Senior Project Outline

Senior Project Outline

1. Introduction
1. Walk out saying “I am not a crook”
2. Open up with idea of misconceptions in politics
3. Explain that things must be looked beyond party lines
2. Reagan v Nixon
1. Ask crowd as to who was better Reagan or Nixon
2. Present the common misconception that Reagan is great and Nixon is awful
3. Show the bad side of Reagan and the goods of Nixon
4. Explain why these aren't highlighted
3. Taxes
1. Go into the notion that the rich need to pay more taxes
2. Show counter arguments
1. What the rich actually pay
2. What the average citizen pays
3. Explain why it is this way
4. Branches of Government
1. Detail each branches purpose
2. Why executive is most powerful in the eyes
3. Why the legislature is the most powerful actually
4. Establish why the misconception forms
5. Conclusion
1. Not everything is what it seems
2. Misinformation is always presented by government
3. Walk out as Richard Nixon

Tax Brackets

Since there was a comment left about the tax brackets and what they looked like for the poor to the rich, I have decided that this blog would be dedicated to that. It will assist in the part of the presentation that would be about the misconception on taxes with the notion that the rich need to pay more. A common misrepresentation among the populace is that the rich do not pay up to the amount of the taxes that they should. However, through the 2015 Tax Brackets as well as the data that is view-able on the United States Census Bureau website here, it is seen that the average income of Americans falls into the 15% range for the categories provided while the maximum tax rate is established for those making large six figure amounts each year. So while many people may argue that the rich do not step up and pay the amount of taxes they should, they in fact pay a large amount compared to most of society based on the tax brackets. If you would like a more in-depth view of the tax brackets, click here.

The Opening Structure

The senior project is on the final legs as we head into the finish line. My data will soon be published within my presentation which will be presented in my final presentation. Now let me inform you about how the PowerPoint is shaping up to become. The PowerPoint will open with an image of the political party symbols. I will then discuss about how there are many misconceptions within the American political scene. After that I will transition to the next slide that has a picture of Reagan and Nixon on it. To show the audience the misconceptions, I will present some facts and poll the audience on whether or not it was Reagan. After that I will show the people that they are misinformed about Reagan and Nixon based off of biases developed by the culture. Proceeding on from that I will then embark on the rest of presentation which will show the other misconceptions that are formed within the American political landscape. However, I will go in more detail with this my next blog as I progress more into the presentation and work to finalize it.

Still Surveying...Let's Talk About War

Over the past several weeks I have been attempting to conduct a survey about the political misconceptions that the American public has. Soon my results will be finished but I am still gathering information so I can not post my results yet. Instead to add some filler content, we will discuss ISIS and how America is largely misconceived. While most Americans believe that the reason that there is no war with ISIS currently happening because of President Obama, it is in fact due to Congress because they have not had a successful vote on going to war with ISIS. There are several reasons for this but among these reasons is the predominant reason supplied by Bill Clinton on The Daily Show. On the show Bill Clinton said, "We can't win a land war in Iraq — we proved that. But they (the Iraqis) can, and we can help them win it." If you would like to read further click here. In the end with these ideas alongside others, it is explained as to why America is misconceived about no war with ISIS and why it has yet to come.

Cat in the Hat is Vietnam

As I continue my surveying, I have decided to enlighten a misconception that relates to politics in general. That misconception is in the form of The Cat in the Hat as people believe it is simply a children's book. However, this is largely a mistake as books that were written directly by Dr. Seuss had hidden meanings. Within this book, the hidden meaning lies in the cat that invades the children's home. Firstly, he wears a hat similar to Uncle Sam causing a correlation. He also goes and messes with the children's house even though he is often told that he should not be doing what he was doing just like the United States interaction in Vietnam was a largely negative aspect of the war because people did not believe that Vietnam should have been dealt with by the United States. Even outside of politics there is in fact political misconceptions within other forms of media.

