Possible Focus Points of the Solutions Project

1. Education: The public education system of the St. Louis area is disjointed. The program that buses inner-city students to suburban public schools is a cop-out on the public school system of the city of St. Louis. Instead of this strategy, state/federal funding would be better spent in the overhauling of inner-city schools. In the mean time, organizations such as K-12 Connections are designed for the betterment and not the abandonment of the public school system of the city of St. Louis.

2. Anti Drug Abuse Education: St. Louis has been deemed the Nation's most dangerous city by the 2010 CQ Press crime reports. While there are a number of different ways to confront this issue, the most efficient way to end anything dangerous and infections is still to locate the source and eliminate it. According to a study called "Project DARE: No Effects at 10-Year Follow-Up", The D.A.R.E. program has had no effect on keeping kids and teens across the country off of drugs. In some areas, children who graduated from the program even showed higher rates of drug abuse than children who had not taken the 10-week course. Recently, D.A.R.E. has taken these criticisms and attempted to re-design its approach. Further research will be needed on the new program, but depending on its success level, it could be possible to recommend it to the public school system of St. Louis city.

3. St. Louis Identity Crisis: While attending a leadership conference in the summer of 2009, I had the opportunity to mingle with students from across the country. Before this conference, I thought St. Louis was a legitimate city with a sizable reputation. However, after a day at the conference, it was clear that most of the students believed that St. Louis was just like every other rural area in the mid-west. After students met me with surprised expressions because of my "normal" attire (this meant that I was, in fact, not wearing overalls and toting a pitchfork and/or firearm), I decided that St. Louis had an identity crisis on its hands. This still surprises me because of the City's rich ancient history. Over five-hundred years ago, St. Louis was home to one of the largest Native American cities in American history. This civilization had trade and cultural influence as far west as Arizona and as far south as the Gulf of Mexico. While Cahokia mounds is well known to St. Louis residents, the massive cave network under the streets of the city that once marked an even more massive hub of trade, politics, and culture is almost unheard of. St. Louis has enough ancient history to fill Museums. A revival of this history could also mean a revival of the urban culture of St. Louis. For these reasons, this aspect of our identity must take a larger step forward. The Missouri Archaeological society (MAS) is filled with experts whose knowledge of this topic is abundant. As a five-year member, I believe the society's involvement would be necessary in order to move this idea forward.

"Enemies of the People"

...I hope you enjoy it?

Research Question

What has the government of Turkey done to put an end to the clear human rights violations of its penal system since the 70's?

What I will need to find out:
-the violations in the 70's
-the government's reaction to "The Midnight Express"
-international pressure

Tentative Research Proposal

To be honest, I had not even looked at this assignment until recently. I had no idea what I wanted to research. Nevertheless, a topic hit me right in the face last night as I watched the movie, "Midnight Express". Initially, I denounced this as a topic simply because it would be too easy to "illuminate" the already illuminated human rights violations in the Turkish prison such as torture. After giving the subject more thought, It would be more interesting to research this from a legal perspective. For example, Articles 10, 11, and 14 are prevalent in Billy Hayes's experience in the foreign penal system. If I were to research the applications of human rights to the topic of foreign penal systems as a whole, other articles that could apply are articles 5, 7,9, and 28.

I am unsure about whether I should research the Billy Hayes story in detail or foreign legal systems in general, but I at least have a topic that interests me.

Here are some sources that have assisted the growth of my interest and knowledge in this topic:
http://www.daemonstv.com/2010/06/28/billy-hayes-the-real-midnight-express-exclusive-interview/
http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/series/locked-up-abroad/all/Overview
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Hayes_(writer)
http://www.usp.com.au/fpss/index.html

Although I am gaining  firmer grasp on this topic, I do have a few questions that would further narrow my focus as I continue research:
1. Would it be more beneficial to focus on the story of Billy Hayes or the larger issue of legal treatment while incarcerated abroad?
2. Even if they are in violation of the UDHR, is it plausible to make a case against foreign penal systems?
3. Are there any stronger stories to research besides that of Billy Hayes? (After reading his interview, there were quite a few details that could lessen an audience's sympathy for his experience).

The Difficulty of Defining Human Rights

The difficulty of defining human rights becomes evident when one examines the very purpose of "human rights", for between its purpose and its origins, there lies a deep contradiction. Human rights were created in order to protect the liberties of all human beings. They describe a plethora of instances in which all humans are entitled to this and that. However, the human rights themselves were written by a single comity. It seems almost futile for a small group of people -most of whom coming from privileged Western or European societies- to write the rules for all of the human race.

The Modern Congo

1. DR Congo rebel leader arrested over mass rapes: Over the past couple of days, the UN and the Army of the Democratic Republic of Congo have been tracking down the leader of a rebel force who is responsible for coordinating the mass rapes of a local villages. Just recently, through a joint operation, the rebel leader was captured and taken into custody. In my opinion the occurrence of these mass rapes is evidence of an unstable government. This is not unexpected considering that the country hadn't become independent until 1960. It is clear that the control of Leopold I's regime has left the Congo in ruin. However, I believe that this arrest is a good sign of progress. It shows that the people and the government of the Congo will not tolerate injustice anymore.