Military Drinking Age - 1983 Words

Drinking Age of the Military: Should it be Lowered Jason M. Stoudt DeVry University The drinking age in the military is currently set at 21 years old as it is set for the rest of the country. There has been an age old statement widely used by those in the military, â€Å"If I am old enough to fight and die for my country, I should be old enough to drink†. The debate is out there that the drinking age should be lowered for all young adults from 18 years old to 21 years old. The idea behind the fact that younger people tend to have less responsibility and are not good candidates for being allowed to drink is a valid point. Those serving in the military are different in that respect for the fact that they have more responsibilities than that†¦show more content†¦One of the examples that is used to show that lowering the drinking age to 18 years of age is a bad thing is a panel that was done in 1975 to 1993. In this panel they surveyed 39 states that had lowered the drinking age to 18 yrs old between the 1970’s and the 1980’s. The mortalit y rate for those states included in the study showed that once the drinking age was lowered the fatality rate from motor vehicle accidents had risen substantially; most of the fatal accidents were at night. When the drinking age was raised back to 21 years old the fatality rate had dropped back to a lower level as it had before the age was lowered. The documentation shows that when those that are 18 to 21 years old are allowed to drink the death rate from alcohol consumption in motor vehicle accidents are raised. Now the death rate for those that are over the age of 21 years old has increased slightly only due to the fact that the younger population now allowed to drink has been introduced into the equation (Carpenter-Dobkin, 2011). Simply stating that because they are allowed to drink at 18 years old and that some of them get into accidents with motor vehicles while intoxicated on alcohol is irrelevant in the case that there is evidence in the report that those that are over 21 yea rs old are still getting into the same type of accidents. Also considering the level of technology that is current in the world todayShow MoreRelatedMinimum Legal Drinking Age Should Be Lowered733 Words   |  3 PagesMinimum Legal Drinking Age Should be Lowered â€Å"Adults under 21 are deemed capable of voting, signing contracts, serving on juries and enlisting in the military, but are told they are not mature enough to have a beer.† (Amethyst Initiative: Rethink the Drinking Age). The causes behind the minimum legal drinking age standardization nationally has not been alleviated in the past couple decades and should be repealed. The minimum legal drinking age should be lowered to the age of eighteen whichRead MoreShould the Legal Drinking Age Be Lowered to Eighteen?1192 Words   |  5 PagesShould the legal alcohol drinking age be lowered to eighteen? At the age of eighteen years old, you are eligible to vote, you can legally purchase cigarettes, you are eligible for the military draft, you are willing to die for this country, you are even able to serve on a jury, and you are titled as an adult at the age of eighteen. Why can’t someone at the age of eighteen not drink alcohol? Who is to say that just because someone is t wenty-one years of age means that they are wise enough to drinkRead MoreLowering the Drinking Age1523 Words   |  7 Pages According to Andrew Herman, â€Å"Each year, 14,000 die from drinking too much. 600,000 are victims of alcohol related physical assault and 17,000 are a result of drunken driving deaths, many being innocent bystanders† (470). These massive numbers bring about an important realization: alcohol is a huge issue in America today. Although the problem is evident in Americans of all ages, the biggest issue is present in young adults and teens. In fact, teens begin to feel the effects of alcohol twice asRead MoreUnderage Drinking Is Part Of The Culture Of College1734 Words   |  7 Pagesthat I did discover is that underage drinking is part of the culture in college, also the friends that I had in high school who are 21 now I have discovered they drink some of the least amount now. Which has begun to make me wonder why people who are 21 drink less than pe ople who are underage. I believe that when people are 21 they now do not have to worry about the next time they can get alcohol. Congress should lower the drinking age from 21 to 18 because at age 18 when they are in college, forRead More Lowering the Legal Minimum Drinking Age Essay1622 Words   |  7 Pagesunderage drinking has become a major problem, especially on college campuses. But, underage drinking is not purely the root of all accidents related to alcohol. The real problem lies within the unsafe underage drinking habits amongst youth. There are ways that these alcohol-related accidents can be avoided. Several organizations have been created that are targeting a change in the legal