On May 15, 1972 the President of the California Democratic Council, Nathan N. Holden, wrote to the President of the United States, California Senators and Congressmen, including Harold T. “Bizz” Johnson in an effort to express the opinion of the California Democratic Council about the Presidents actions to escalate the war in Southeast Asia. The escalation of the war in Vietnam came after the North Vietnamese Army began the Nguyen-Hue campaign to collapse the South Vietnamese and remaining American forces. On March 30th, 1972 the NVA launched the “Easter Offensive”, which was the largest NVA offensive of the war. The escalation of the war in Southeast Asia in which Nathan N. Holden was referring to was President Nixon’s response to the “Easter Offensive.” President Nixon responded with a massive air campaign utilizing the only tool left in his arsenal, the B-52 Bombers. This strategy included “the bombing of urban targets in North Vietnam” and was referred to “as ‘war by tantrum’ and an act of senseless terror.”
Nathan N. Holden expresses that the California Democratic Council has passed a unanimous resolution in that the Tonkin Gulf Resolution should been repealed. The Tonkin Gulf Resolution was passed after the Tonkin Gulf Incident, were NVA vassals attacked U.S. ships in Southeast Asia. The Tonkin Gulf Resolution states “Congress approves and supports the determination of the President, as Commander in Chief, to take all necessary measures to repeal any armed attack against the forces of the United States and to prevent any further aggression.” The problem with the Tonkin Gulf Resolution in the views of the California Democratic Council and many other Americans at this point in history is that it conflicted with the Constitution. The Constitution divides war powers into two sections in the federal government between legislative and executive branches. Article II, section 2 states that “the President is the Commander in Chief of the armed forces, while Article I, Section 8 of the United States Constitution states that “Congress has the power to make declarations of war.” With that being said, the legitimacy of Nathan N. Holden’s argument that “the President acted unconstitutionally” is justified through Article I, section 8 of the United States Constitution regarding war powers.
Nathan N. Holden also explains in his resolution that “the expenditures of money on the war are destroying the economy.” In fact, the effects on the economy were felt quickly starting with “withholding rates on wages and salaries” that were reduced immediately at the state of the war. The economic implications as the war escalated were as predicted, taking a tremendous toll, “with real wages declining, interest rates soaring, and the price of energy and food escalating.” After Mr. Holden lays out the foundation to his argument he demands on the behalf of the California Democratic Council that Congress, including Harold T. “Bizz” Johnson, “reasserts its Constitutional prerogatives” and in doing so Mr. Holden proposes that congress should cut all funds for the Vietnam war. This contextualized document exemplifies the cause and effect of the series of events that took place during this period of time and brings life to this chapter in American history.
https://cikeys.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/CI-Formal-Logo_2A-flat-300x50-1.jpg00Emiliano Perussethttps://cikeys.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/CI-Formal-Logo_2A-flat-300x50-1.jpgEmiliano Perusset2015-09-16 08:41:192015-09-16 08:41:19Escalation of the Vietnam War: Contextualizing a Primary Document
On July 15, 1972 a man by the name of Ellis Colton sent a letter to his congressman, Harold T. “Bizz” Johnson, regarding his concerns about the escalation of the Vietnam War and his lack of confidence in President Nixon. The main claim in Mr. Colton’s letter is that Congressman Johnson had pledged his confidence that the President would abide by the Mansfield amendment but recently President Nixon publically claimed that “he is not bound by the Mansfield amendment.” Furthermore, Mr. Colton would like to know if with the new-found knowledge of the President not wanting to abide by the amendment, will Congress cut off war-funding.
Will reading this letter a few ambiguities stand out: what is the Mansfield amendment, the Military Procurement Act of 1971, and did President Nixon really announce that he is not bound by an amendment? Without the full context of this letter, it is impossible to wholly understand what Ellis Colton was talking about.
The exact Military Procurement Authorization Act can no longer be located however by analyzing its amendments, like the Mansfield amendment, one can gather more information about its general goal. The main purpose of the Military Procurement Authorization Act was to limit financial expenditures going towards the war effort. Two main aspects of the bill included setting a date and manner of withdrawal of all troops from Indochina. This bill was passed by senators that wanted to attempt to limit, or even eliminate, the United States’ involvement in the Vietnam War. The Mansfield amendment, which was introduced by Senator Mike Mansfield, was an apparent attempt to reduce the scientific community’s dependence on military funding. This amendment forbid the DOD (Department of Defense) to use its funds “to carry out any research project or study unless such project or study has a direct and apparent relationship to a specific military function.”
