Short Speech on Singapore Universities Essay Example for Free

Short Speech on Singapore Universities Essay Good morning teacher and fellow classmates. My name is ______and today, I will be talking about the increasing amount of diversity in higher education in terms of student admissions and the different university experiences in Singapore. With 7 different local universities to choose from, A-level and polytechnic graduates nowadays have a variety of courses to choose from that suit their needs. But is diversity in schools a problem? Singapore Management University (SMU) partnered up with the American Wharton Business School in 1999 and accepted their first batch of students in 2000. To set itself apart from the more established National University of Singapore (NUS) and Nanyang Technological University (NTU), students are not only accepted based on grades, but also through panel interviews, reflective essays and their other qualities and achievements. The American-style of teaching students in small seminar groups and giving marks to students for class participation that SMU has adopted has taught their graduates to think on their feet and to speak up in a more confident, articulate and mature manner. With SMU’s increasing popularity amongst students and employers posing a challenge, both NUS and NTU are stepping up to try and draw the best students. NUS has made use of its high worldwide ranking to form partnerships with different universities around the world to offer overseas exchange programmes to its students. The NUS-town was also opened at the former Warren Golf Club site in Clementi to give students a residential college experience. Meanwhile, NTU started to focus on sciences and technology, setting up several labs  including the Future Mobility Research Lab with BMW to study the future of transportation. With 2000 graduates a year, NTU pioneered in engineering education, and is the world’s largest single-campus engineering facility. NTU students also get to spend a year with a partner university before taking up internships at start-up companies and companies abroad. In the eyes of the government, it would make sense to encourage diversity among the higher education sector to offer an education with a difference and in the process, preparing  graduates for the job market. However, this should be done carefully so as to avoid labelling the institution as purely â€Å"research-intensive† or â€Å"teaching† universities. The friendly competitions and rivalry between the schools has also encouraged the universities to build on their unique strengths. Thus, diversity in the higher education is not a problem. The different institutions provide a platform for their students to be as prepared as they can be to enter the job market according to their strengths. Thank you.

Invalidity of the Creationism Theory :: Argumentative Persuasive Essays

Invalidity of the Creationism Theory Since I was a small child I have been interested in science, specifically the natural sciences. They have always intensely fascinated me. So of course being the curious child I was, I read many volumes on paleontology, paleo-archeology, and geology. During this same time, my parents were deeply involved in the church. They both had just graduated from seminary school and were thinking of starting their own ministry. This of course caused quite a conflict in me. Here on the one hand were all these famous authors telling me how the planet had evolved naturally over eons of time with no intervention from any deity. Then on the other, hand I had my parents and others telling me to trust in God for he was the creator of all. To settle these internal conflicts I read an extensive amount of literature on both creationism's position and that of main stream science. I settled eventually on one final conclusion. The three most common cases cited for the validity of creationism are unjustly fou nded. The Great Flood The great flood is, of course, the biblical story that tells of Gods judgment of man and His resulting punishment for what He saw as rampant wickedness. As the story goes, man had begun to multiply rapidly on the face of the earth, but to the Lord these men had become wicked. They had only evil thoughts in their hearts and minds. The Lord God decided he would obliterate all life on the planet, except for Noah's family and the two of every kind of animal and creeping thing (or seven according to the next verse) that they take with them on the ark. Creationists claim that this worldwide flood is responsible for the destruction of the dinosaurs. According to them, the flood is responsible for the extinction of thousands of species. They believe evolution never did occur and the earth is not billions of years old as claimed by main stream science. Of course, the first problem with the global flood idea is the availability of enough water to cover the whole earth. Using current standards God would have needed 4.4 billion cubic kilometers of water to cover the highest mountains, which the Bible claims the Lord accomplished. One popular explanation by Creationists for the water problem is that a giant vapor canopy once surrounded the whole planet.

