Assignment 4 'Is Education the cure for poverty?' Ryan and Anping 4C

   Is Education the cure for poverty?

 

Summarise the impact of education on poverty and the challenges education faces in equipping people for the new workplace (paragraphs 7-14) in 150 to 200 words.

Education, upon combining with multidimensional job training, readiness, and a quality job search, results reaped are more than double. An increase in earnings, employment and a reduction of time spent on welfare are just some of them. However, the challenges that have presented themselves are abundant, making education only a partial cure for poverty. Recent changes in the labor market has led to at least half of the inequality increase taking place within groups of comparably educated people. Even among the highly educated, only some are getting ahead, and lots aren't. Additional mechanisms are needed to nudge the invisible hand toward outcomes that are more meritocratic and just. Education improves the quality of workers, not the quality or the quantity of jobs. A danger of over-reliance on education is that skilled workers end up unemployed. Technological change is one of the reasons we've doubled the share of college grads but continued to see their unemployment rates in the 2 percent range, as our economy is still very much structured to produce lots of low-wage jobs.Thus what matters is the quality of jobs to aid in reducing or reinforcing working poverty, rather than the quantity that requires an educational degree. (199 words) 

Do you agree with the author whether if education is only part of the answer to poverty? Write your response with reference to the arguments in the article, within 200 to 250 words.

Yes, I agree with the author that education is only part of the answer to poverty. It is true that education is the ticket out of poverty. However, it is not the only method to escape poverty; various other factors also determine whether one is going to remain poor and get out of the penniless pithole. In fact, it is even arguable whether education is the most important factor in getting a decent job with a decent pay in contrary to popular beliefs. If a man is highly-educated and is equipped with high level of skills but lacks an economic context wherein they can realize the economic returns from their improved human capital, he is still going to stay poor. Education alone isn’t successful in raising employment and earnings prospect, rather education combined with a strategy of focused job training), "soft skills," and holding out for quality jobs will be much more successful. Moreover, strawn reports showed complementation of multidimensional job training, readiness, and a quality job search with education causes the returns (income) to double. Not forgetting to mention the great influence of rate of technological change, rate of change and demand shift have on the amount of wages one can have. Between 1969 and 2000, improved education lowered family poverty by quite abit. But economic growth and inequality had considerably larger effects. Family structure and race also played roles in lowering family poverty, although not as much as education. Thus, education is only part of answer to poverty

Assignment 3: The flight from conversation Ryan & Anping

Anping & Ryan  4C

Summarize the impact of technology on human interaction

Human interaction has been drastically minimised due to technology. Indeed, technology changes what we do and who we are, making us forget how to interact with one another. Fear of conversation induced by technology has been prominently displayed in workplaces, where young people nowadays go to work wearing earphones, avoiding any chances of real conversation. Many a times, even though people are gathered together, they are barricaded in their own bubble, furiously connected to their electronic gadgets.The cause of all this is due to the comfort technology brings. Through technology, people are comforted by being in touch with a lot of people while keeping at distances we can control; not too close, not too far, just right. Humans treat online interaction as a substitution for real life conversation; making us seem disregard the importance of human interaction. As we ramp up the volume and velocity of online connections, we start to expect faster answers. Now, we are more willing to dispense everyone altogether. We lose the confidence that we will be there for one another; simply saying we now expect less from human interaction as we have find no motivation to meet the demands of relationships. (196 words )

READER RESPONSE QN:

Do you agree with the author and is this

happening in your society? If so, how can we improve the way we interact with

one another? Provide reasons for your answers in one paragraph, with reference

to the arguments in the article, within 200 to 250 words.

I fully agree with the author's stand on technology reducing human interaction greatly. From youth that seem to be physically attached to their smartphones to even children who find it hard to pry their eyes away from the tablet showing their favourite cartoon, it is evident that there has been a decline of human interaction in our society. To improve human interaction, we can create ‘scared spaces’ to encourage our children to interact with each other.  By making places like the kitchen, dining room and cars “device-free zones’’, the value of conversation presents itself. As for employees at work who may lack the time to talk about things that are of utmost importance, a period of time could be set aside for them to talk so that they have more opportunities for human interaction. Most importantly, we need to cast aside communication through technology, and really listen to each other. Regardless of the conversation topic, we have to listen as it is often in these unedited movements, moments in which we hesitate and stutter and go silent, that we reveal who we really are. Improving interaction can be as simple as kicking away some of our bad habits when we walk outdoors. Nowadays, we often walk with our heads down, typing messages or searching the web. Even when we are with friends, partners, children, everyone is focusing on their devices. We simply have to gaze at the sceneries, look up at our companions, and start the conversation. (247 words)

