keep the
environment of the
class very friendly.
I believe along
with being strict
and running the
class based on
certain rules, the
teacher should have
some sense of
humor! Being funny
is essential for a teacher
because let’s face
it, even if
you are the
smoothest talker or
the deepest professor
in your field
you are going
to lose the
audience`s attention eventually.
I personally would even take my time to prepare my jokes before the
class. However, my jokes always
work better when I improvise them!
Another key component in teaching in my view is
making students interact! I remember
being bothered or
I could say
feeling left out when my
teachers would not
ask me any
questions or not ask about
my opinion. Maybe some teachers ignore the fact
that sometimes simple eye contact with students would help
them build their confidence. Sure,
there are always
more active students in class who
are willing to
participate in class
discussion all the time, but
let`s not forget about
those more shy,
introverted students in
class who need
to be given
attention. So building a class atmosphere with
interaction between all attendees
could help us to avoid having a thick air, boring and
not likeable class.
Teaching
has always been
an inspiring job
for me and
I think the
ability to share
your knowledge with
students and help
them to think
more deeply, and gain
self-confidence to build
a better future
for themselves and
society is precious
and priceless. But like
any other goals, it will not be achieved except by
putting endless effort into it,
because that is
how the world
works. To do
that, he or
she should always
be prepared, open
to questions, very active and
caring to all the students with a little bit
of humor. In this way, the student would enjoy
the class as much
as they enjoy any other fun activities. Learning plus
having fun? That is utopia! (Sina S)
7. Teaching Philosophy
From
an early time in my education, I
have experienced teaching
to my friends,
classmates and siblings,
and most of
the time I
found it very
fulfilling. It not
only improved my
ability to transfer
my knowledge on
that subject to
others, but also
it helped me
learn more about
that topic during
the teaching process.
Those small experiences
and also a
lot of points
which I learned
as a chemical
Engineering student or Teaching Assistant have
developed my teaching philosophy.
I
believe the most important skill that a teacher should have or at least try to gain
is the skill
of communication. It seems essential to be able to
connect to students,
and also it will help to avoid a
stressful or uncomfortable atmosphere. Students should be ble to ask questions
and get answered
properly. Therefore, I always try
to communicate with
students and encourage them to ask questions to make sure that they are understanding what I am trying to
teach. Even if it means I have to repeat a part, the students should be comfortable
enough to ask for it. Friendly discussion with students and sometimes a little
sense of humor can help to build a good and comfortable atmosphere.
Furthermore,
since Chemical Engineering courses involve a lot of mathematics and
formulas, therefore the
best method I
have found to
grab students’ attention
is to prepare
power point slides
on most part
of the material
and copy them
and give them to students. In this way, they will be
able to follow the teacher without
getting lost. In
my experience, the
key to the
highest effectiveness of
this method is
that there could
be some blank
spots in power
point notes, which
students need to
fill in themselves.
This can make them
more focused on
the subject, and
also they should
follow the teacher
to find out
the answer of
those spots.
However,
in order
to prevent students
from memorizing the
formulas without a
deep understanding of
them, I have
found that solving
example problem can be really
effective. This makes it
possible for them
to apply their
knowledge in real
example which leads
to adequate perception
of the concept.
However, it will not
end here, because
what students learnt
in one session
can be easily
forgotten in the
next class if
they do not
repeat or solve
more examples. Therefore, suitable number
of homework assignments
can do the
trick in here.
Furthermore, I believe one
important step in
learning process is
frequent open-discussion quizzes,
because in this
way students will
learn more than
what they expected
from each other.
Last,
sufficient distribution of
the points which
make the final
grade of the
students on the
course is critical.
Multiple homework
assignments, projects, midterms
and of course final
exam should be
considered for each
course. In this way,
even if the
students miss a
part for a reason they
can make it
up through the
other sections during
the semester. (Soraya Honarparvar)
8. Teaching philosophy
The purpose of education is to
prepare students for a better future and to have the ability to improve the
economics of their societies. Therefore, teachers have a significant job that
requires several skills and training to be successful. We are mistaken to think
that teachers need only to be good in their field and to forget that teachers
interact with students of different ages with different needs. There is no
doubt that teachers should prepare well for a class, be organized and provide
materials that help students to understand the lessons.
In kindergarten class, I would
put in my consideration the relationship between me and students, how to
inspire students and how to create a positive environment in the class. I would
respect students and give them freedom to express their opinions. Students
would be inspired by teachers who love their subjects and express that love.
This love will encourage them to create new methods of teaching and update
their information. As a result, students love and get attached to the subject.
Therefore, I would use face expressions to show how I love all activities that
I would provide from different subjects. Using positive words also is one of my
teaching strategies. Positive words will help students to work harder and give
them confidence in their ability. Also, positive words will make students happy
and attached to school. As a result, the learning performance will improve.
Another way that helps to
improve the learning performance is to connect information with experience,
like learning math through cooking. For example, I would use ingredients to
teach children simple addition and fractions. Also, by using a measurement cup,
I would teach them some concepts such as, half and quarter. In kindergarten
class I would use different kinds of material and activities to connect playing
with learning and to make sure that all children understand the information. I
would avoid using a lot of technology, because at this age children need to
learn how to interact with others. Therefore, I would provide group activities
to teach them how to take turns and share with each other. I believe making
learning fun will help students to love school and learning. As a result, the
idea of continuous education will be part of their lives when they grow up.
(Ebtehal)
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