Running Head Youth Gangs an Example of the Topic Government and Law Essays by

Running Head: Youth Gangs Howell's article mentioned that the definition of a youth gang varies from every state. They are considered a group of young delinquents assumed to have associated themselves with a gang name. This would correspond to a certain set of characteristics and symbolism usually exclusive to their group. The size of these groups also varies from every location. Need essay sample on "Running Head: Youth Gangs" topic? We will write a custom essay sample specifically for you Proceed According to a survey, adolescents join gangs at the rate of 14-30%. Their ages range from 12-24, and their membership continues to expand since 1980, same with the gang problems reported to the authorities. Howell established in his article that a great portion of the country experiences delinquency from these gangs. The article also mentioned that gangs were not exclusive to men. There are some female members reported as well. Undergraduates Often Tell Us: I'm don't want to write my essay online. I want to spend time with my friends Entrust Your Essay Paper To Us And Get A+ Online Essay Writing Company Best Essay Writing Service Buy College Papers Online Cheap Essay Writing Service A large portion of the crimes reported were by the many youth gangs. This was given the rate of 3 is to 1 of the crimes committed by non gang related crimes in Denver. In Rochester, it is 7 to 1. Their influences are definitely greater than non gang members, and the effects can stretch for a very long term. Offense rates significantly drop when the gang leaves the area. That is also because gangs are usually involved with drug and alcohol use. Violence seemed inevitable. On the other hand, there is no relation between gangs and drug trafficking and homicides. Another study also showed that the growth of gangs have nothing to do with gang migration. It was found out that although there was an increase in theft and robbery when gangs migrate, the changes were not drastic in some regions. The composition of these gangs usually consist of Italians, Irish and Jewish. However, according to a national survey, almost half of the gangs comprises of blacks at 48%. Others are Hispanic, at 43%. Whites covered 5%, while 4% were established to be Asians. On the other hand, where students are involved, white adolescents are of a larger scale. Those black students who admitted they were gang members were 31% of the sample. Hispanic and the Whites got 25% each, and 5% were Asian. Youth gang is a fact in any society. Seemed as secret congregations, these gangs have brought fear and paranoia in many people. They have become a threat in and society. However, these percentages and studies only highlighted gang involvement by race. These digits can lead one to assume that blacks will most likely involve themselves with gangs and Asians are mostly composed of good people. This form of stereotyping should never be accepted in any society. In fact it should be discouraged. Although the article presented significant data, it somehow failed to establish the causes of these delinquent activities. How did they become a threat? They have been rated to all the crimes, compared with other transgressions in society, but the author did not include its source. If youth gangs are approached as an illness in society, then articles such as this should also supply means to counter the predicament. It should have provided suggestions. Although its aim was suppose to render information to a public, there should an underlying purpose and an avenue to attain that. Delinquency should not have been equated to race. The significant difference among colors should not matter as much. The crime rates by youth gangs should be lowered to none. The youth should not be involved. They should be able to enjoy their childhood without hate or anger. If rates are greater due to youth gangs then action should be done at the most immediate time. We should not have waited to have these statistics show us how grave the problem already is. However, now that these numbers are here, a move should be initiated. Reference Howell, J. (December 2007). "Youth gangs." Retrieved March 5, 2008 from http://www.ncjrs.gov/txtfiles/fs9772.txt .

