Newsvine Article

http://www.newsvine.com/_news/2009/01/08/2289481-on-a-tight-budget-apply-to-harvard

I chose this article because it speaks about an issue that everyone who plans on going or is at college thinks about: the price. The article discusses research that was done on over 650 universities and colleges nation wide that are the definition of “good value”. Statistics show that when the average family was asked about college, they admitted that they would more than likely get into the colleges of their choice, but they would be less likely to pay for it. Over all, the article is about many “cheap” well rounded universities are commonly looked over because of the assumption of the price of the school without researching thoroughly.

Hirsch Prompt

In the beginning of his argument, The Common School and The Common Good, Hirsch begins with naming specific countries and their success with a national core curriculum. This automatically sets up his argument for a national core curriculum and his reasons for believing in it's success. 

Hirsch argues that if a country educates it's citizens the same way throughout the entire country, that nation will have a well rounded and well developed democracy and more successful nation. When discussing the United States and their progresses towards a better educated nation, I find that I agree with Hirsch when he states the country would be stronger if the percentage of educated people was higher; although, I disagree with the idea of everyone being taught the exact same way. 

An obvious positive implication to this way of thinking is students will be challenged with the same material and therefore, the teachers will have a direct way of teaching said material and will understand what and why they're teaching it. I've been in classes where teachers are a little less than prepared when it comes to the subjects they're teaching, and if they had all been taught the same way, with the same materials, they would be more prepared in teaching their students the same way that they were taught.

However, because everyone is different and no one is the same, I believe the major drawback of this idea is lack of diversity and individual thought process. 

Political Ethos Assignment

I was born and reared in the small Southern town of Belmont, North Carolina. I've never moved towns, let alone states, or even houses. I am the fourth generation to live in a one hundred year old house in the center of downtown Belmont.

I am a descendant of the Mayflower and a great-great granddaughter of a Confederate veteran. My family are generational Presbyterians and I have been taught from an early age that all good things are by God's grace and that rights are conferred by God and require nothing from any one else.

For example, there are those who believe that health care is a right. How can this be? In the United States no one is compelled to practice medicine. Without that compulsion or free choice to practice medicine all the money in the world cannot provide health care .

The government's role is to provide for constitutionally authorized services for the good of the nation and it's citizens; it is not constitutionally empowered to redistribute income or wealth from one group to another.