My Writing Samples
Morgan Collier
Dr. Whiddon
English 1102 I
6 March 2003
Selling Guns, Good or Bad?
Weapons are always perceived of as being bad for the society. They are also supposed to be people’s source of protection against attackers or any kind of harm. Weapons consist of guns of all kinds, knives, or any thing being used to cause harm to someone. The police department in a city is the only legalized personnel who are able to carry a gun at all times. Weaponry is a part of their uniform. Guns, or weapons of any kind, should not be sold to our community for any reason. Policemen were invented to protect the community; firearms are predominantly the cause of accidental injuries or deaths by experienced and inexperienced people. There is also a risk of the weapon getting into the hands of a criminal.
To protect one’s self a person needs some sort of protection: house alarms, car alarms, and knowledge of how to defend their self are some ways to assure protection. Many people do not know how to defend themselves properly or how to escape out of threatening situations. There is a large amount of people who have turned to weaponry, mainly guns. The police department is the one who are supposed to keep everyone safe in our community. If some of the people do not feel safe then the police are not performing their job well. The police force will need to increase their activity in protection and to come up with ways of decreasing the threats throughout the neighborhoods. It is said that the selling of the firearms have helped in the purchasing of new equipment for the police force such as “bulletproof vests and ballistic shields.”(Olinger 231) There would no need for those expensive pieces of equipment if the police were not selling the guns and putting them back onto the streets.
Selling guns to people in our community is contradictory to the efforts of what policemen try to achieve everyday, which is to reduce the crime rate. The selling of guns by the police department itself is even worse. There has been a proven fact of why guns should not be sold to our community, the shooting of Edward “Bud” Bowden. (Glau and Jacobsen 221) The shooting was an accidental injury, but accidents could always be worse. If one of the guns sold got into the hands of a child there would be a serious injury or death waiting to happen. A person buying a gun has to be certified and trained in order to purchase it. Passing a background check is required in some states and a holding period by the company is issued before the release of the gun.
Children are not licensed nor trained in how to handle a gun or any weapon, for that matter.
Even though a person could still be able to obtain a gun if they so desired, it is better than them being able to get it from a cop. Selling guns back to our community is taking a high risk just within our own community but also it is a risk for the surrounding cities as well. Another bad affect of it is that “…some guns sold lawfully later ended up in the wrong hands.” (Farber 236) The guns should be destroyed once they are confiscated instead of sold. Unfortunately, there will be a decrease in the city’s budget because of this, but there will be an increase in uninjured people or murders.
Accidental injuries and deaths, crimes committed by the use of a weapon are all similar because of one object, a gun. Firearms should not be sold to our community just to increase the city’s budget. If the City Council allows the continuation of this act then a terrible image is being portrayed. That image is the importance of money over the lives of loved ones and fellow neighbors. The police department was designed to honor and protect. Allowing citizens to handle firearms is honoring their right in the Second Amendment, but it is not protecting the citizens’ lives.
Work Cited
Farber, Henry. “Rockdale’s Sheriff Won’t Sell Off Guns.” Scenarios for Writing: Issues, Analysis, and Response. Eds. Gregory R. Glau and Craig B. Jacobsen. Mountain View: Mayfield Publishing Co., 2001. 236.
Glau Gregory R. and Jacobsen, Craig B. “The Scenario.” Scenarios for Writing: Issues, Analysis, and Response. Eds. Gregory R. Glau and Craig B. Jacobsen. Mountain View: Mayfield Publishing Co., 2001. 221.
Olinger, David. “Cops Put Guns Back in Circulation.” Scenarios for Writing: Issues, Analysis, and Response. Eds. Gregory R. Glau and Craig B. Jacobsen. Mountain View: Mayfield Publishing Co., 2001. 231.
Morgan Collier
English 1102 I
Mrs. Whiddon
13 February 2003
The positives and negatives of online classes
Online classes are becoming the new genre for today’s students. Traditional classes are still being used but mainly by the traditional 18- year old undergraduate. People who want to expand their education and maintain a career at the same time are the ones predominantly taking online classes. Or by people who do not have a college of some sort, technical or four year, close to their home. Administrators of different colleges are becoming more interested in developing online classes for some of the courses provided at their schools. Many strengths and weaknesses are within online classes. Concerns about the cost of tuition and what it covers, the relationship between professor and student, and achieving an actual degree are expressed by new students. Some of the professors who are being introduced to online teaching are concerned with students cheating.
When a person thinks of online classes they immediately think of “the easy way out”. In actuality online classes are just like classes inside classrooms, or sometimes harder. Signing up for online classes requires the same tactic as registering for any other class at a university, such as paying tuition fees. One of the downfalls for paying an excessive amount of money for an online class is not knowing whether or not the university you are paying is accredited. These types of “universities” are known as diploma mills (Koeppel 106). A diploma mill is “an organization that sells degrees without an academic base and without requiring sufficient academic achievement” (Koeppel 106). There are many web sites who charge up to $200-$7000 for a course that takes little work from students. Also some courses require paying the previously mentioned amounts for a degree that takes less than 30 days to achieve (Koeppel 106). The student also has to pay for any textbooks or materials that are required to complete the class. Once the money is paid the student does not receive any form of receipt or assurance of some kind to let them know what their money provides. It is suggested that the online universities and web sites provide information about their accreditation. Some universities can have their accreditation checked by writing to the Department of Education Accreditation and Eligibility Determination Division, 6000 Independence Ave., S.W., Washington, D.C. 20202-5244 (Koeppel 110).
One concern from the professors who are just beginning to teach online classes is how to catch a student cheating. There have suggestions of having the student purchase a $20 camera to sit on the top of their computer while they work (Carnevale 117). The most favored suggestions are to make unexpected phone calls to the student and ask for their references or when taking an exam, for them to come to the college (Carnevale 117).
The ability to cheat and to not get caught also goes along with the relationship between the student and professor. In a traditional classroom the student and professor have a visual image of one another. They are able to read each other’s body language and learn each other’s styles and preferences. The professor can understand and anticipate the way the student will succeed on an exam from what he or she sees in the classroom. When the situation turns to an online class all of the previously mentioned things are gone. Instead of having a visual, each person, the student and professor have to learn from readings on the computer. “Others failed to grasp what the teacher expected when she posted assignments” (Mendels 112). This takes away the ability to correspond to one another’s methods, which leads to frustration and confusion.
Online classes can save a lot time and money for those who cannot attend a university. It can also benefit those who work best by themselves instead of in a crowded classroom. For others it might be just as hard as going to an actual university. Either way it goes online classes will help broaden people’s knowledge in the new world of technology.
Works Cited
Carnevale, Dan. “How to Proctor from a Distance.” Scenarios for Writing: Issue, Analysis, and Response. Eds. Gregory R. Glau and Craig B. Jacobsen. Mountain View: Mayfield Publishing Co., 2001. 117.
Koeppel, David. “Technology”. Scenarios for Writing: Issues, Analysis and Response. Eds. Gregory R. Glau and Craig B. Jacobsen. Mountain View: Mayfield Publishing Co., 2001. 106 and 110.
Mendels, Pamela. “Study Finds Problems with Web Classes”. Scenarios for Writing: Issues, Analysis and Response. Eds. Gregory R. Glau and Craig B. Jacobsen. Mountain View: Mayfield Publishing Co., 2001. 112.