On Going Studies

I have been conducting my survey for several weeks now. While I have been receiving data, I have decided not to post the results until the final presentation. I will continue to receive more data until my final presentation. Now, however, I will discuss the process that I have undergone to receive this amount of data for my presentation. The first step in the process was that I began by creating various questions that I wanted answer. I then went up to various random people and asked them to answer these various questions so that I could receive the best data. Even though this process has resulted in a large amount of data, I must continue to receive more data in different locations to receive a more varied sample. Ultimately I hope to receive the most amount of data possible to make my results the most convincing to either prove or disprove that a majority of America has political misconceptions rampant within them.

How do you think my results will turn out? Leave a comment.

Surveying Misconception

Now that I have done some research into many misconceptions that people perceive within politics in the American culture, I have decided that I will now engage in some surveys to see if these hold true with random Americans. My survey will consist of several questions such as, "Who was a better president, Nixon or Reagan?" followed by "Which president decreased the federal deficit, Nixon or Reagan?" which will either support or deny the claim that many Americans have political misconceptions on presidents based off of their public image. However, I will not only ask questions about specific presidents, I will also ask which branch of government do they believe is the strongest as well as which legislation do they prefer, ObamaCare or the Affordable Care Act. By receiving answers to all of these questions I hope to learn better as to why the American public has common misconceptions as well as which misconceptions are the most common among the American people. After I receive the answers to these studies, I will post my findings and go more in-depth with why these phenomena occur with the American people.

How do you think the results will fare? Leave a comment down below.

Richard Nixon: Not So Bad?

After having gone through the problems that people tend to ignore with Ronald Reagan, I have now decided to look into the good that Nixon did that is often overlooked. While it is true that he was involved with the whole Watergate Scandal that tarnished his career, he actually accomplished many aspects that impacted the United States for the better. Even today, these policies are still enacted leaving a large impact on the country as a whole. First of all he ended the draft for the wars resulting in many of the riots over the drafts for wars ending. He then was able to knock the federal deficit down by seventeen billion dollars making the economy of the United States far from as bad as what it was. The final major impact that Nixon left was that he was able to end desegregation throughout the south even though he was a major racist and it went against his views. Along with these three key impacts, Nixon made other impacts that can be read here.

Is Richard Nixon a terrible president? Leave a comment saying why or why not.

Misconceptions of Taxes

After having ended the State of the Union, the United States is beginning on a new look towards how to treat the country. One view within the State of the Union is making the rich more accountable for taxes. However, this is a large misconception within the United States as, prior to contrary belief, the rich contribute to a large portion of the taxes. Over the past thirty years, the percentage of taxes contributed by the wealthy has steadily risen over the years from being a slight majority of the percentage to being over seventy percent of the tax burden. To learn further about this common misconception, click here or view the chart below. The reason that this misconception is commonly viewed by the public is because a majority of the rich are a member of the Republican party. This results in many Democrats attempting to target the public against the rich as it also makes it targeted against the Republicans.

Why do you believe that the United States views the rich with such tax burden? Leave a comment.

State of the Union

With the State of the Union having just occurred, the president has outlined many aspects of his platform that the public will expect him to have implemented. However, this is a large misconception by the American public for several reasons. Among these reasons, the biggest misconception is that the president will be able to even implement a majority of these policies due to Congress being republican in both the House and the Senate. Since both the House and the Senate are republican, they will be very reluctant to pass most of Obama's agenda as they have largely different views on how the country should be handled. So while most of the policies that Obama suggested in the State of the Union will not be passed, the public will still be largely misconceived as they believe that the president has the ultimate determining of the nation's policy while it is truly Congress that creates the nation's policy. For a full transcript of the president's State of the Union click here but be warned as not all or even many of these policies will be likely implemented.

How much of Obama's policy will be answered? Comment with your answer below.

Reagan Misconceptions

After having obtained some research about the political parties views on college education and how the people misconceive this, I have begun my next topic on which I would like to research. The area I have decided to look into was the idea of Ronald Reagan's presidency being overly glorified even though he had numerous skeletons in his closet in terms of his presidency. While Reagan was indeed a quality president for being a pivotal figure in ending the Cold War, there were plenty of other acts that Reagan engaged in that should lower him in the eyes of many people. For arguments against Reagan's presidency that many people do not look when they view his presidency, view the link here. For a few key points, however, Reagan in fact was a main contributor to the federal deficit as he created a tax cut resulting in him having to increase taxes in an effort to work out of the debt. He also caused the unemployment rate to greatly increase due to the tax cuts that he enacted at the beginning of his presidency. He even went and illegally sent weapons to Iran resulting in the Iran-Contra affair as he provided funds to an anti-Communist organization even though Congress did not approve which should greatly mar his presidency. In the end while Reagan was a decent president, the people of America have created a misconception within their eyes as they often only view his accomplishments but not his numerous failures as president.