Bigger Thomas A Tragic Hero Essay

Bigger Thomas as a Tragic Hero When analyzing Bigger Thomas, Richard Wright’s protagonist in the novel Native Son, one must take into consideration the development of his characterization. Being a poor twenty-year-old Black man in the south side of Chicago living with his family in a cramped one- bedroom apartment in the 1930’s, the odds of him prospering in life were not in his favor. Filled with oppression, violence, and tragedy, Bigger Thomas’ life was doomed from the moment he was born. Through the novel, Bigger divulges his own dreams to provide for his family and to be anything but a â€Å"nobody.† Although Bigger struggled to fight through obstacles to pursue his dreams for the future, his chase for a better life came to an abrupt halt after the tragic accidental murder of his employer’s white daughter. Bigger Thomas fits the definition of a tragic hero, considering he is the protagonist of Native Son that experiences tragedy throughout the novel. Along with tragedy, Bigge r also undergoes change as the novel progresses. By the end Bigger’s life story, he is able to change into a man that is no longer consumed through the fear in his heart. Due to his characteristics, Bigger Thomas can be compared to Willy Loman in Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman. Both characters are tragic heroes that are related by their struggles through tragedy and changes they undergo throughout their lives. By comparing the two characters, one can solidify the importance of both characters because of their tragedies they experience. In the beginning of Native Son’s book one: Fear, one is able to realize that Bigger Thomas’s fate looms in the hands of his environment. He did not choose to live a life of poverty in the â€Å"Black Belt† of south side Chicago. This life was forced upon him. On page 20 of the novel, foreshadowing occurs as Bigger chats with his friend Gus about his future. He says, â€Å"Every time I get to thinking about me being black and they being white, me being here and they being there, I feel like something awful’s going to happen to me† (Wright 20). He displays a defeatist attitude that he further explains as he talks to Gus. He explains his reasoning as he questions, â€Å"Why they make us live in one corner of the city? Why don’t they let us fly planes and run ships?†(Wright 20). As a result of this conversation, the reader is able to  identify that Bigger goes through his life feeling defeated. He has minimal hope for his future as he li ves in fear that something awful will happen to him due to the color of his skin and where he lives. Although one may argue that Bigger is a negative person who uses the color of his skin to justify his evils, this is not the case considering Bigger constantly is oppressed by his environment and lacks options in his life. The white people that surround Bigger give him no hope to prosper thus creating a tragic existence from the start. It is not until Bigger gets a job offer from a rich white philanthropist, Mr. Dalton that his life may be able to turn around for the better. Unfortunately for Bigger, this opportunity does just the opposite. While accepting a job as a chauffer for the Dalton family, Bigger becomes optimistic about his current situation. Instead of constantly letting his mother and siblings down, he is now able to provide for them through this job by granting them $20 from his salary each week. Although the job acquired little skill, Bigger was satisfied that through this job, he could be less of a â€Å"nobody.† While reflecting on this new chapter in his life, Bigger expressed, â€Å"This would be an easy life. Everything was all right, except that girl† (Wright 59). The girl that worried Bigger was Mary Dalton, Mr. Dalton’s free spirited daughter that constantly challenged Bigger’s patience and authority. Their first encounter left Bigger skeptical of Mary Dalton’s motives. By their second encounter, Bigger was blatantly fearful that Mary would cause him to lose his job. During their second encounter, Bigger is ordered to chauffer Miss Dalton to the University for her nightly class. Unfortunately to Bigger’s surprise, Miss Dalton has another set of plans. She tells Bigger, â€Å"I think I can trust you† (Wright 64) in order to toy with his emotions and disobey his boss’ orders as Bigger, Mary, and Mary’s communist boyfriend Jan Erlone take the car out for a night in the loop. After a rousing evening on the town filled with booze and conversations about communism that left Bigger offended and ashamed to be black, it became Bigger’s duty to make sure that Mary was placed safely in her bed after being too intoxicated to stand on her own. Because Bigger strives to obey his boss, he feels inclined to personally place Mary in her own room in order to avoid trouble. This shows that Bigger Thomas took Mary to her bedroom with no intention of causing any problems in his new  workplace reminding the reader that Bigger is not an evil human being, just a product of his environment. After being in Mary’s bedroom, B igger decided to overstay his welcome due to his curious arousal with white women. To Bigger’s surprise, â€Å"a hysterical terror seized him† (Wright 85) as Mrs. Dalton makes an appearance in Mary’s bedroom to check on her daughter. Bigger automatically assumed that if he was caught in Mary Dalton’s bedroom at an odd hour of the night he would be immediately fired and accused of raping a white woman that could ruin his already tragic life forever. Due to her blindness, Bigger