drinking age laws. One key way to lower the risk of unsafe drinking is to lower the minimum legal drinking age fromRead MoreLowering The Drinking Age Act Essay2580 Words   |  11 PagesLowering drinking age California Passed the drinking age act in 1984 for all consumers of alcohol had to be 21 years of age to buy and consume. Was this a good idea? Is this making young teens stay away from alcohol, and making our cities safe? Age limit should be lowered to 18 years of age because there should be no reason why try to keep teens away from something that they are going to get one way or another. Many teens get alcohol from older siblings, seeing parents, and being influenced by otherRead MoreThe Minimum Drinking Age Laws2540 Words   |  11 Pagesa protective policy for the youth. Scientific evidence indicates that the lower the drinking age, the earlier the youth begin to decrease alcohol (at least in the United States). MLDA laws are vital components of any effort to control the production, marketing, distribution and sale of alcoholic beverages (Philip, 528). Several studies have indicated that more accidents occurred as a result of lower drinking age. As a result there has been advoc acy for restoring MLDA to 21. Due to such advocacyRead MoreJoining the Military: A Life Changing Decision1588 Words   |  6 PagesJoining the military is a life changing decision that soldiers have to live with for 4-6 years when signing up. A soldier raising his right hand, swearing to defend, protect and serve the United States of America and willing to die for this country deserves a little gratitude and appreciation. Sometimes all a soldier wants is an alcoholic beverage of his/her choice, but he/she is underage. If a soldier is old enough to die for his country why can’t he/she drink? The history of the minimum legalRead MoreShould Alcohol Drinking Age Be Decreased of Increased? Essays633 Words   |  3 PagesShould alcohol drinking age be decreased of increased? In my opinion it should be decreased because if we are classified as an adult and we are allowed to get married and etc. Why are we not allowed to drink. Lowering the drinking age would teach kids how to be more responsible at a younger age. If kids are just cut off from things, they are just going to find a way around it anyway. Kids just need to learn to do things in moderation. Because unfortunate, adults arent responsible withRead MoreThe Drinking Age Of The United States Essay1599 Words   |  7 PagesBy the age of twenty-one, most people have at some point consumed an alcoholic beverage. For others, turning twenty-one might mean a whole new world of freedom. Young teens and adults drink for many reasons. Teens may drink because of peer pressure, others because of pure enjoyment, and many for of the thrill of breaking the law. Before the 1980’s, the legal drinking age was eighteen. This would only make sense because at this age a person is declared an adult. Many are in favor of keeping the drinking

Descriptive Essay - Original Writing - 1408 Words

After close to three hours on the road, we pulled up in front of a beautiful old mansion that had been converted into a luxury hotel. It had a beautiful view, right on the shores of the Beauly Firth. The grounds were impressive. We’d made it in time for the complimentary coffee and shortbread. The piping hot coffee and the shortbread were just what I needed to hold me over until the dinner hour. Kendrick said we had time to take in the gardens. As we walked and viewed the gardens, Kendrick had tucked me under his arm. He kept me pulled up tight to his large warm body; that was where I wanted to always be close to his heart. I was in love with this Selkie man, and I was contented to just be wrapped in his warm embrace. Once I had let my guard down and let Kendrick into my heart. I had felt a happiness I had never before experienced and wouldn’t have believed possible. After we walked along the shore and spotted a few dolphins playing in the Firth, we were also a ble to see the Kessock Bridge from the lawns of the hotel. We then heading back to the room to dress for the dinner party that the hotel was having for the holiday. I moved to the bathroom and got ready in there. Kendrick would get ready in the bedroom. I was excited about our evening. This would be the first time that Kendrick had seen me that dressed-up. I wore a little more make-up than I normally do, but I still kept the make-up on the natural side. My one concession on the make-up was theShow MoreRelatedDescriptive Essay - Original Writing1110 Words   |  5 PagesI don’t know how I got to where I am, but I’m here now, and I have to win if I want to live. I am in a game, and in order to live, I have to escape. That’s the thing, though: I don’t know how to escape. I was running for my life around this old house that looked like it came straight out of a horror movie. I doubled over and held my head in pain as I saw the static, which meant it w as coming. I