Do you believe Reagan should be as highly ranked of a president as he was? Leave a comment as to why or why not.

Political Misconceptions on College Cost

Since I had decided to switch my topic from college to political misconceptions, I have realized a common link between the two: the differing views between the political parties on the idea behind education which affects the college atmosphere. For students seeking a cheaper more affordable education for their college years, they must examine each party to determine which is more feasible. While most people do in fact believe that the political leaders are not attempting to solve any problems faced by college tuition, they in fact have each laid out plans as to what they hope to do solve this problem. By clicking here, you can view each of their plans to lower the cost. To sum up the main points that each possess, the democrats hope to make college affordable for all by increasing the Pell Grant investments, increasing the nation's minority institutions, and by increasing an emphasis on community college while the republicans provide more of a focus on improving the classes of the institutions and addressing the rise in college costs with plans that involve job opportunities to lower the burden felt by students. Ultimately, while most Americans do not believe the government is attempting to address college concerns, they have in fact laid out plans for this exact problem.

Which plan would be better: Democrat or Republican? Leave a comment saying which and why.

Change In Topic

After several months of engaging in the idea of whether or not college was worth it, I have lost all the passion that I had for the topic. However, I have reached a new topic on which I have found a vast amount of desire to put my effort into. That topic is in the idea behind the United States' political misconceptions and why it is that way. Ultimately I will examine the misconceptions that both political parties face in the bills that are passed by the legislator, such as the idea of Obama Care versus the Affordable Care Act. I will also look into the way that people misinterpret the acts done by political officials, such as Ronald Reagan, in how they are viewed as great but have many hidden secrets behind their actions. After examining all these factors I will look into the supreme consensus as to why these phenomena occur to the American public.

Why does America confuse its politics?

Rate of College Increase Lowering

As I wait to hear back from people that have engaged in various career paths following high school, whether it be pursuing further education at a college or university or choosing a varying path from that, I have looked further into the cost of education. Astonishingly, I have found through my research that although the cost of college continues to "rise more rapidly than the rate of inflation, the rate of increase has slowed" compared to previous years ("New College..."). While this is excellent news to hear, it is still hard to believe that the rate has continued to rise in such a way larger than that of the rate of inflation. However, while the rate is still larger than that of the rate of inflation, students have found ways to compete with this by having Pell Grants increase "from 3.8 million in 1993-94 to 5.1 million in 2003-04 and to 9.2 million in 2013-14" as well as having "undergraduates receive an average of $14,180 in financial aid" which allow for students to have a greater chance at affording the price of college ("New College..."). Ultimately, until the rate of college price increases reach that of the rate of inflation, college will still be questioned to its ultimate worth by the people of America. To read further about the happenings to colleges in the past year, click here.

Money under the cap. Are colleges worth more than that?

Work Cited

"New College Board Trends in Higher Education Reports: College Prices Increase at a Slower Pace While Student Borrowing Declines for the Third Consecutive Year." The College Board. College Board, n.d. Web. 18 Dec. 2014.

Congressional Movement

As I continue to seek out potential employees within various occupations, I have noticed that there has been a movement by congress to lower the burden that college places on students financially. This news is coming out of the Senate as head of the Senate education committee, Senator Tom Harkin, has proposed a bill with numerous implications for colleges and their perspective students. Within the proposed bill, one of the main proposals is “reinstituting a year-round Pell Grant, creating a streamlined income-based repayment system for student loans and creating a record system that would track student-level details, such as loan repayment outcomes and future earnings” which would allow for students to receive aid year round for their summer classes rather than just the fall and spring classes (Bidwell). If this legislation as well as others are able to be made into law, then the burden placed upon students would diminish making college much more accessible to people across various backgrounds. However, as it is currently in the process, the struggle of the cost of college must still be factored into the debate on the worth of college. For more information about the article click here.