On a statement released on November 17, 1971 Richard Nixon announces that he has signed the Military Procurement Authorization Act of 1971. Although by signing the bill with the amendment the President is agreeing to setting a date for withdrawal and decreasing military spending in regards to the war in Indochina, he states in his press release statement that “My signing of the bill that contains this section, therefore, will not change the policies I have pursued and that I shall continue to pursue toward this end.”
By looking at primary sources, secondary source articles, and journal review articles, one can reduce the ambiguity from Mr. Colton’s original letter. Ellis Colton is urging Congress via Congressman Bizz Johnson to vote to cut off funds for the war in Vietnam and to remove United States’ troops. He does this by stating that Congressman Johnson’s original excuse for not voting to cut off funds was due to his confidence that the President will abide by the provisions of the Military Procurement Authorization Act and the Mansfield amendment, but since the President publically stated that he will not, that should be reason enough for Congress to vote to stop funding for the war.
https://cikeys.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/CI-Formal-Logo_2A-flat-300x50-1.jpg00Jenna Langfordhttps://cikeys.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/CI-Formal-Logo_2A-flat-300x50-1.jpgJenna Langford2015-09-16 05:49:342015-09-16 05:49:34Assignment 3: A Vietnam Letter to Bizz Johnson
In his essay entitled “What We Said of It Becomes a Part of What It Is: Rendering Real Places,” Bob Cowser, Jr. speaks about how a sense of place is essential to one’s writing. Growing up in the small town of Martin, Tennessee, Cowser always felt like an outsider. He carried with him a sense of “placenessness,” as he says (110).
Even though he lived there throughout his entire infancy, childhood, and adolescence, he was still seen as “a Yankee whose daddy taught out at the college” (110). In regards to Martin as a place, Cowser mostly saw it for what was on the outskirts of town, and how tempting it was to leave. In one of his essays, he writes about this concept, how the lines “drawn between Martin and surrounding communities” “meant ‘wild begins here’” (112).
Martin, Tennessee
Through his depictions of his hometown, he realized that he had not portrayed Martin in the best light, and that the people he grew up with that either used to or still do live there would not be too pleased about that. Because Martin is a very real place for them, they could possibly take offense to some things he has said about it as it reflects poorly on the town as a whole. This ties into the main concept that Cowser is dealing with in his essay: depending on how a person feels about the place he or she is writing about, their words will personify that place, making it a character of its own that readers will either choose to like or dislike. If people are reading a piece about somewhere they have never been, they may see it as an accurate representation, even if biases are present. Therefore, “what we say of a place becomes a part of what it is” (114).
Without the stories that live inside all the nooks and crannies, a place is “merely landscape” (114). There have been consequences to Cowser’s depictions of Martin. Cowser wrote a book entitled Green Fields that explores his personal boyhood and upbringing while also dealing with the murder of a child he went to grade school with and the man who killed her. He received some backlash from the victim’s family. Her step-grandfather thought that Cowser hadn’t been sympathetic enough to the community and that his impatience with the place made him near-sighted (122).
With this, Cowser ends his piece with one final thought: can one really see a place for what it’s worth while living there, or is it necessary to leave and give it some time and distance in order to find clarity?
The two images above are the same exact location—the City of Edmonton in Canada. On the left, the space is empty, while on the right, there is some sort of event going on in the very same space. How could this difference affect a person’s view of Edmonton?
If someone were to visit Edmonton at a time that this event was not taking place in what seems to be the town center, they would see Edmonton only for its external attributes—a landscape, something to look at. Unless they further explored the depths of the city, they would see it only as a space, and they probably would not make any strong connections to a sense of place. If a different person were to visit at a time that this was taking place, he or she would feel more of a sense of community. This would be for a number of reasons, but the most obvious are that there are many people there to socialize, and everyone is there for the same thing.
In another example on the differences between space and place, the Canadian artist Susan Kordalewski held an exhibition in 2011 that examined “the reprocessing of memory and the complexity of location and identity.”