was being chased by what looked like a person but in no way acted like one. Just as it was about to appearRead MoreDescriptive Essay - Original Writing1102 Words   |  5 PagesIt is on days like this when we stop to think about our life. Small drops of rain begin to dapple the cobblestone pavement as people whip out their umbrellas for cover. I continue sauntering down the busy street, relishing the feeling of a light shower. Moving with the mass of pedestrians, I stop at a crosswalk where I wait for the stoplight to turn green. A flower shop employee across the street scurries to bring in the numerous bouquets and close the doors as rain starts rolling down the displayRead MoreDescriptive Essay - Original Writing914 Words   |  4 PagesDreamy I thought. Standing on the corner is a young guy with a smile. I see him here almost every day, so I linger for a while. He tells me his name, and I tell him mine. I m Ester, what s your name? I enquired. My names David . ,He replied. We end up talking for a while and I asked him if he had ever left this city. He tells me of all these stories of the places where he s been, the distant lakes and mountains, and in valleys oh so green. I can see it in his eyes, he really has beenRead MoreDescriptive Essay - Original Writing974 Words   |  4 Pages I was used to moving round, having a mother who liked to travel more than making roots was something I had gotten used to. Still, I had never gotten used to the loneliness of an empty house when she was out exploring, or the feeling of leaving behind someone who could have meant something to me. Our most recent move was Oregon. It was pretty, and I didn’t mind it, but it was much different than Florida. Not only was it opposite sides of the country, it felt as if it were opposite worlds. InRead MoreDescriptive Essay - Original Writing1012 Words   |  5 Pageshave plenty of time in the next month to think about my feeling in regards to Kendrick. I needed to finish up the article and get it off to my editor. I should be able to get it done by tonight and send an email in the morning. I was thinking of writing my next article about the sea life around the Scottish coast. Since our salmon dinner last evening I thought I would do a piece about the commercial salmon farming that began in Scotland in 1969. In 2002 over 145,000 metric tons of farmed AtlanticRead MoreDescriptive Essay - Original Writing1561 Words   |  7 PagesThere’s something I need to say and what follows may not be something that you’d expect, it won’t be heartening or uplifting. If you remember today, I told you about going somewhere I wanted to go to†¦ I’m not sure if you believed and accepted what I now confess as untrue; it is partly. I needed to pull away emo tionally†¦ from you. You must have had fathomed that some degree of formality had seeped between us. Born of habit, formulaic greetings had become a routine. You presume that I’m a close friendRead MoreDescriptive Essay - Original Writing1387 Words   |  6 PagesI was wearing a beautiful blue dress with sapphire gems all around the chest area as I entered the ball with Ciel and Sebastian. I took a good look around here, the hallway was lined with gold. There was a servant ready to escort us to the ball room. Hello, come this way. He said, walking forward. Wow, this place is so fancy! I exclaimed, looking around. It s fake gold. Ciel bluntly replied, bringing my hopes down. I sighed. Ciel sounded like he wasn t in a very good mood. Ciel, lightenRead MoreDescriptive Essay - Original Writing1287 Words   |  6 Pages In the morning, Caireann woke me up. She stood above my bed, shaking my shoulder. I opened my eyes, looking at her. Then I looked across the room to her empty bed. Andy s empty bed sat in the corner. I swallowed, climbing out of bed. Sleep well? Caireann asked me, starting out the door. Yeah, I said, going over to our small dresser. I had the bottom two drawers. Andy had the middle two, and Caireann had the top. I pulled open the drawers, pulling on a colorful tank top and a grayRead MoreDescriptive Essay - Original Writing1345 Words   |  6 PagesLater that night, I was behind the wheel of my G-Wagon with Melissa in the passenger seat. She didn’t feel like driving since she was on the road all day and I understood so I didn’t mind when she asked me to. I had been tight-lipped. She kept eyeballing me as if she detected that something was bothering me but I just kept singing to my India Arie as if I was carefree. â€Å"So are you going to tell me what’s going on or no† Melissa said disrupting my own personal concert. 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American Indian Conjuring Free Essays

