RLCT Task 1

A) Author's Subjectivity

John Cloud published an article in the Time Healthland titled "How a Far-Right Icon came to Embrace Marijuana Legalization."

The other day, we got solid proof that the media is biased toward the left. On a cable-news show seen by millions, a white-hair host declared that although the U.S. has 5%of the world's population, it detains a quarter of the world's prisoners. "I just think it's shocking to see how mony of these young people wind up in prison", he said. "And then they get turned into hard-core criminals because they have possession of a small amount of a controlled substance. The whole thing is crazy."

It's a sensible position. Strikingly, it came from the host of the Christian Broadcasting Network's "700 Club" - right-wing icon Pat Robertson. He went on to say that mere possession of pot should be decriminalized.

The 40 year old "700 Club" isn't known for advancing liberal cause. In fact, four days after Robertson, 81, called for the legalization of marijuana, he said on his show that "if enough people were praying" Jesus Christ might have "stilled" there recent tornadoes that destroyed lives and homes in the Midwest and South.

Robertson has crep slowly into his pro-legalization position on marijuana. In 2010, he said on the "700Club" that people shouldn't get long prison terms for taking " a couple puffs of marijuana." shortly afterward, his New York City- based spokesman, Chris Roslan, issueda statement saying Robertson "unequivocally" oppose the use of any drugs. And yet when I spoke with Roslan on Thursday, he told me that Robertson now favors decriminalization of pot smoking.

"If people can got into a liquor store and buy a bottle of alcohol and drink at home legally, then why does we say that the use of this other substance is somehow criminal?" Roberton asked a New York Times reporter recently. He went on today that imprisoning people made it more difficult to reach their hearts with a Christian message.

His comments raise at least two basic questions: is Robertson right that we spend too much to incarcerate drug users, and is he right that marijuana use is benign that we shouldn't prosecute users? The budget of the Drug Enforcement Administration has more than quadrupled since 1990; it is now $2.6 billion per year. And yet all the spending has done little to reduce overall drug use. Ones could argue that drug abuse would have increased even further without DEA efforts, but at least when it comes to marijuana, the spending seems unwise.

That's because there's little evidence that marijuana is dangerous (and as Robertson points out, accurately, it's certainly no more dangerous than alcohol). There's also a decent body of evidence that pot has health benefits when used in moderation. In virtually every study, marijuana proves to be far less addictive than alcohol let alone drugs like cocaine or heroin (here is one good summary- scroll down to the comparative ratings). Smoking marijuana does carry the same risk as smoking tobacco- lung and esophageal cancers- but there's no good data showing that these risks out weigh the risk of liver problems from drinking. And yet we have spent billions of dollars incarcerating people (particularly young black men) for doing nothing more than smoking a joint (Cloud, 2012).

1) When reading over this article I can see John Cloud's personal subjectivity. John stated "all teh spending has done little to reduce overall durg use...."(Cloud, 2012). Has the spending done little on reducing overall dug use? Depending on whom you are and bacckground may strongly disagree with Cloud.From the point of view of a parent whos child atteded a D.A.R.E. program that some of the spending is used on. The D.A.R.E. program explains how drugs are bad and how they can affect your life. This spending on the drug awaress program is help protect our future. Or the spending used to help an inmate deal with drug addiction while incarerate and was abel to stay clean even after being release from prison and is able to give back to they community.

B) Personal Subjectivity

My personal subjectivity influence will achange from subject to subject. In literature for an example it is effortless to put in opinions and point of views. there can be several clarifications for several text. It's much more difficult ot put in personal subjectivity in mathematices because it's more cler cut and fact based. My personal subjectivity among the class could have a negative and/or positiv influence on the students. From my point of view, obviously, will seem always positive, but doesn't mean the student's parent will agree. For an example my personal subjectivity on alcohol and drugs. I think alcohol and recreational drugs should never be consumed. The key word is never in my statement. Some parents may think moderate alcohol is acceptable when their child has reached the leagal age. When the parents believe that certain age is acceptable, would they be upset that I tell their child that it's not acceptable.

Personal subjectivity can influence how students learn in the classroom. My endeavor is to always grade fair to all the students. But could I be lenient with accepting and grading late work from students, who I think are more pleasurable to work with than the students that are unpleasurable to work with. It can be very diffcult to be fair to all students, but I know I can do it. Teaching will have personal subjectivity sometime but it is good to have sometime for the students to believe in what's being taught.
When standing firm with the given curriculum will help intercede my personal subjectivity. The government sets the curriculum that should be taught to the students. The curriculumis a great guideline to follow to makesure all students get the same curriculum. But what if I don't agree with the curriculum that is set to teach? I would talk to other co-workers to see what the think about teaching that part of the curriculum. Once I have talked to the othere co-workers and I'm still concerned about the curriculum, I will have to teach it to my best abilty.

Reference
Cloud, J. (2012). How a Far-Right Icon came to Embrace Marijuana Legalization. Time Healthland, Retrieved April 17, 2012