These images are part of Kordalewski’s piece. They showcase that even though the displaced object looks similar in both photos, when put in a different location, it does not maintain its essence… Or does it? This is what Cowser is getting at.
Making Further Connections
The concept of place can be incorporated into many aspects of writing. For example, I even equate the idea of place with time. When I think about The Great Gatsby, I think of materialism at its finest: beautiful women in black flapper dresses with red lipstick, men in fancy suits smoking Cuban cigars, etc. Although all the glitz and glamor of The Great Gatsby may truly showcase some parts of New York in the 1920s, for others it could be viewed as the Hollywood version of real life. Whenever I hear someone mention the “roaring ’20s,” Gatsby is the first thing that comes to mind. It goes to show that Fitzgerald’s novel had, and still has, a strong impact on how we view even the history of our country. Is this dangerous?
One person’s realityGatsby’s reality
Another great example is Los Angeles. Any time I have ever talked to people that have never been to Los Angeles, they always refer to either books, movies or TV shows to provide them with the context for what it’s like. They think of LA as this beautiful, glamorous city where there are celebrities around every corner and something fun and interesting to do every couple blocks. I have actually had people say how excited they are to see the Hollywood sign. To me, a person who has lived in Southern California her entire life, this is almost bizarre. In fact, any time I hear this, I fear for them that their expectations of LA may not meet the reality of it, and will therefore leave them disappointed. While in some regards I do see LA as an artistic community at the very foreground of creativity, I also see it as transient, dirty, and superficial.
I will end this with the last thought in Cowser’s essay. After dealing with the angry family of the little girl that he wrote about in his book, Cowser turns to Joan Didion, a famous American author and literary journalist, for advice. Didion once said,
A place belongs to whoever claims it the hardest, remembers it most obsessively, wrenches it from itself, shapes it, loves it so radically that he remakes it in his own image.
And with that, Cowser replies, “Okay then. Game on” (122).
Questions for Further Discussion
How might you consider place when writing your creative works in this class? Will you do extensive research in hopes of capturing its true essence, or will you base your writing off of what you have either seen or heard about a place? How could either choice help/harm you?
Cowser states that for Hemingway, he was able to see his hometown of Oak Park, Illinois more clearly when he was in Paris. Faulkner, however, was able to live in the actual place that he was writing about, and in doing so, he could see it for what it truly was. How can this apply to you and your writing?
Works Cited
Cowser, Bob Jr. “What We Said of It Becomes a Part of What It Is: Rendering Real Places.” River Teeth: A Journal of Nonfiction Narrative 12.2 (2011): 109-122. Web. 15 September 2015.
Male, Mack D. “Space for Place: Placemaking in Edmonton.” MasterMaq. Mastermaq, 22 April 2015. Web. 15 September 2015.
“Space vs. Place.” Kordalewski, Susan. Kordalewski. Kordalewski, n.d. Web. 15 September 2015.
https://cikeys.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/CI-Formal-Logo_2A-flat-300x50-1.jpg00Marion Adlerhttps://cikeys.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/CI-Formal-Logo_2A-flat-300x50-1.jpgMarion Adler2015-09-16 05:30:352015-09-16 05:30:35Rendering Real Places
In every phase of life we encounter problems and eventually solutions. As younger people in college there are many social issues to be aware of if you haven’t already experienced them in some form or another. A few social issues college students face are homelessness, the affordability of college, and alcoholism. These three issues are very real and very many students are affected by one or more of these.
My first social issue is homelessness. I first heard of college students facing homelessness on the news a bit ago. Unbeknownst to me I didn’t even know people in college could be homeless it never crossed my mind. While I was living in oblivion when in reality over 58,000 students in 2012 were homeless that figure doesn’t include people who didn’t report it or those who were couch surfing. Can you imagine the increase from then to the present day? Common challenges that lead to the displacement are lose of a job, tuition cost, and lack of support. Some families lost a job and money became scarce which lead to their eviction. Some college students chose higher education rather than having a bed to rest their head. But they made that decision because the degree they would receive would land them a better paying job verses just working full time at a dead end one. While others didn’t have a stable support system to begin with. And of course this is my admittance to my ignorant views. But I figured if you attended college and could afford to go you could afford a place to stay, right? Wrong. And if you are attending a university you can afford it, how else are you going. Some people cant even afford that because tuition rates are climbing as we speak.