string(265) " a trick by Fray Bernardio de Sahagu in his Historia de las Cosa de la Nueva Espana: â€Å"Seating himself in the middle of the market place at Tianquiztli, he announced that his name was Tlacavepan, and proceeded to make tiny figures dance in the palms of his hands\." Conjuring is said to be the second-oldest profession in the world, and may well be the oldest of the theatrical arts. It was the carefully guarded weapon of the priesthood used to establish a belief in supernatural powers among an uninformed public (Randi, 1992, p. XI). We will write a custom essay sample on American Indian Conjuring or any similar topic only for you Order Now The dictionary defines a conjuror as â€Å"a person who practices legerdemain [sleight of hand]; jugglerâ€Å". (Webster’s College Dictionary, 1992, p. 281). Another source defines conjuring as the art of â€Å"producing the appearance of genuine magic by means of trickery and deception† (Randi, 1992, p. XI). Anyone who attended Sunday school as a child can recall the biblical account of Aaron’s battle with two sorcerers in Pharos’s court. In the story, each of the magi cast down rods that became snakes. The secret to the trick was the snakes had been drugged or hypnotized which made them look like sticks, then became mobile when stroked by the conjurors (Randi, 1992, p. 1). Eunios, a Syrian, stopped a rebellion of Sicilian slaves about 135 B. C. with his awe provoking fire breathing. He claimed a Syrian goddess had made him immune to fire. Florus, the chronicler, had other ideas. He insisted that Eunios had the fiery substance secreted in nut shells in his mouth (Christopher, 1962, p. 6). In 1865 Robert Houdin, a French magician and clock maker, prevented a rebellion in Algeria with legerdemain. The French government asked the magician to discredit the Marabouts, an Arab religious faction who were using magic to incite a rebellion. He proved his illusions were more powerful than the magic of the Marabouts, thus stopping talk of rebellion (Magic History n. d. ). The line between natural and supernatural is often poorly drawn. Among the American Indian people, sleight of hand feats, simple tricks, and snake charming were invested with mystical significance during tribal rites. Witch doctors and medicine men used the devices of entertainers to increase their reputation and influence (Christopher, 1962, p. 6). In this work, I will investigate the various means American Indian shamans employed to deceive the people into thinking they had supernatural powers. I will then expose their methods of prestidigitation and conclude with an examination of the loss of the art. Though American Indian hamans for centuries had often matched and surpassed the far more widely known fakirs of Calcutta and Bombay, few stories about their skill appeared in either the national or the international press, and this for a very sound reason: The Asian conjurers, lauded by travelers, performed in public for the money the could collect from their roadside shows. The American Indian’s magic was reserved for their tribe; few whit e men had an opportunity to study it. If a rare outsider tumbled on to a secret, he was swiftly inducted as blood brother and sworn to secrecy (Christopher, 1973, p. 69). American Indian shamans were at their best in the open air under the night sky. When tom-toms beat and campfires cast flickering shadows, their strange feats were awe-inspiring to fellow tribesmen as the occasional flashes of lightning that streaked across the sky. The Navajo, like their counterparts in India, made snakes appear under inverted baskets. Pawnee, Hopi, and Zuni shamans made corn and beanstalks grow (mango trees were not available) during harvest rites. The feat in which a Hindu conjurer‘s assistant vanished and reappeared in a large basket was also done by the Apaches. Swords were jabbed through the sides to prove that no one was inside in Asia; the Apaches had a more effective argument; they shot arrows through the fibers (Christopher, 1973, p. 69). In 1871, John Wesley Powell, a geologist and representative of the United States Bureau of Ethnology saw an exhibition of the skill of Cramped Hand and Bent Horn, two Ponca shamans. â€Å"One afternoon, near sunset, about two hundred persons, mostly Indians, stood in a large circle around a tent in which sat the shamans and their assistants. Presently the shamans and the aged chief, Antoine Primeau, came out of the tent and stood within the circle. One of the shamans, Cramped Hand, danced along the inner side of the circle, exhibiting a revolver (Allen’s patent), one chamber of which he seemed to load as the people looked on. After he had put on the cap, he handed the weapon to the chief, who fired at the shaman. Cramped Hand fell immediately, as if badly wounded. Bent Horn rushed to his relief and began to manipulate him. It was not to long before Cramped Hand was able to crawl around on his hands and knees, though the bullet had apparently hit him in the mouth. He groaned and coughed up incessantly, and after a tin basin was put down before him he coughed up a bullet which fell in the basin, and was shown in triumph to the crowd† (Powell, 1894, p. 417). The demonstration was breathtaking, but impractical in battle. This was traditionally