Oklahoma House Education Committee votes to change and potentially ban AP US History test

A bill was approved by an education committee in Oklahoma earlier this week that could potentially ban the AP US History test in that area or change its content, which hurts high schoolers.

Most UMBC students are aware of Advanced Placement tests many students take during high school. They can give students college credit, with a score of at least 4 out of 5, to fulfill general education courses, and the classes to prepare students for the exams are generally vigorous and informative.

However, the Oklahoma House Education Committee is currently working to ban the AP US History test or to change its content because its current content appears to put the United States in a negative light. This committee would rather risk the academic future of some high school students than accept a new framework that they have misunderstood.

“In essence, we have a new emphasis on what is bad about America,” said Dan Fisher, a Republican state representative of Oklahoma and sponsor of the bill. “The new framework trades… America’s founding principles of constitutional government in favor of robust analyses of gender and racial oppression, class ethnicity and the lives of marginalized people, where the emphasis… is of America as a nation of oppressor and exploiters.”

Basically, Fisher and the supporting committee see the new framework of the AP US History exam as an “anti-American” depiction of history that excludes key figures and events. Opposers of the new AP framework note that figures such as Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin and Martin Luther King, Jr. are not present in the course.

The authors of the new framework addressed the protests as a result of misunderstandings. They explained that the absence of key figures, such as King and Jefferson, by stating that they did not find it completely necessary to identify these historical figures because any history course “would of course include King as well as other major figures,” and noted that these names also were absent in the former framework.

The authors added that the revised framework from the College Board is not a complete course curriculum. It was purposefully left open so that local educators could fill in gaps they deem appropriate, important and satisfying “their state mandates” for course content.

The lack of key figures in the framework does not mean there is an absence of them in the course or in the exam. It is simply a revised framework where the authors looked to create new discussions and present more views of American history.

What is worse and poses a larger threat is that, while the bill was proposed in Oklahoma, other states have held major protests against the new framework as well, such as Colorado, South Carolina, Texas and Tennessee.

If these states succeed in removing the framework or banning the test, they will restrict the educational opportunities presently afforded to their constituent students, while setting a precedent for further legislation regulating the tests.

Thanks to even this bill’s proposal, there is a chance the ban will catch on even more. Then, the worry becomes that groups will begin working to ban more AP tests, like Biology, Literature or World History.

The AP tests are great to keep students motivated to earn college credit and to introduce them to vigorous courses in high school. This bill could affect future college students, and the future of the AP program.

 

Sources

 

http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2014/09/24/hundreds-of-colorado-students-skipped-school-to-protest-history-changes

 

http://www.cnn.com/2015/02/20/opinion/sutter-oklahoma-ap-history/index.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_latest+(RSS%3A+Most+Recent)

UMBC will be attending the National Postdoctoral Association's Annual Conference in March. It will be held on the campus of the University of Maryland Baltimore (UMB), downtown, Baltimore. Here is the agenda

If you are interested in attending, please contact Dr. Renetta Tull at rtull@umbc.edu, with the subject: NPA Conference, so that you can get the registration information.

SGA funding for off-campus activities

SGA has a policy in which it primarily seeks to foster campus life. While this policy is reasonable, it has the unfortunate side-effect of leaving clubs that compete off-campus in a tight spot.

   The Student Government Association’s main focus is fostering campus life. Under this directive, most of their efforts are geared toward giving student organizations the means to create their events which results in having a more vibrant and involved student body. At face value this is a reasonable policy, but it has the consequence of negatively affecting student organizations that compete off-campus.

When asked about this, Aaron Kennet, a junior Russian and political science double major and chair of the SGA Finance Board, said, “the UMBC SGA is in a unique position where it is best able to offer these services, and if not offer services, provide the proper support and infrastructure necessary for independent students [or] student organizations to go about solving the problem(s) themselves.”