The Odyssey Thesis Essay Example

The Odyssey Thesis Essay Example The Odyssey Thesis Essay The Odyssey Thesis Essay Essay Topic: The Odyssey In the Odyssey, temptation is defined as hunger- both literal hunger (temptation for food) and fgurative hunger i. e. temptation for luxury, ambition, wealth, women, power, glory etc. This hunger, whether literal or fgurative keeps Odysseuss men from reaching their homes and uniting with their families. However, longing for family or grief for loved ones drives away hunger. Odysseus is the only man among his crew to reach home to Ithaca because his longing for his family and native land surpasses the hungers he encounters and experiences. Inordinate hunger/ emptation leads to Odysseuss men losing sight of their goal to reach their native land. The opening lines of the Odyssey refer to Odysseus as the wanderer, blown off course time and again/ After he plundered Troys sacred heights (3 page 1). This indicates that there is punishment for excessive hunger. It implies that Odysseus and his crew were blown off course after they plundered Troy because this plundering of Troy is a display of superiority and a way to satiate their hunger for revenge. As a result, theyre punished by the Gods who delay their Journey time and again. Nestor ells Telemachus that before they start their Journey back home Menelaus and Agamemnon have a quarrel and they call an assembly of the entire army in a reckless manner, toward sunset/ And all out of order [they] had all been drinking(1 50 page 32). This indicates that their temptation for indulgence and wine cause them to become reckless which in turn results in the Greek army splitting into two sections causing confusion, thereby delaying their Journey back home and putting several lives in Jeopardy. Zeus plans for them a bitter Journey home because they were not all prudent or Just(144 page 32) implying that they didnt ontrol their urges which made them loose sense of right or wrong. While recounting his story to the Phaecians, Odysseus tells them how he plundered the land of the Cicones in Ismaros and how he and his crew pillaged the town and killed the men. The women and the treasure that [they] took out (42 page 126) displaying the mens lust for power, wealth and women. This hunger makes the men complacent and oblivious of danger and even though Odysseus commands them to pull out fast they dont listen and continue indulging in drinking a lot of wine and [slaughtering] a lot of sheep and cattle on the shore(49 page 126). This results in their bitter defeat when the Cicones come back with reinforcements and kill several of Odysseuss men. Soon after, Odysseus and his men reach the land of the Cyclopes. Odysseus claims he has a strong premonition that [they] had a rendezvous with a man of great might, a savage with no notion of right and wrong (204 page 130) But despite this premonition Odysseus enters the Cyclops Polyphemuss cave to prove his metis to himself and his men. This hunger for glory almost Jeopardizes their chances of safe escape when after outwitting the Cyclops, Odysseus starts boasting and proclaiming Odysseus the marauder [put his eye out], Son of Laertes, whose home is on Ithaca (502 page 139) His men try to stop him but they arent able to persuade [his] heros heart(498 page 138). Odysseuss boastful declaration causes Poseidon to answer his sons (Polyphemuss) pleas to make Odysseus Journey back home long, journey to become fraught with misery. In the witch Circes house, Elpenor, one of Odysseuss men falls from the roof and dies. When Odysseus questions his ghost in Hades, he tells Odysseus that Bad luck and too much wine undid [him](56 page 159). This demonstrates how temptation for wine causes men to become careless thus leading to their downfall, and sometimes death. In the Island of Hyperion the sun, Odysseus warns his men not to eat or harm the cattle, but they go ahead and eat the cattle nevertheless. This angers Hyperion and Odysseus observes that the hides crawled, and the meat, both roasted and raw, mooed on the spits like cattle lowing(406 page 189). Despite these dark omens his men continue slaughtering the cattle displaying how their hunger surpassed not only their desire to go home but also their fear of Gods. Odysseus tries his best to save his crew but the fools [are] destroyed by their own recklessness When they [eat] the oxen of Hyperion the sun, and that god snuff[s] out their day of return (8 page 1). Longing and grief for family and home drives away hunger. And Odysseus returns home to Ithaca only because this longing for his native land and family has surpassed his hunger. Menelaus says that whenever he thinks of Odysseus, he doesnt want to sleep or eat implying that his longing to be united with his bosom friend is so great that it drives away his hunger. When Penelope comes to know that er son Telemachus has embarked on a Journey all by himself, she is grief-stricken. She would not touch food or drink But only lay there worrying about her son (846 page 67). Her fear of losing her only son is so overwhelming that she is unable to eat or drink. Longing for her beloved son has extinguished her hunger. While recounting his Journey to Telemachus, Menelaus says that while [he] wandered through those lands amassing wealth [his] brother was murdered So [he] did not enjoy being lord of this wealth. the] would gladly live with a third of [his] wealth And have those en back who perished in Troy (94-108 page 46-47). His pain and longing for his loved ones consumes him and all the wealth he amassed out of hunger for riches does not matter to him anymore because he knows he has lost something dearer. His grief for his brother and his comrades has purged him of all hunger. When Odysseus visits the ghost of Tiresias in Hades, the seer warns him and his men not to eat the cattle of the sun when they reach the land of Hyperion. He tells them that he and his crew might Just make it home if they curb [their] own spirit(102 page 161). He says leave these (the cattle) unharmed, keep your mind on your homecoming implying that all hungers can be curbed if one focuses on their homecoming (108 page 161). As the epic progresses, we see Odysseus curbing his spirit and not giving in to temptation particularly at the land of the Lotus Eaters and in the Land of Helios the sun. His mind is focused on returning to Ithaca and even though he is starving, he does not give in to his hunger. However, his resolve becomes most pronounced when he is in Ogygia. Calypso offers him everything- love, shelter, riches, food and even eternal life. But Odysseus is unmoved. He stays with her and shares her bed, but unwillingly so. His grief steadily increases as time progresses. When Hermes was enough to make even a visiting God enraptured at its sight(77 page 72). But Odysseus isnt enjoying the beauty this land has to offer. He is seen sitting on the shore honing his hearts sorrow, Staring out to sea with hollow, salt rimmed eyes(85 page 72). Odysseus is not tempted by the luxuries the island has to offer or the eternally beautiful nymph goddess. His longing for his native land and family purges him of any temptations or hungers. He is focussing on the sorrow and longing for is family in his heart, while concentrating on the barren sea devoid of any temptations. It is because of this longing for his native land that Calypso finally gives up on him, and by the Gods designs, he leaves Ogygia, suffering on the sterile sea for several days before finally reaching the land of the Phaecians from where he is granted safe conduct to his homeland- Ithaca. Thus we see that Odysseus is the only hero capable of resisting all kinds of hungers because his love for his native land and his longing to be united with his family consumes him and purges him of all temptations.