done with a real gun and a gaffed round, the bullet having been replaced with a wax casting. The explosion of the charge and propulsion of the fake bullet through the air effectively vaporized the wax within a short distance. The wax bullet can be made to look like lead by coating it with a black substance (Bagai, n. d. ). Cramped Hand had only to secret an identical bullet in his mouth during the falling action, the rest was acting. Much of what we know about the magic practiced by the first Americans comes from missionaries who worked among the Indians in the years when the New World was being colonized by Europeans. French priests reported from Canada in 1613 that the medicine men of the Algonquin tribes were the most formidable opponents they faced in trying to convert the Indians. Twenty years later Gabriel Sagard-Theodat, a Recollect missionary, weary of the daily conflict with people whose customs he did not understand, called the Nipissing redmen â€Å"a nation of sorcerers† (Christopher, 1973, p. 70) There is a fascinating description of a trick by Fray Bernardio de Sahagu in his Historia de las Cosa de la Nueva Espana: â€Å"Seating himself in the middle of the market place at Tianquiztli, he announced that his name was Tlacavepan, and proceeded to make tiny figures dance in the palms of his hands. You read "American Indian Conjuring" in category "Papers" † No one who witnessed the trick could offer a solution. There is however a simple explanation: the small figures were manipulated by strands of long hair (like modern magicians invisible thread) tied together and attached to the conjurers feet. All he had to do was wiggle his toe and the figures came to life (Gosh, 2006, p. 21). Legends say that the early medicine men could bring miniature images of buffalo and warriors on horseback to life. They worked by the flickering light of a fire at the far side of the tent with observers grouped in a semicircle. At the command of the magician, the clay figures were supposed to have changed to flesh and blood. Then the miniature Indians corralled the buffalo and hurled their spears and shot their arrows with deadly accuracy until the last animal fell with an arrow through its heart. When the drama ended, the figures reverted to clay and were tossed into the fire. Seldom has a puppet show received such praise. Whoever started the story must have imbibed too freely before attending the performance (Christopher, 1973, p. 75). Shamans of the tribes who lived along the St. Lawrence River boasted they could summon the rains or stop storms. They claimed their rites could render fields barren or produce bountiful crops ( Christopher, 1973, p. 0) The Franciscan friar, Louis Hennepin said of the shamans: It is impossible to imagine the horrible howling and strange contortions that these jugglers make of their bodies, when they are deposing themselves to conjure, or raise their enchantments† (Hennepin, 1869, p. 59). Paul Beaulieu, an interpreter for the Ojibwa at White Earth Agency, Minnesota ( First settlement by white people, n. d. ), heard tales of Indian escape artists around the 1850’s. At Leech Lake, Minnesota he witnessed an Indian shaman clad in a breechcloth tied by a committee of twelve men. The shaman’s ankles, wrists and hands were bound; his tied hands were forced down so that his knees extended up above them. A heavy pole was thrust over his arms and under his knees; then his neck was tied to the knees and he was carried into a tent. The structure was built on poles, interlaced with twigs, and covered with strips of birch and canvas (Christopher, 1973, p. 74). The flap had scarcely been closed when strange words and thumping sounds came from within. The tent swayed violently as the sounds increased in volume. When the disturbance ceased, the Indian shouted that the rope could now be found in a nearby house. Cautioning the committee to keep a sharp watch on the tent, Beaulieu sprinted to the house. The rope was there, still knotted. He hurried back, let the other men examine the knots, and then called to ask if he could enter. Permission was granted and he found the Indian seated comfortably, puffing on a pipe (Christopher, 1973, p. 74). No explanation was offered for the astonishing feat. There is however, a way it could have been done, a method so obvious that Beaulieu and the committee would have overlooked it: a secret tunnel with cleverly concealed trapdoors at each end. An assistant concealed in a passage under the tent untied the medicine man, squirmed through the tunnel, retied the ropes, then dashed to the house where the shaman had decided they should be found (Christopher, 1973, p. 77). Alexander Phillip Maximillian, who traveled in the west in the mid 1800’s, wrote of some amazing things accomplished with ordinary objects by Hidatsa and Mandan shamans. â€Å"The medicine of one man consists in making a snowball, which he rolls a long time between his hands, so that at length it becomes