USA Patriot Act
Formally the “Uniting and Strengthening America by providing appropriate tools required to intercept terrorism. The USA Patriot Act was signed into law by President Bush on October 26th, 2001. The law was rushed through congress in the aftermath of the destruction to the Twin Towers. It was believed to be the patriotic thing to do, and met almost no resistance in Congress. If any of our elected officials would have taken a minute to stop and read the bill, I hope that they never would have signed it. The bill is very flawed and does not push back the boundaries of our constitutional amendments, but shreds the entire passage from the constitution. The fourth amendment reads as follows; “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized” (Constitution). I believe the USA Patriot Act should be repealed from law because it violates our constitutional rights.
The USA Patriot Act is a precursor to the creation of the Homeland Security Act. Both were created in the aftermath of the September 11th Terrorist Attacks, and both were designed to supposedly protect Americans from Terrorism. The mission of Homeland Security Act is to prevent terrorist attacks in U.S., to reduce terrorism in the home, to decrease damage done by terrorist attacks, and to assist in recoveries from any attacks that occur (Executive Department). It basically combines the powers of the different departments and puts them all under one roof so that there are not any more communication errors. The USA Patriot Act gives them the power to conduct their searches, view records, and keep records on different people suspected of terrorism (Patriot Act). What the Patriot Act fails to do is limit its own power. Giving authority the power to persecute the very people they’re trying to save.
I believe the first and biggest flaw of the Patriot Act is it allows the government to spy on people through their computers, and follow the suspect’s computer ISP address to monitor what pages they view. The Law also allows them to search a person’s private computer with out a court order. This violates our constitutional right to privacy. Under this same section it gives the government the right to search the computer hard drive of legitimate protestors (Patriot Act).
In 1970 congress passed legislation that prohibited pervasive surveillance of Americans. This law was partially repealed, giving the Homeland Security and the government the ability to search for more information, for longer periods of time. Under this allocation of being able to collect more information the Government is demanding that Hardware stores and chemical plants turn over all personal records of their clients. They are requiring banks to give up personal records of their customers (Life and Liberty).
Some measures are being done to try and stop the expanding power of the government. The Electronic Frontier Foundation defended a dive shop company against the government, because they had issued a subpoena demanding the dive shop turn over all private records of their employees (Patriot Act). This was one of the first steps taken, to try and combat the broad power.
Another major crisis being committed against Americans due to the Patriot Act is the “Sneak and Peak” clause. This section of the bill allows police and other authorities to enter the private residents of home owners with out that persons consent or knowledge. They are also not required to notify the person after intrusion has been committed. This power is granted if the person has been accused of committing a federal crime, either a felony or a misdemeanor (Patriot Act). So don’t get a D.W.I. or you’ll have signed your privacy rights away. Remember that none of this at any point requires a warrant of any kind.
Have you ever seen those movies where the main character is afraid of the “Shadow” government, and is afraid that they’re keeping track of them, because they are conspiracy theorists? Well those fears are becoming more of a reality every day. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has started developing a system known as Total Information Awareness (TIA). The goal of this agency is to gain a vast knowledge of every citizen living in the United Sates. They are creating an immeasurable data base that will house the all the information that they collect on everybody (Patriot Act). Be prepared to be a perfect citizen, and still have the government breathing down your neck.
To wrapping up this paper I would like to reiterate why the USA Patriot Act is an invasion of privacy, and how it tramples our constitutional right. First it allows the government to search your computer with out your knowledge. If that’s not enough, with out even needing a warrant, they can search your home if you’re suspected of being a terrorist, and then not even tell you that the search was conducted. Just the fact that they are creating a database with personal information on everybody is enough to creep anybody out. The Bush administration is single handedly establishing the ‘shadow’ government that know one wants. Let’s remember that this bill was passed with out even giving the senators time to read through the thick bill. If that wasn’t bad enough, the Bush administration publicly announced that if any senator did not vote on the bill, they would be singled out, and blamed for any future terrorist attacks on America (Life and Liberty).
The Greatest Investment
Student’s minds are the most important resource that our country has. Our nation must assist in fully developing our intellectual abilities so that the country can continue to prosper and grow as a whole. When this goal is not met and schools face fiscal deficits there are many effects that ripple throughout the country. Students are ultimately the ones that suffer when education funding is constantly cut. This problem undermines the goals set by the educators. When schools try to make up the money that is cut out from the budget by the government, they make bad decisions like hiring teachers that are less experienced because they are less expensive. It is beneficial to hire teachers that are less experienced especially so that college graduates can have jobs. However this issue becomes a problem when the school districts only hire inexperienced teachers.
Students are also affected when they are given long breaks from school. The students may believe that it’s a good idea at first, but it will eventually come back to hurt them when they lose out on lecture time. States and the Federal Government must increase funding because decreasing the budget has negative effects on everybody.