He continued, “Supporting those teams that represent UMBC in a national or international spectrum directly contributes to student spirit for our school, and creat[es] a positive sentiment about the university. Regretfully due to the nature of the limited pot of money, not every event can always be funded; that’s where students become agents of change and make the decisions themselves.”

It is clear that SGA has the interests of the student body at heart — after all, SGA is itself composed of mostly students. It is not misguided to say that its prime directive should be to foster campus life, but this policy puts both SGA and student organizations, such as Model UN, Parliamentary Debate Society and Mock Trial, in a tough spot. It would be best to have the university create separate funding for these competitive organizations.

It should be recognized that, in the end, it is not feasible to marry the objectives of these organizations. SGA must, by its very definition and nature, prioritize on-campus activities. The organizations mentioned above, as well as others, have to travel off-campus in order to represent UMBC and compete against other schools.

Given the above, the best solution to this problem would be to have the university separate funding of these clubs from SGA. Under this proposal, both parties would benefit. The aforementioned clubs would have a secure source of funding, and since SGA would no longer have to fund these clubs, they would be free to allocate more resources to improving campus life.

When asked about his opinion on this proposal, Anthony Jankoski, SGA treasurer and a junior English major, said “I think that a separate fund for traveling teams and other organizations is ideal.”

“However, we must keep in mind that the university has only so much funding to allocate towards student organizations, and that setting aside certain amounts of money for certain student organizations to carry out their functions may be unfair to organizations that focus on events that are held on-campus,” he continued.

SGA is optimistic about getting the funds to support these off-campus oriented groups as well, but only time will tell whether or not they will better be able to fund these groups.

UMBC has always prided itself on being a center of academic excellence. It was not too long ago that members of the parliamentary debate team were travelling to the world championships of parliamentary debate. Investing in these teams ultimately results in more prestige for UMBC and places it amongst other academic titans, as it strives to be.

Difficulties in war on ISIS

President Obama and other public officials need to re-evaluate the request for authorization of war against ISIS. There are many other factors that need to be taken into consideration.

Despite withdrawing from Iraq less than 4 years ago, President Obama requested authorization for use of military force against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS). This request comes after almost 2,000 air strikes that were started in August of 2014. Unfortunately, escalating the battle with ISIS will not help the situation in the Middle East, and it will only prolong our involvement in what has already been a very long war.

Since 2011, Syria has disintegrated into a battleground for thousands of different rebel groups, including ISIS. Originally a branch of the more well-known terrorist group Al-Qaeda, it broke off and formed its own group in 2014.

CNN states that ISIS’s main goal is to impose a form of Sharia Law — the rules of Islam according to their interpretation of the Quran — through a Muslim state called a caliphate. So far, it has established one with conquered lands from Iraq and Syria.

ISIS has gained American attention through the killing of Americans, such as James Foley, Steven Sotloff, Abdul-Rahman Peter Kassig and Kayla Mueller.

Targeting ISIS will not be beneficial for the US. ISIS is a group, not a state with clear boundaries, and has spread across the globe to other areas, such as Libya where militants have beheaded 21 Egyptians, according to a recent article in NPR.

President Obama asked in his draft for authorization against “associate persons or forces: individuals and organizations fighting for, on behalf of, or alongside ISIS or any closely related successor entity in hostilities against the US or its coalition partners.”

Both Syria and Iraq have a variety of groups that could be “successor entities in hostilities” against the US — such as the Al-Nusra Front, the Al-Qaeda branch in Syria — which could prolong the war Obama is starting.

Although Al-Nusra has no ties to ISIS anymore, according to the Daily Mail, “The two share the same ideology and rigid Islamic beliefs”. Despite these similarities, Obama has not asked for an Authorization for the Use of Military Forces against Al-Nusra, which could possibly make it more powerful with the destruction of ISIS.

In fact, the two groups are so similar that Al-Nusra has also established its own Islamic State in Syria. Although it is not as big, their actions are still very similar to that of ISIS.