Assignment 2: Big Data: Are we making a big mistake? Ryan & Anping 4C

Summarise Some of the reasons the author offers as to why using Big Data is popular and also why it may not be so useful in 150 - 200 words.
Google was able to track the spread of influenza across the US in just a day’s delay, which was much quicker than the Centre's for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Moreover, cost for tracking was extremely cheap as it was done by the collation of the digital exhaust of web searches updated in real time. Yet, results were uncannily accurate and fast. This, along with credit card payments and mobiles pinging the nearest phone mast, is a result of Big Data, making it very popular due to the success of the Google Flu Trends. By wising up to the potential of big data, costs can be reduced in factors such as health, through better integration and analysis of the data produced by everything from clinical trials to health insurance transactions to smart running shoes. However, there are a lot of small data problems that occur in big data, which was worsened when so much data comes so easily. Furthermore, it aims to merely find statistical patterns in the data, caring more for correlation rather than causation. It also heightens the chances of vast electronic surveillance and threatened personal security. Thus, Big data may not so useful after all.
READER RESPONSE QN: How will Big Data continue to be useful for us? How can we be better at using Big Data?Provide reasons for your answer in one paragraph, with reference to a specific argument in the article, within 200 – 250 words.
Although ‘Big Data’ can be rendered useless upon careless handling, it can still be useful if we choose to heed the familiar statistical lessons. Despite the setbacks faced leading to the failure of the Google Flu trends after the many success, it will bounce back, recalibrated with fresh data. Big Data opens up broader opportunities due to the ease with which we can gather and analyse vast data sets. Without needing the results of a single medical check-up, they were nevertheless able to track the spread of influenza across the US. What’s more, they could do it more quickly than the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Google’s tracking had only a day’s delay, compared with the week or more it took for the CDC to assemble a picture based on reports from doctors’ surgeries. The speed, accuracy and reliability of the results derived from Big Data for the past many winters are still very useful to us. However, there are faults in the Data, and unless we learn the lessons of this failure, and further develop the potential of Big Data, we must not pretend that the traps have all been made safe. A theory-free analysis of mere correlations is inevitably fragile, and thus we must find both causation and correlation. This way, one would have an idea of what might cause that correlation to break down. From here, one can then find a solution for the problem, and receive more accurate data.

Reflection- Wu Anping 4C

Write a critical and reflective response of 300 words or more about the film Menstrual Man and/or the local film dusty in general.

The name itself brought laughter from all of us, but at the end of the show, I felt extremely enlightened. The way the man spoke with conviction, firmness, and determination made me feel inspired. He was illiterate, but he used what people referred to as a disadvantage as an opportunity for him to keep learning. It showed me that the title was slightly relative, but very misleading, as it wasn't filled with in depth descriptions that make us squirm. Instead, it was filled with values like dreaming bigger, and working for a reason. The film taught us that working wasn't about the money, but it was for the cause you worked for.  I believe that this was very strongly portrayed, especially when the man's relationship with his wife and mother deteriorated because of his cause. Despite all the hardships, he remembered what he worked for and kept at it, not giving up. The film, 'the Menstrual Man' , was truly inspiring as a man without education made a machine with functions similar to high class machinery in the States, out of scrap metals in rural India. The main message that he sent across was to use education to improve lives instead of just using it to survive. That , by itself, affects all of us, and I believe that he speaks in a way that actually gets to us students. Unlike other educated professionals, this man speaks simply, but carries much depth in his words, which can be seen clearly in the film. His actions and words are harmonious to his goals and reasons, and this, according to Gandhi's definition of success, makes him a successful man.

Overall , I believe the film was very inspirational, and that one must make circumstances work for them, instead of waiting around and wallowing in self pity. To empower women, and other minority, is what really runs a country's economy, and therefore, we should all learn from this man. This film educated us in ways that a school often cannot, and thus I hope that more people can view it, as it is very heartening.

Assignment 1: The Voting Situation in Afghanistan By Ryan And An Ping

Summary:
President Hamid Karzai is constitutionally bound to step down when his term runs out and the next president has been determined. Afghan voters turned out in large numbers for Afghanistan's first democratic presidential and provincial elections. An estimated 7 million Afghan voters were undeterred by the threat of violence by the Taliban and poor weather, and determined to vote. The Election Day was relatively trouble-free due to heavier security presence in the capital, Kabul, and across the country, although some attacks were reported. Vote counting has started in the polling sites throughout the country and the preliminary results will be announced around April 28. The Independent Elections Commissions is completely ready to hold a second round elections if no candidate wins 50% +1 in the first round. Taliban militants have carried out multiple pre-election militant attacks in recent days, including on the country's election commission. (145 words)

READER RESPONSE QN:
Why is there a need to establish proper and secure voting rights for all? Within 200-250 words, discuss the consequences, positive or negative, with respect to the article.
Afghanistan is a nation of diverse cultures and languages, which harbors potential for ethnic divides. Moreover, it has seen years of violence and thus, its people want an improvement in security, such that their children would be able to go to school without the fear of being attacked or even killed. Thus, proper and secure voting rights for all enables the different ethnic groups to have their say in politicsand choose their leaders, and thus a majority vote for a particular leader will reap the maximum benefits for voters. All ethnic groups are able to support those with common goals as them, and all voices can be heard, without discrimination. It allows the people to vote for a better future, and a stronger security in the country. It gives the people hope that the president they choose will be able to change Afghanistan's current state, and that bombings and wars would cease to exist.

However, if the minority fails to vote for the president of their choice, they might take to arms, further heightening violence. The Taliban insurgents may also take advantage of this dissatisfaction generated from the presidency results, and may use it as a way to increase military manpower and influence over the people.  As seen from the passage, Afghanistan has been plagued with years of war, and falling back into routine due to dissatisfaction is not impossible. The 'majority-wins' nature of the voting may backfire. Furthermore, this method of democracy has led to many deaths and casualties thus far, for both the insurgents and the many innocent afghan voters.

(250 words)