was not seen immediately, but he realized if Mary kept mumbling, Mrs. Dalton would make her way to the bed and eventually feel Bigger laying next to her. Out of pure fear, Bigger reacts irrationally as he suffocates Mary Dalton with a pillow in order to keep her quiet. Fear is what provoked the irrational response that killed Mary Dalton and turned Bigger Thomas’ life into a series of tragic events. In Malcolm Cowley’s scholarly article, Richard Wright: The Case of Big ger Thomas, he reminds the reader that despite his monstrous actions towards Mary Dalton, he is not the one to be blamed. Cowley makes the point that Bigger, â€Å"has been trained from the beginning to be a bad citizen. He had been taught American ideals of life†¦but had been denied the means of achieving them† (Cowley 113). Cowley’s observation justifies that Bigger reacted as a product of his environment that constantly taught him to be a bad citizen because he had no way to achieve the kind of life he would hope for. This provokes even more tragedy in Bigger’s life. Through the accidental murder of Mary Dalton, a tragic hero arose in the form of Bigger Thomas. This tragic hero was born out of pure fear for the white man, but as the novel progressed, the fear of oppression slowly left the tragic hero as he vows to no longer live in fear. After Bigger Thomas’ accidental murder of Mary Dalton, Bigger’s life turns into a wild goose chase where he is forced to hide out until being caught by Chicago authorities. While awaiting his trial, certain to face death, Bigger meets the man that will defend his case. The defendant Max, a white communist decides to take on Bigger Thomas’ case in order to show white people the oppressive lifestyles black people were forced to survive on every day. At first Bigger was skeptical about a white man volunteering to defend a black man accused of murder and rape. He questioned, â€Å"Why would Max  risk that white tide of hate to help him† (Wright 420). He is shocked that a white man would defend a black man out of the goodness of his heart. Max asks Bigger questions that remind Bigger that he is a human being among everyone else despite his race. At this point it does not matter to Bigger if Max saves his life, because Max has made him mature mentally and unde rgo change. After recounting a conversation where Max asked Bigger questions about what he wanted to do with his future, he expresses to Max, â€Å" (you) asked me questions nobody ever asked me before. You knew that I was a murderer two times over, but you treated me like a human† (Wright 424). After Max assures Bigger that he is a human, Bigger transforms his way of looking at life. Instead of feeling constantly oppressed, Bigger believes that he is a human that deserves a future much like everyone else despite the color of his skin. Instead of accepting his death sentence, Bigger realizes that he has the urge to live his life as a human that possesses the ability to have a future. As Max reassures him, â€Å"you’re human, Bigger† (Wright 424) Bigger comes to a change in his heart. He realizes that the fear he has sustained from the white people that constantly suppress him comes from his own thoughts. He now believes in himself as an individual that no longer lives in fear. Because of this, Bigger is able to accept his death sentence and change his outlook on life. Unfortunately, this change came too late in his existence to matter. Although Bigger loses the battle with life, he ultimately wins the battle with the color of his skin after accepting that he is just as human as Max, his defendant. In James Baldwin’s article, â€Å"Many Thousand Gone- Twentieth Century Interpretations of Native Son,† Baldwin explains his interpretation of Bigger Thomas’ battle within Native son. He explains, â€Å"In this case the force of circumstance is not poverty merely, but color a circumstance which cannot be overcome, against which the protagonist battles for his life and loses† (Baldwin 53). This statement is not accurate considering a battle is not lost. Even though Bigger Thomas is sentenced to death, he is able to end his life with peace of mind knowing that he can die as a human without fear. The change Bigger Thomas has undergone shows that Bigger has overcome his oppression thus winning his battle. After reading Native Son, the protagonist Bigger Thomas resembled another tragic hero from the play, Death of a Salesman. By comparing Willy Loman, the protagonist of Death of a Salesman to Bigger  Thomas, one can tell how similar their characters are altho ugh they have been created in different time periods and environments. Both Bigger and Willy are lost souls trying to give meaning to their ultimately meaningless lives. As a result of their self made pressure to have a purpose in life, they both are not well liked by their friends. After divulging a plan to rob a store owned by a white person, Bigger gives his friends Gus, G.H., and Jack strict instructions to meet together at a specific time. When Gus shows up to their meeting spot late, Bigger is outraged. He cusses at his friends and resorts to physical harm due to his anger. While his friends watch Bigger self-destruct into a man of rage, G.H. lets bigger know that, â€Å"You done spoiled things now† (Wright 40). Not only had Bigger spoiled the plan to rob the store, but Bigger had also spoiled his friendships as all three men leave him to wallow in his rage alone. A similar situation occurs in Death of a Salesman as Willy Loman receives a friendly visit with his friend