Trumans Decision regarding the Atomic Bombs Research Paper

Trumans Decision regarding the Atomic Bombs - Research Paper Example produced and finally in the early morning of July 16, 1945, the first successful testing of an Atomic bomb was conducted at the Trinity test site at Alamogordo, New Mexico. During this time, the allied forces had already captured Germany, but Japan continued to fight the war even with the clear indication of their little chance of winning. It was estimated that in the period between mid-April to mid-July in 1945 Japan displayed ferocity by killing massive number of allied forces. The Japanese government even rejected the proposal made in Potsdam Declaration that proposed the Japanese armed forces to surrender or else face â€Å"prompt and utter destruction† (The bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki). Truman believed that the destruction caused by the Atomic bomb in the Japanese cities would place America in a formidable position amongst the other powerful nations of the world. Controversies President Truman experienced many dilemmas that influenced his decision to drop the Atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Within two weeks of becoming president, he received a full report on the developmental process of the most expensive war material which stated it as â€Å"the most terrible weapon ever known in human history† (Hamby, 18). On 8th May 1945, after Germany surrendered, it was still necessary to defeat the Japanese. Truman’s decision was highly influenced by his past experience of being a combat artillery in the WWI. During that phase he developed a perspective of Japanese fanaticism, and also as American President he wanted to exhibit his diplomatic power by solving the existing difficulties with Soviet Union which was not yet at war with Japan. Many scholars in response to the utter calamity caused by the Atomic bombs professed that Truman deliberately killed and... Japan was always a losing side since the nation’s military power was in no way a match for the U.S. military power. Moreover, by August 1995 fatigue had set in and it was highly possible that the Japanese would surrender by the end of the year. Moreover, I feel the first Atomic bomb could be dropped anywhere near the harbor if the intention was only to scare the Japanese and force them to surrender. Also, I feel the Potsdam Declaration should have been modified, and instead of ordering the Japanese to surrender unconditionally they should have given the chance to say something. There is also the fact that the bomb was dropped on two cities which resulted in deaths of more civilians than soldiers. Finally, the major reason why I cannot support Truman’s decision is that many Japanese people are still suffering from diseases that occurred from the bomb’s radiation. On such grounds which include both political and moral issues, it was an unjustified act by President Truman.