hard and is changed into a white stone, which when struck emits sparks. Many persons, even whites, pretend that they have seen this and cannot be convinced to the contrary. The same man pretends that during a dance he plucked white feathers from a certain small bird, which he rolled between his hands, and formed of them in a short time a similar white stoneâ€Å"(Powell, 1894, p. 512). The performance of the bullet catch with Bent Horn and Cramped Hand was also followed by a demonstration of sleight of hand. â€Å"Bent Horn danced around, showing an object which appeared to be a stone as large as a man’s fist, and to large to be forced into the mouth of the average man. Cramped Hand stood about ten or fifteen feet away and threw this supposed stone toward Bent Horn, hitting the latter in the mouth and disappearing. Bent Horn fell and appeared in great pain, groaning and foaming at the mouth. When the basin was put down before him, there fell into it, not one large stone, but at least four small ones† (Powell, 1894 p. 417). A proficient modern sleight of hand artist can change the color of billiard balls and manipulate coins and playing cards on stage with utmost ease, and can do the same with small stones and leaves from trees out in the open. It is not at all hard to see (through practice) how the shamans could manipulate a snowball, feathers or rocks and make them appear as something they really are not. Dr. Franz Boas, an anthropologist at Columbia University (Franz, n. d. ) witnessed a burning alive illusion in northwest Canada. A young Indian girl was nailed inside a large wooden box that was burned in the center of a spacious medicine hut. As the smell of burning flesh permeated the structure, she could be heard singing. Eventually box and girl were consumed, only bones remaining among the ashes of the fire. The keys to this mystery according to Dr. Boaz were a secret tunnel, a long speaking tube, and a dead seal. The girl slipped through a panel that could be lifted in the bottom of the box, crawled through the tunnel to the out side of the lodge, and began her song, which filtered back inside via the tube. Meanwhile, a helper pushed the carcass of a seal through the tunnel and into the box. The charred bones, of course, were those of the seal (Christopher, 1973, p. 77). Complicated advance arrangements and trained assistants were not needed for the oldest and most frequently performed American Indian mystery, the shaking tent. Shaking tent conjuring was always done after sunset with the conjuring lodge put up an hour or so earlier and was taken down before sunrise the next day. The lodge was a small, often conical structure made of hoops and branch poles sunk into the ground covered with animal skins, blankets or cut spruce boughs (Christopher, 1973, p. 77 80). Often times the shaman was bound tightly hand and foot and also gagged. Once the tent flap was let down strange things began to occur: the ropes that bound the conjurer were thrown out of the top of the lodge. The tent would shake violently and a succession of strange voices would be heard, supposedly those of animal spirits. Beavers and turtles were among the most common, conversing with the shaman and occasionally with the audience (Beyer, 2009). Many shamans produced the voice of only one animal; others boasted a wider repertoire. The more animals a conjurer had at his command, the more he was honored (Christopher, 1973 p. 80). All of the feats described in the shaking tent can be accounted for. Why was the performance always done after dark? For much the same reason modern magicians use a darkened stage and smoke, to conceal the secret means of accomplishing the miracle. Why was the conjuring lodge put up an hour or so before the performance and taken down before sunrise? The answer is quite obvious: so the general uninformed tribesmen could not inspect the structure and find the secret. As for escaping out of the ropes that bound the shaman, it was a common escape trick. A famous duo called the Davenport Brothers had an act around the same time where they were bound securely in a cabinet which resembled an old-fashioned wardrobe. Suddenly they produced music on guitars and bells and caused ethereal hands and strange shapes to appear. The Davenports were exposed many times, not only by magicians but by scientists and college students. The latter ignited matches in the dark. The flickering flames disclosed the brothers, with their arms free, waving the instruments which until then had seemed to be floating (Christopher, 1962, p. 99). The shamans needed to be in top physical condition (like Houdini) to carry out the first-class performances they presented. The tent is scarcely ever still and at the same time singing, talking and ventriloquism occur (Howell, 1971, p. 50 82). While all American Indian conjurers do certain standard things like shaking the tent which, under contemporary conditions, may become the subject of a limited amount