Wednesday September 28, 2016

Good evening ladies & gentlemen,

Please remember that you can get updates on what we have accomplished throughout the week on our Twitter account.  The link is www.twitter.com/jonathanwcarr1 




Tonight's homework is as follows:



Science - 1. All of part A & B for your Ecosystems Project is due on October 5th. Part B needs to be drawn as a web that is displayed next to your ecosystem model.  You will need to construct your ecosystems at home and have them in class on October 5th. All notes and criteria are on the Science Google Classroom. As well, Ms.Glanfield is available on day 1 and 5 at morning recess for consultation.

Math - Please complete the following questions (due tomorrow):
1. Calculate the dimensions of a square that has the same area as a 16m by 64m rectangle.  Please show your steps.

2. Why might squaring a number and taking the square root of a  number be thought of  as opposite operations  Give an example to justify/prove your answer.  

Literacy - Please answer the following question.  Your answer should be at least 150 words.  If you are having a hard time coming up with what to write, I encourage you to think of prompts that you have used in your classroom freewriting to push your thinking forward.  I have copied the article at the bottom of this blog post.  (Due tomorrow)

Do you believe that police are justified (meaning it's okay) in using racial profiling, as long as they do it respectfully?  

History - Please complete reading pages 1-18 in the online textbook found on Google Classroom (on the Social Studies page).  You do not need to answer the questions, but you do need to be very familiar with the information that you read so that you can use the textbook to help us answer the questions we came up with tomorrow in class (due tomorrow).

Art - HB & 6B sketches (all 15) (Due October 5)

Health - Please make sure that you are caught up by having enough research to answer your healthy eating question.  You also need to know what type of media text you want to produce.  (Due)

*Friday is the Terry Fox run.  We would really appreciate if everyone was able to participate in the "Toonies for Terry" initiative.  We are hoping to collect a toonie, that will go toward cancer research, from every student in the school.

*Arts package forms have gone home.  We ask that they please be returned by Thursday.  Please don't hesitate to let me know if there are any issues.

Have a great evening!

Mr. Carr


Racial Profiling Article (by Newsela.com)

A car is pulled over, someone walking down the street is stopped, a traveler is pulled out of line. If the person is being singled out because of race, ethnicity or religion, rather than a particular action, the incident might be an example of profiling. This is a law-enforcement tactic that’s been used, and debated, for many years. On the other hand, what's happening might just be discrimination. Separating the two can be hard.

Surveys show that whites and nonwhites have different views on the fairness of U.S. law enforcement. In December 2014, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, the nation's top law enforcement official at the time, attempted to limit profiling. Holder said the practice destroys trust in the police. That trust is an important issue right now. The public is angry over cases in which officers did not face charges after they killed black men who were not carrying weapons.

The Situation

Loretta Lynch is the federal prosecutor who replaced Holder. She said one of her top concerns is reducing conflict between police and their communities. The guidelines issued by Holder are stricter than those issued by President George W. Bush in 2003. Bush said federal agents could not consider race or ethnicity when they investigate cases. The new rules add gender, national origin, religion and sexual preference to that list.

The federal rules don’t cover patrols near the nation’s southwestern border or the screening of airline passengers. This means race and ethnicity may still be considered in some cases. Thirty states have laws that limit racial profiling. However, there is no single guideline regulating local police departments. These officers make the vast majority of arrests.

New York City is dealing with the effects of its stop-and-frisk program. Under stop-and-frisk, police stops increased dramatically from 2003 to 2011. In 2013, a federal judge ruled that the program violated the rights of minorities such as African-Americans and Hispanics. These people made up roughly 90 percent of those stopped. In France, Arabs and blacks filed lawsuits over police stops. However, the cases were dismissed in 2013 when they were unable to prove the actions were motivated by race. A 2009 study found that Arabs and blacks in Paris were eight times as likely to be stopped as whites.

The Background

Profiling as a law enforcement practice drew attention in the 1970s and 1980s. During these years, law enforcement tried to crack down on drug trafficking. They paid extra attention to people who fit a certain profile, thinking they might be more active in the drug trade. To some, this was a bad idea. They said it targeted minorities who were not guilty of any crime.

The U.S. Supreme Court supported the constitutionality of profiling in a 1996 ruling. It said race could be used as a reason for police activity so long as it was not the only reason. In 1998, New Jersey state troopers shot three black and Hispanic men who were not carrying weapons. This happened during a regular traffic stop. The state's attorney general agreed to a $13 million settlement. The use of profiling expanded after the September 11 attacks, leading to increased scrutiny of Muslims in the U.S. and across the world.

The Argument

Supporters of profiling say it works when solid evidence links certain characteristics to higher rates of crime. In New York, police officials argued that stop-and-frisk tactics worked. They said they cut crime by targeting suspicious activities in high-crime areas. Israel has also been doing highly targeted profiling for many years. Officials there say that's why no flights have been hijacked out of its airports in more than 30 years.

Opponents say that policing based on group characteristics does not work. They say that it discriminates against minorities. Neither of the two men who came closest to blowing up U.S. airplanes after 9/11 were Arab, they say. In New York City, figures show that stops of blacks and Hispanics were half as likely to turn up a weapon as stops of whites.

Some local police departments are trying to calm critics by hiring more minorities. Others would rather rely on diversity training. Last February, U.S. FBI Director James Comey said the nation must also have an honest conversation about race and prejudice. He said prejudice has strained the relationship between local police and the communities they serve.