Pictured Senator Tom Harkin

Work Cited

Bidwell, Allie. "Senate Higher Education Bill Focuses on Affordability." US News. U.S.News & 

       World Report, 20 Nov. 2014. Web. 05 Dec. 2014.

Finalizing Background Research

As I began these weeks I knew that this would be the end of my background research on college and its costs. One of the many problems faced by colleges that I have overturned is the college dropouts. The main reason that this is a problem is that many people dropout of college when they are not prepared leading to a large debt for many states as well as the dropouts themselves. Over a five year period, it was recorded that "more than $9 billion dollars was spent by state and federal governments to support students at four-year colleges and universities who left school before their sophomore year" leading to a large debt for these governments as they now have no return on the investment ("College Dropouts Cost Cash-Strapped States Billions"). Along with this increase in the debts of the government, the students also find themselves in large debts that they are unable to payoff as they never received the degree allowing them to get a more profitable job to eliminate the debt. As a result it shows that many students need to rethink their plans before attending college as it may result in an insurmountable amount of meaningless debt for many. Following is a video from Fox Business (take it with a grain of salt) establishing the view on college dropouts. After watching leave a response on what your future plans are for after high school.

Source: The Friedman Foundation of Education Choice

Credit: Robert Enlow

Works Cited

College Dropouts Cost Cash-Strapped States Billions." American Institutes for Research RSS. N.p., n.d.  Web. 20 Nov. 2014.

Rise in Education, Rise in Cost

Furthering my study on college debt, I have begun to research the number of students within the various universities and colleges throughout the United States. My findings have led me to the fact that enrollment in these establishments has been on a rise as between the years of 2001 and 2011, the number of people that were enrolled at these establishments increased by 32 percent from 15.9 million to 21.0 million. This increase in enrollment was found to be even larger for full-time students as it had increased by 38 percent over the same span. However, with this increased enrollment, the tuition for each of has risen from on average a cost of $14,533 per year to $19,339 per year over that same time span yet not all this money is being put towards the education as a large portion of the money made from tuition is put towards marketing rather than the actual education. Occurring alongside these two factors is the fact that the graduation rate from college is only at 59 percent for four year degrees. This is causing a large debt increase for the 41 percent that do not graduate but still accumulate the debt by attending college and receiving no diploma to show their work. By doing this, they will find it much harder in the job market to obtain a job in order to pay off the debt that they acclimated for no evident gain. This problem has even reached national media attention as many news services are voicing concerns on the topic of college education and debt. Following this is from a video from The Late Night Show that has John Oliver discussing many issues with the current college education system.

Source: The Late Night Show

Credit: John Oliver

Debt Research

I have begun to research into is going to college worth it in the modern era for all students as their form of post-secondary schooling. As I have conducted this research, I have started by looking into the amount of debt that college students face by the time that they leave college. By comparing the amount of debt that college students have faced over the past several years with the amount of debt that college students faced in the past several years before that I aim to examine whether the current state of college education is at the same worth as it was in the past or whether it has diminished due to the rising cost. Through the close examination of this data I will be able to evaluate whether or not going to college will be economically affordable to all students or whether there should be some students that should choose a different career option. Following this blog are the two graphs that I have so far found to assist with my research.

Source: College Board

Credit: Lam Thuy Vo / NPR

Source: Federal Reserve Bank of New York

Credit: Lam Thuy Vo / NPR

The Beginning

So its that time of year when seniors everywhere begin to start thinking towards the future, but then they are impacted by a sudden realization, "Oh no! I have to do a senior project!" Now my time has come to worry about this project. Struggling over what topic to go with, I finally learned what my topic would be "Is college really worth it?" Now I am going to have to interview as many sources as I can with the sources including people that attended college as well as people that did not attend college. Ultimately I will hope to learn and educate people on whether it is smarter to pursue college post-high school or to go with another career path. Which of these options should our generation choose, the idea of business or the idea of further tests and education?

Image by South Park

Image by Promethean Planet