One of the biggest issues surrounding the funding situation is the effect that it has on the people who cannot afford to pay for higher education. This leads to many moral dilemmas. Who is to say how many Einstein’s, Picasso’s, Mozart’s and Aristotle’s live in our country below the poverty line? Our society splits kids up between the “haves” and the “have nots” from birth. The minority is stuck flipping burgers because they were not born with rich parents.
If our government covered the cost of college tuition, students could afford to spend time studying instead of working. With the way it works right now, students are forced to find time to study between jobs. This may cause several damaging repercussions to the student’s education. The student loses out on valuable study time. Many students are forced to attend certain classes because of scheduling conflicts with their job. College students should not have to fight poverty to receive an education.
With the cost of education continuing to rise the wealthy will continue to have a larger say in congressional policy making. Only the families who can afford to carry the heavy burden of tuition fees will be able to pay for their child’s higher education. There are a few other possible ways to fund for higher education.
The most relied upon payment method is scholarships and grants. There are many factors above eligibility that I believe play into receiving grants and scholarships. Ethnicity, sex, sexual orientation, location and financial status are all factors that are figured into scholarships awards. Even if the awards were completely unbiased there are not even close to enough scholarships out there to cover the cost of college for everybody. There are more students attending college now than ever. The competition to receive scholarships is becoming incredibly cut throat. As time flows along it will become exponentially harder to pay for school through scholarships and grants alone.
The only option left for many people is to pay for college is through school and state loans. However, the process for loans is long and extensive. It can be very frustrating to fill out loan applications by yourself. Many students are not even eligible for Federal and state loans because they don’t have any financial credit built yet, or their parents have poor credit. It is ultimately an undesirable way to progress through life, because no matter how much is made with your education, you always owe somebody money.
I believe that at least state colleges should be covered by the government. State funding should continue from elementary up through college. This way everybody has a fair and equal opportunity to continue on to higher education and make something of themselves.
While I sat and vented about education funding many topics in the media captured my attention. The most dominated news story for the past few months has been the reconstruction of Iraq. Why are billions and billions of dollars being given to the Iraqi people? Iraqi students are receiving free education when we can’t even afford to give our own students that privilege. Money should be taken from the defense budget to pay for the cost of running schools. Due to some of the absurd bills being proposed in congress, I believe there needs to be a better balance of power in government.
I was shocked to hear that one senator wanted a one hundred billion dollar contract for the Boeing Corporation. The senator believed that the Air Force was in dire need of a hundred more in flight re-fueling aircrafts. It just seems completely wasteful to spend this money on something we don’t even need. Are we ever going to need a hundred air tankers simultaneously? Why isn’t this money being used to educate our youth? According to the authors of the Standardized Achievement Test (SAT) the average cost of a bachelor’s degree is around 42,544. If you divide that by a hundred billion dollars you come out with an alarming figure. Instead of a hundred air tankers, we could send a two and a half million kids to college. That’s something to think about.
If we followed the model of the Japanese, we would attend school all year round and increase our education level as a result. If states carried the burden for the cost of school there would be many positive effects. The national education level would increase. Students could attend colleges based on quality not cost. If cost was not an issue students could experience different parts of our great country and broaden their horizons, while attending expensive out of state universities and colleges.
Tuition is increasing because we are losing site of what is important in life. I believe that the number of planes in our air force is not important. The education and the value of that education we provide to students are important. Our nation must assist students in developing their intellect by covering a large portion of the cost for college. The benefits expressed in this paper should be enough to convince lawmakers to view the situation in a different light. They should be asked to think of it as a long term investment in everybody’s future.
SPRING BREAK 2003
Four days in to our trip my cousin Jordan and I found ourselves surrounded by dozens of Los Angeles police officers and hundreds of furious people ready to riot. We were only trying to catch a glimpse of television stars entering the Kodak Center for the Academy Awards. Sunny Los Angeles was the last place we visited before continuing on to Lake Havasu, Arizona. It was here that I experienced one of the greatest times in my life. I tried to explain to my other friends the experience surrounding Lake Havasu. The only way I could really explain it was to say: “Imagine partying in ninety degree weather on top of a yacht, surrounded by Mardi Gras”.
After realizing that there weren’t going to be any riots, Jordan concurred with my idea to leave California altogether. Just before arriving in Lake Havasu we watched as the night rolled in and blanketed the barren desert in darkness.
I can still remember cresting the last hill on our way to the lake. The desert opened up and the lights from the town shone bright against the contrast of the night sky. The lights reflected off the lake in an amazing display of shapes and colors.
As soon as we arrived we parked the car and headed for the beach. Jordan and I ended up bumping into some girls on the beach, and began to chat about the night life on the Lake. After we finished our discussion, Jordan decided that there wasn’t anything going on tonight. We strolled back to the car and fell asleep.
