Q1
Within the sport, of basketball what are specific forms of formal exclusion or informal exclusion?
Are these forms of exclusion justifiable?
Are there specific levels of play where the exclusions are more extreme?
Do these exclusions continue to be justifiable at those levels of participation?
Hint: preventing or cutting a 4th-grade girl from playing football vs. preventing or cutting a high school girl from playing football.
Q2
The basis for this discussion is the U.S. Supreme Court case of Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc.
This case is about a business’ leadership making real business decisions about employer-provided employee health care benefits. This decision violated a government mandate that private for-profit businesses provide certain types of birth control benefits. The company, Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc., took a stand against the government’s position, based on the business ownership’s religious beliefs, raising a Constitutional question under the First Amendment.
Please do not simply list “questions and answers.” Address these questions within an essay format.
- What are the constitutional implications on business exemplified by this case? How was the 1st Amendment involved? How was the government violating Hobby Lobby’s 1st Amendment right, according to the U.S. Supreme Court?
- Hobby Lobby Stores. Inc. is a family-owned business, described as “closely held.” What does this mean, i.e., what is a closely held corporation? Did this make a difference in the court’s consideration of Hobby Lobby’s 1st Amendment religious freedom argument? Would the same argument work for a large publicly held corporation like IBM? Should it? Why or why not? What are the social and political interests in play that the Court endeavored to balance in the legal setting?
- Should a business be able to invoke the 1st Amendment protection at all on the basis of the business owner(s)’ personal beliefs as human beings? Why or why not? If the business is a separate person, as the Court has held in finding that the business has an independent Constitutional right, how can this “corporate person,” as an entity, manifest an independent religious belief? (For this question you might want to also take a look at the Supreme Court’s opinion in the Citizens United case.)
Q3
Let’s take a moment to review a great Ted Talks video with speaker Peter Doolittle (2013), who discusses the concept of working memory and how it influences our day to day activities.
The Working Memory tests provide us with an excellent opportunity to test our working memory capacity!
For this week’s discussion, complete the Working Memory Capacity Demo provided in the link. If this link does not work this is an alternate one: https://www.memorylosstest.com/free-short-term-memory-tests-online/
- Complete at least five iterations of the working memory test provided
- After completing the minimum required for each working memory test, share your results with the group in your initial forum post.
- Discuss how you performed on each individual test, noting whether your working memory capacity was significantly greater on one test over the others.
- Note why this may have been; did the course materials offer support to suggest an explanation for your results?
- Finally, share your greatest take away from the activity as it relates to your working memory capacity.
References
Doolittle, P. (2013, June). Peter Doolittle: How your “working memory” makes sense of the world [Video file].
Q4
Infancy is viewed by developmental specialists as a period of “preparation for the future.” Select one aspect of human development, ie. cognitive, social, emotional, etc. and in one paragraph describe caregiver practices and environmental characteristics that you see as most essential for supporting preparation work in that area. Then, find out from a family member about your own development as an infant and share it with the class.
Q5
In what ways are the positivistic theories of deviance, crime, and delinquency inadequate or incomplete, according to the constructionist approaches? By contrast, in what ways are the positivist approaches stronger than the constructionist approaches? Which theory do you agree with more and why?
Q6
What are “agents of socialization”? Which of the “agents” have had the greatest impact on you and why? What about your sense of self? What role do you think your race, ethnicity, gender, and/ or age play in your day-to-day interactions and feelings about who you are?