According to Sami Mashaal, the Head of the Shura Council for the Revolution in Aleppo, in a Daily Mail article, “They are starting to behave like ISIS: kidnapping, enforcing Islamic rules. They have a strategy; they want an Islamic State”.

The article also stated that, Al-Nusra “has begun to extend its control into the Northern city of Aleppo, one of the last areas in Northern Syria with a significant presence of moderate rebel groups.”

Obama needs to seriously reconsider taking a side in the Syrian Civil War, when there are so many different sides. In addition to two large jihadist rebel groups, there is also the Syrian government itself, led by Bashar Al-Assad, who allegedly used chemical weapons against his own people.

In the end, the enemy of my enemy is not my friend. By targeting ISIS, the US is inadvertently helping Al-Nusra and Assad, two groups in Syria that are our enemies as well and certainly not our friends.

 

Sources

 

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2015/02/15/386498231/isis-video-purports-to-show-mass-beheading-of-coptic-christians

 

http://www.cnn.com/2014/06/12/world/meast/who-is-the-isis/

 

http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/docs/aumf_02112015.pdf

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2943130/Al-Qaeda-faction-carves-second-jihadist-mini-state-Syria-rival-Islamic-State.html

Sidewalks often covered in snow

When campus remains open after a snowstorm, sidewalks are often still icy or slushy.

While ice skating is fun, no one expects to be skating down sidewalks on their way to class. When the winter storms hit, it is the responsibility of the school to shovel walkways and parking lots to ensure the safety of the faculty and students. However, the sidewalks at UMBC seem to be covered in snow and ice just as often as they are shoveled after a snowfall, leaving many wondering why campus is open.

Students who have to walk on these slushy staircases and icy walkways are justifiably upset. Zachary Waters, a junior biology major, said that he, “[feels] that it is unacceptable [that campus should open when the sidewalks are icy.]” He believes that until the sidewalks and parking lots are clear, the campus should not be open.

According to Rusty Postlewate, the Assistant Vice President of Facilities Management, the school is making every effort to clear the sidewalks in a timely manner. The school spends about $300,000 every winter on both salt and manual labor for snow removal. Facilities begins salting roads and parking lots while the snow is still falling, but shoveling begins after the snowfall is over.

As a general rule campus will not open when there is still snow on the sidewalks, but unfortunately this doesn’t always happen. “Of course we are making every effort to clear the sidewalks,” Postlewate said, “but it is felt that if the clearing has made sidewalks passable, then an opening is scheduled.” However, a delayed opening is often scheduled with the anticipation that the sidewalks will be cleared before the campus opens.

In regards to the snowfall on the evening of Monday, Feb. 16, Postlewate says, “this past snowfall, we had contractors working to clear the snow from 9 p.m. Monday to 7 p.m. Tuesday. We had anticipated that we would be done with the shoveling before the noon opening, but we fell behind on the residential areas, and so there were not as many cleared sidewalks in the academic areas.”

He said that with the intensive clearing, “by Wednesday morning, all the sidewalks were cleared.” Still, the stairs in between Engineering and ITE were snowy even on Wednesday afternoon. Same could be said of  the sidewalk from the Hilltop parking lot that many commuters have to descend, which was still covered in slush and ice on Thursday.

These examples serve to leave students asking: what if someone fell on that ice? If school were to be closed on the day of a major snow event, it would give the management more time to clear and salt the walkways. And in response to student frustrations, Postlewate says the university is “revising [their] approach to hand shoveling to avoid a similar experience” as of this past week.

Facilities management is doing as much as it can to clear the sidewalks in the time they are given. But if they were given more time, this problem of snowy sidewalks would be mitigated.

Therefore, the administration should re-evaluate their opening policies, and campus should not open until the sidewalks, stairs and parking lots are more reasonably cleared; it would alleviate the problem of icy stairs and snow covered parking lots. This is what students believe, and this is what the school is working towards, but more of an effort needs to be made to make this a reality.