The following day was wonderful, and a sharp contrast from the trip so far, which had been spent in long hours on the road, and on average cold weather for California. Jordan and I were both tired of driving, and decided to spend a few days away from the car.
I walked down to the beach and I still remember the intense heat and the hundreds beautiful women in bathing suits. It was agreed upon that we needed sun, so we laid out our blankets on the beach. I sat down on the towel, and the heat from the sand radiated up through by back. Jordan ended up meeting some guys who were also looking for places to party. Jeff, Jeremy, Bill, Jessica, and Brandy were college students from Colorado and veterans of the Lake. This was their second year coming here for spring break. They quickly began to tell us about a place called Copper Canyon.
"It’s the greatest place on earth”, Jeff explained.
“Yeah, it’s amazing,” was the general response from the group.
Jeremy, who was sitting to my left, and looked pale as a ghost remarked in a slow southern drawl, “Dude, all the girls take their tops off for beads”!
Bill who was a little overweight and slightly pale himself spoke next, “It is on the other side of the lake, and you have to take a boat to get there.” Using his finger to draw a map in the sand he showed us approximately how far away it was.
After hearing all of this I chimed in impatiently, “So what are we waiting for?”
With that push the six of us pooled our money together, and paid a guy to give us a boat ride to the Canyon. The captain of the rickety pontoon boat was grotesquely overweight wearing a stained wife beater and drinking a Miller Light. The flip of the key breathed life into the motor and it began to hum and vibrate the back of the boat. We pushed the waves aside as we slowly made our way out of the harbor and onto the immense lake. Although incredible in size, the lake was buzzing with activity. People were jumping waves on their sleek jet skis, and power boats were taking off all around us. The sides of the lake rose steeply and prevented a view of the surrounding desert.
Half way across the lake I spotted a canyon that split inland from the lake like a giant crack. As we rounded the bend into the canyon I was blown away to see seven house boats and two yachts all lined up with over a hundred people drinking beer and doing flips off the wooden boat tops. All the paint was peeling from the side of the house boats which looked odd compared to the smooth glossy yachts. The boats had sound systems blaring music so loud that we could hear the words from three hundred yards away. People were laughing and joking, enjoying the weather and the Corona’s.
The boats were lined up spanning the width of the canyon. One side was a rock face that went sixty feet straight up. I was surprised to see people doing twists and flips from the top. The other side was a slow slope covered in green grass. Straight ahead of the house boats the ravine continued on slicing the desert in half.
Even from the beginning I enjoyed every minute of the experience. I was pleased to see girls my age eager to take their tops off for a few cheap beads. They seemed to be really enjoying the attention. And after a sudden rush of sorrow for not bringing beads of my own I decided I would be content watching as other guys gave their beads up.
Jordan and I disembarked the crusty boat we had arrived on by stepping on to the house boat we pulled up next to. I quickly climbed to the top of the boat and began dancing with these girls from Colorado. It was standing room only, and everybody was crammed shoulder to shoulder. The boat swayed slightly from side to side from all of the dancing.
I began to get bored dancing and leaped off the boat in an effort to explore the rest of the boats. Breaching the surface of the crisp cool water with my legs I became temporarily paralyzed. The water froze my body for half a second, before I hastily returned to the surface and gasped for air. The heat from the sun revitalized my body and I began to back stroke towards a different boat. Water dripped from my shorts as I climbed on to the back of the carpeted house boat. I walked around the edge to the other side where I met the most remarkable girl.
She was about nineteen, blonde, skinny and topless except for a piece of duct tap covering each nipple. I was shocked and not sure what to say. The girl took it as an opportunity to ram me into the water. With an evil grin on my face I climbed out, and told her it was her turn. After allowing her to take her jewelry off, we dove into the water and swam for awhile. This series of events turned out to be a really bad idea, because I never saw my sandals again.
The following day seemed even more amazing than the first. We had met enough people the previous day that we found a ride out to the canyon on a house boat for free. Jordan and I hit the local 7-11 earlier and stocked up on beads of our own. Out of the twenty beads that I bought, only one remained an hour after we arrived. I only kept it because a lot of girls wanted it, and I decided to save it for something special later in the day.
Jordan was trying to draw attention to him self so he attempted to do a flip off of the boats balcony. I stood next to him as he propelled him self off the boat and slowly turned, landing squarely on his back. It was one of many amusing stunts I had seen that day. I quickly dropped to the first floor of the house boat and helped him back on board.
Our boat set out for home as the orange glow of the sun began to set on the horizon, and the air began to cool. I turned from the festivities towards Jordan and asked “how could we ever top this kind of a trip”?
Jordan hesitated for a moment, before saying, “Well that’s an easy answer. My uncle owns a house in Daytona Beach Florida”.
It was with that single sentence that we both understood with out saying anything else that the only way to surpass this trip would be to attend the MTV spring break beach party at Daytona in 2004.