Charley. Since both men were unable to sleep, they decided that a quick game of cards would be a sufficient outlet for their energy. While playing cards, Willy develops a hostile attitude towards Charley and constantly insults him on his choice of eating habits and card playing abilities. After Charley accuses Willy of cheating during their game, Willy evolves into a rage-infested tyrant and orders his friend to leave. Charley retorts, â€Å"You ought to be ashamed of yourself† (Miller 1252) and storms out the door. This instance compares to Bigger Thomas’ uproar with his friends considering both outbursts led to their friends leaving them to wallow in their own anger. In addition to not being well liked, both Willy Loman and Bigger Thomas live in constant fear throughout their stories. As a mediocre salesman, Willy Loman spends his days fearing that he is not successful enough to provide for his family. Because of this looming fear to be successful, Willy often lies to his family about his job in sales to make himself seem far superior to who he really is. For example, while Willy explains to his wife, Linda about the money he has made on one of his sales trips, he exaggerates the amount of money he made. This lie would have been unnoticed if Linda did not ask Willy to pay for the reparations of their leaky roof. When Linda asks him to pay, Willy exclaims, â€Å"A hundred and twenty dollars! My god, if business don’t pick up I don’t know what I’m gonna do† (Miller 1247). The shame Willy feels because he is unable to pay for the roof reparations  directly correlates to the constant fear Willy has to become successful f or his family. Bigger Thomas is also a character that constantly lives in fear. This fear is shown when Bigger is explaining to his lawyer Max about how whites have all the power and Bigger fears that because of this, his life will not amount to anything. He tells Max, â€Å"Well they own everything. They choke you off the face of the earth, they like god†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Wright 353). Since Bigger believes that white people control everything he fears that nothing can be done to make his life meaningful. Both Bigger Thomas and Willy Loman possess similar qualities that show are comparable through their lack of ability to make friends throughout their fear ridden lives. Through Bigger Thomas’ life of oppression, violence, and tragedy, one is able to tell that he struggles with the hopes of becoming anything but a â€Å"nobody.† Being the protagonist of a tragic novel, Bigger possesses the qualities of a tragic hero. Even though his life is cut short due to the tragic acc idental murder of Mary Dalton, his boss’ wild daughter, Bigger is able to go through a change that brings him peace of mind as he awaits his sentence to die. Being a product of his environment, Bigger constantly lived in fear of the white man. With the help of his lawyer Max, Bigger was able to undergo change and realize that he too was a human that had no need to live in fear. Drawing from specific scenes from the text, Bigger Thomas can be compared to Willy Loman, the protagonist in the play, Death of a Salesman. Their characters were both inflicted with fear throughout their lives that eventually ended in tragedy for both characters. Works Cited Arthur Miller Death of a Salesman. Baym, Nina, gen. ed. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. 8th ed. Vol. A. †¨New York: Norton, 2013. Print. James Baldwin- Many Thousand Gone- Twentieth Century Interpretations of Native Son – Ed. Houston A Baker- Englewood NJ Prentice Hall. 1972-48-63 Malcolm Cowley- Richard Wright The Case of Bigger Thomas- Twentieth Century Interpretations of Native Son- Ed Houston A Baker – Englewood Hills NJ Prentice Hall. 1972-112-115 Wright, Richard. Native Son. New York, London: Harper & Brothers, 1940.

Should Marijuana Be Legalized Medical Marijuana - 1465 Words

Unit 4 Assignment HA545-01 Marquetta Wiggins Instructor: Dr. Eva Skuka February 3, 2015 Introduction Today’s society this has change in some many ways. For instances laws has change some for the good and some for the bad. In this paper we be discussing whether to continue the federal prosecution of medical marijuana patients and their providers under the accordance with the federal controlled substance Act. There are so many opinions that people have on this issues. Some people may disagree with congress for passing this law and they may feel that it’s giving people the right to smoke marijuana freely and then you have some people that agree with this law being pass. Because they may feel that it’s helping people with different disease and with their chronic pain. Then you can’t say that they just want to smoke marijuana freely because all states have not passed the law that has legalized medical marijuana. My first initial position of legalized medical marijuana I was against it mainly because I thought it was just for people to have fun. I never thought that it could be something that helps people with their medical condition. After during research on this topic I take the position of that they shouldn’t be prosecution for having medical marijuana as long as they have a prescription for it from a board doctor that has the right to practices medicine. There have been some studies conduct about medical marijuana from the center for medicalShow MoreRelatedShould Medical Marijuana Be Legalized?1915 Words   |  8 PagesAll States Should Have Legalized Medical Marijuana Dispensaries Hot of the press for the State of Hawaii†¦ on July 15, 2015 Governor Ige signed HB 321 which became Act 241 establishing a system for licensing Medical Marijuana dispensaries throughout the state. He is quoted as saying, â€Å"I support the establishment of dispensaries to ensure that qualified patients can legally and safely access medical marijuana† (1). Hawaii legalized the use of medical marijuana in 2000 through Act 228, fifteen yearsRead MoreShould Medical Marijuana Be Legalized?1515 Words   |  7 PagesShould Medical Marijuana Be Legalized In The United States? Marijuana is a controversy that has been argued over for years now and it has many people questioning its benefits and defaults. Whether or not marijuana is a drug this is a subject that is very misunderstood by most people who argue over it today. Marijuana has been outlawed in the United States for almost a hundred years now, Hemp first was encouraged to be sold during the 1600’s to 1890’s by the government of the United States in orderRead MoreShould Medical Marijuana Be Legalized?1551 Words   |  7 PagesLegalization of Medical Marijuana Marijuana is not like other helpful drugs that have amazing medical benefits. It is not made available to thousands of patients that could gain quality of live from it. Many Americans are forced to use second rate drugs to help them deal with conditions such as nausea, glaucoma, chronic pain, and multiple sclerosis. Why does the â€Å"world’s best health care system† use drugs that are not as effective as marijuana, but have more side effects? The United StatesRead MoreShould Medical Marijuana Be Legalized?1129 Words   |  5 PagesMarijuana goes by many names such as cannabis, weed, and molly just to name a few. It is often seen as a stress reliever, and an escape from reality type of drug. Some use it for recreational purposes, or medical purposes. Marijuana comes in many forms such as an oil, a pill, or hemp which was used for a lot of economical purposes. I’m going to be focusing on the medical benefits of this drug, in order to give you good reasons as to why it should be legalized. This drug has been found to help patientsRead MoreShould Medical Marijuana Be Legalized?2024 Words   |  9 PagesMarlyn Brillantes Mr. Tariq Jawhar ENG 111 April 24, 2016 Should Medical Marijuana be Legalized? Marijuana is a controversial drug because it can be both beneficial as well as harmful to the user. The marijuana plant can be utilized as an effective medicine to diagnose a number of issues. According to Business Insider, marijuana can treat glaucoma, improve lung health, control seizures of epileptic patients, decrease the symptoms of Dravet’s Syndrome, prevent cancer from spreading, and can contributeRead MoreWhy Medical Marijuana Should Be Legalized1245 Words   |  5 PagesWhy Medical Marijuana should be legalized all over all the United States. In today’s society, debates regarding legalizing Medical Marijuana occur frequently. The discussions arise in almost every state. Both sides bring solid arguments; however, opponents of the approval are facing the fact, which is very hard to ignore. Medical Marijuana has proven to cure people with life-threatening diseases much more effectively than official treatments; to have second-to-none side effects; and to be aRead MoreMarijuana Should Be Legalized for Medical Purposes2770 Words   |  11 Pageswere told that she might benefit from marijuana. After much difficulty they were finally able to get it for her in oil form. After taking the medical marijuana for just one day, the seizures basically stopped. Now she only experiences one to two seizures a month! She was on the brink of dying and now she is living a relatively healthy normal life. Medical marijuana literally saved this little girl’s life. (Gupta). Marijuana should be legalized for medical purposes because it is saving lives andRead MoreShould Marijuana Be Legalized For Medical Purposes?1735 Words   |  7 Pagessurveys, about 25 million Americans have smoked marijuana in the past year. More than 14 million do it regularly. (NORML: Working to Reform Marijuana Laws, 2015) Marijuana has been the topic of much discussion these past decades. The main factor of discussion is whether or not to legalize it and the outcome it would have on the states. Some states have already legalized but for medicinal purposes only. Much research has come out in this decade that marijuana just isn’t for your average drug junkie butRead MoreMedical Marijuana Should be Legalized Essay1973 Words   |  8 Pages Marijuana has been in the news lately since two states, Colorado and Washington, have voted to legalize recreational marijuana. Currently they are the only two states to legalize recreational marijuana. Twenty states and the District of Columbia have legalized medical marijuana. Iowa, at this time, has decided not to legalize medical marijuana in spite of many Iowa citizens advocating for the legalization of the drug. Iowa is taking a cautious approach to medical marijuana. Medical marijuanaRead MoreShould Medical Marijuana Be Legalized?967 Words   |  4 PagesLegalization of Marijuana There are many topics nowadays that people in America agree on and there are also many topics American’s disagree on. One main topic that the states are trying to figure out whether to legalize or not is medical and recreational marijuana. Many look at cannabis or marijuana as a gateway drug and many look at it as another tobacco product. I personally don’t see marijuana as a bad thing for the states to legalize. People look down on marijuana because of it only being legal