of skepticism, some conjurers apparently invent or acquire new tricks. The Saulteaux readily admit that certain individuals have either shaken the conjuring tent, or tried to shake it, with their own hands (Howell, 1971, p. 70 80). As it happens, the enclosures used by the tent shakers were not actually as rigid as they seemed. The anthropologist Dr. A. Irving Hallowell emphasized in The Role of Conjuring in Saulteaux Society that â€Å"All I can say personally is that Berens River conjuring lodges were extremely easy to set in motion. They readily responded to the slightest pressure from without, as I can testify. †(Howell, 1971, p. 83) The American Indian conjurers, who reportedly created marvelous wonders, were never willing to travel themselves and exhibit their feats for theater audiences. However, the proprietors of medicine shows, who sold tribal cure-alls to small town audiences in the late nineteenth century, always claimed the man in the war bonnet who displayed the bottles was a celebrated Indian medicine man. Shungo-pavi was billed as a Moki medicine man that performed magic at the Cliff Dwellers exhibit at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St Louis, Missouri, in 1904 later played in vaudeville. He wore beaded buckskins, moccasins, and a feathered headdress, but the tricks he performed were not of Indian origin. A bottle and a glass changed places when covered by two tubes; a silk handkerchief vanished; only to reappear tied between two others. He waved an eagle feather instead of a wand when he pronounced his magic words. Occasionally one still hears of a traditional feat being shown at an Indian tribal ritual in the Southwest or a shaking tent in northern Michigan or Canada, but the day of a burned alive illusion in the dark night or of a shaman changing a snowball into a rock in the open air has long past (Christopher, 1973, p. 81). How to cite American Indian Conjuring, Papers

Meritocracy Essay Example For Students

Meritocracy Essay A meritocracy is an environment in which individuals are rewarded for their ability to produce. An example of a meritocracy is the sports world at large. In the sports world, athletes are chosen based on their raw talent and ability to score points and win games. Nothing else is taken into account before each player signs a multi million dollar contract. Things like, being a college drop out, having a criminal record and being a poor role model is overlooked if the athletes can score points for the team. This one sided selection process, is the epitome of a meritocractic society. The owners of the teams are merely looking for someone who can get the job done, no questions asked. Initially, sports was not a meritocracy. The public demanded professional sports teams to have a certain image. The image of the average ball player , was a clean cut all American and a great guy. Even if the player didnt possess the best character traits, he was perceived as a great guy.For example, Babe Ruth was the all American orphan who lived the American Dream, going from rags to riches. In reality, Babe Ruth was a womanizer and a drunk. The professional sportsman was put up on a pedestal and was honored by all. Even if he didnt fit that image, the public at least wanted to believe that he did. This concern for a certain image showed that sports was not a meritocractic society since the public wanted something else, other than performance. Later, sports became a meritocracy. Vince Lombardis famous quote, winning isnt everything, its the only thing embodied the complete transition of sports, from our national pastime to the ugly meritocractic society that it is today. The public was no longer interested in the image, all they wanted was to win and have players who could accomplish their tasks. Selection, from then on, was solely based on who could get the job done. The image was no longer the highlight, and it wasnt important to society. Now, we are paying the price for the meritocractic society of sports. Athletes like Latrell Sprewell, who was almost sent to prison for assaulting his coach in practice, is now a hero on the New York Knicks. Children are flocking to see him play and are trying to emulate is every action. Pete Rose is another example of a player who was held high for his great ability but was also a compulsive gambler. He was punished for his misbehavior at the time, but now the fans want to reinstate him in baseball. Societys lack of concern for misconduct is evidence to the fact that the meritocractic society of sports has severely impacted our morals and value system. There is more emphasis on which sneakers a sports figure wears rather than what kind of person he is. It has now reached the breaking point. The meritocracy of sports is causing the downfall of values in our society and the degeneration of our youth. Our society no longer cares about ethics and morals, society only wants to win, whate ver the costs may be. Bibliography:N/A