The next topic I would like to discuss is the affordability of college. And unfortunately for us costs are on the rise. How do you attend if you can barely afford you or your flat? Well there are a few options to choose from if you qualify. For instance there are college scholarship’s, financial aid, grants, and loans. If you don’t qualify for scholarships, financial aid or grants then step 2 is taking out a loan. Loans also known as borrowed money you will pay back and yes they will hold you hostage for it: our BFF debt. But being able to obtain one of these forms of financial assistance doesn’t mean you’re out of the woods just yet because they don’t cover everything. So if you don’t qualify for any of those say hello to Out of POCKET.If you don’t receive enough money you will have to pay the difference. But for those college students trying to get there foot in the door tuition is the number one problem. In 2012 the average cost to attend just a public university was $18,092 including room and board. Now the average coast to attend is $23,600. For the people who have to pay out of pocket its a great hassle to want to do better but not be able to afford to get a higher education. Recently they came up with a measure to ease some of the debt called loan forgiveness. it gives you more time to pay off your loans. Hopefully it works. All in all if you can figure out a way to get an education the time you spend in college is going to be fun. Fun but costly.
Another costly social issue is alcoholism. It is one of the largest causes of death and violence in the college population. Based on a thirteen year study in a year college drinking on average leads to 97,000 sexual assaults, 1,700 college students die in alcohol related incidences, and 110,000 are arrested for alcohol related violations. The numbers are huge but that isn’t including unreported cases. College students as a whole; in 2012 spent about 5.5 billion on beer that chocks up to an estimate of $50 a month per student if every student drank that much. There aren’t many restrictions on drinking besides the age limit and that doesn’t stop everyone. Alcohol is sold on campuses around the country. Its simply a free for all and colleges are saying chug chug chug right along with the students. Its resulting in liver damage and addiction and the students aren’t even 30 yet. However some campuses have taken action by having non alcoholic events, setting rules for alcohol in dorms, and information and counseling for prevention. These are not solutions but its a start.
All of these social issues have not died out nor will they ever. But they should be acknowledged and not taken lightly. More than a hand full of people on every campuses deals with one of these issues and we as peers should show compassion and help. Because in fact it could be you.
https://cikeys.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/CI-Formal-Logo_2A-flat-300x50-1.jpg00Vannesa Mcmurrayhttps://cikeys.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/CI-Formal-Logo_2A-flat-300x50-1.jpgVannesa Mcmurray2015-09-15 23:21:522015-09-15 23:21:52Social Problems: The College Years
For my blog post the 3 social issues that I selected are: Police Brutality, Mental Healthcare, and Gay marriage.
To start things off I choose police brutality because recently many cases of police brutality towards people have occured. With footage of the riots in Ferguson and Baltimore being covered day and night as events were unfolding it showed that there is severe tension between police and the public. With all the media attention surrounding the misconduct of police it causes the public to fear all police officers when they are approached by them. On the other hand fearing the prosecution of the media and the public many police officers are hesitant to do their own jobs.
Secondly, when it comes to the issue of our mental healthcare system research has shown that millions of people with mental health disabilities go untreated. The reason these people are not being treated is because in some cities mental healthcare can be hard to come by or some people just do not know that they have an issue that can severely effect their lives and their loved ones.
Lastly, the topic of gay marriage has been an ongoing social issues for decades. Recently the supreme court has ruled that gay marriage be legal in all states yet there are still people who refuse to issue licenses to homosexual couples. An example of such a person is a county clerk of Kentucky named Kim Davis. Kim Davis repeatedly refused to give homosexuals marriage license because of her religious background citing the bible and scripture claiming she will never issues a license to homosexuals as it violates her religion.
What thrives me to be better is the idea of knowing there are existing issues that yet need to be solved. Issues that affect our lives in the greatest manner that in fact can be changed for the better as long as the whole world is on the same page. Refugees in Syria and neighboring countries such as Afghanistan are escaping and are experiencing a fall of current rule. Citizens are being forced to flee from the violence from a place they once called home. Their culture is being taken away from them similar to how mine is taken away from my family. Mexico has been the source of narcotics in recent decades for both their home land and neighbors, us. Social issues root down to the war on drugs and tie in to keeping our economy down and class status stagnant. Last but not least, racism is not a poison that can’t be ignored. It lives and presents itself in the minds of millions still today and continually acts out in form of rage and injustice.
Germany and the seemingly inclined Turkey are receiving thousands of refugees each day. The scarcity of good care in the camps they are centralized in is crying for extended resources. They never would have imagined this amount of immigrants seeking asylum in their countries. Nonetheless, the world is crying for our help more and more each day. If we choose to ignore the climate in our reality, we might not see the storm coming. It is our job as students of the collegiate world as well as of life to be conscious of humanities struggles and act in a helping manner. This statement is to bring life to this situation happening around the world from us. No matter the distance, time is not in our favor thus we need to act now.
Narcotics are deadly. Narcotics help you they say. Narcotics are in the lives of all ages now a days. However, I never would have thought narcotics would reach a level where it would take a piece of me. Culture is subjective and unique to each and every perspective. Mexico has been terrorized by Government corruption as they continue to turn their heads purposefully towards groups of terrorists for the sole purpose of profit. I shouldn’t be scared to visit my family because of something so harmful to society. Drugs in America have been an extremely important issue as of recent years since we continue to see the damage they create. Both individually and in the masses. Yet another issue that deserves attention along with a solution.
We use equality as a face of our country and remain ignoring it in our everyday lives. We shouldn’t get used to or feel comfortable with the idea that at any time a traffic stop can turn into a shooting as was the case of police officer Michael Slager in South Carolina. As a person considered to be a minority, these issues are ones of great importance. Life is too short to accept these atrocities and we need to act now by using our freedom of speech to state the importance of such events that quite frankly need to be attacked and ended.
Many things in the world seem to go overlooked due to the population blindly going about their “busy” lives. The glorification of being too busy needs to stop so we can thoroughly analyze what we are promoting for the value of human life. I will be covering three important issues today that I believe have been placed on the back burner. Teen pregnancy, sex trafficking and police brutality are some issues that this world has seemed to brush off up until something bad happens.
It has become so normal in the world for teens to be pregnant and mothering children as young as 15 years old. Looking into this made me very disturbed and on edge. How does a child take care of a child? In this day and age, there are television shows, which have had both negative and positive affects on this subject. The show ’16 & Pregnant’ does indeed show many of the struggles, but I have overheard many young people say, “Maybe if I get pregnant I will be on TV.” So one can see the pros and cons to this television show. I believe we should be educating our children and younger generations on how to protect themselves and give real life examples of financial situations, health situations, and overall life situations that will help them to realize that parenting is not something they want to do at such a young age.
Now, sex trafficking is happening too much around us and we are so oblivious to it. I have read many articles and heard many personal stories about people who were stuck in that “business.” This is not a future that anyone would look forward to. Some people feel like they have no other option than to do this and become stuck in a life that could hardly be called a life at all. Other people are forced into this world and just don’t know how to get out or feel helpless. According to Polaris Project (http://www.polarisproject.org/human-trafficking/sex-trafficking-in-the-us ) in the year 2014 there were 3,598 sex trafficking cases in the United States alone, and those were only the cases that we found. Worldwide, there were 4.5 million people trapped in sex trafficking. It’s a shame that this is happening at all, to anyone. People who have a voice, or who are striving to make a difference should be helping those who feel that they have no other choice.
Bruises, beatings, fatal “accidents” happen all the time, but when those who are supposed to be there to protect us commit them, it just makes it that much worse. Police brutality has been an uprising issue in the United States. For example, a very recent case is South Carolina an officer shot a man in the back as he was running away from the officer. The officer claimed to be scared for his life. How are you scared for your life when a person is running away from you? Doesn’t make any sense, does it? I feel like becoming a police officer is a privilege. People should go through many exams; physically, mentally, and emotionally to make sure they qualify to make conscious and moral decisions. If a police officer has gone through a tragedy, just like any other person a counseling session would be recommended to help them through the tough times. We should be educating ourselves about these things so we can make the difference if we are ever put on a trial for a case like this, or even if we witness it we can make the difference in the outcome.
https://cikeys.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/CI-Formal-Logo_2A-flat-300x50-1.jpg00Leslie Rothhttps://cikeys.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/CI-Formal-Logo_2A-flat-300x50-1.jpgLeslie Roth2015-09-15 21:51:432015-09-15 21:51:43Protected: Recent findings related to Cardiovascular Health
