4-H is a U.S.-based network of youth organizations whose mission is “engaging youth to reach their fullest potential while advancing the field of youth development”. Its name is a reference to the occurrence of the initial letter H four times in the organization’s original motto head, heart, hands, and health, which was later incorporated into the fuller pledge officially adopted in 1927. In the United States, the organization is administered by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture of the United States Department of Agriculture.
Traditionally favored by private and parochial institutions, school uniforms are being adopted by US public schools in increasing numbers. According to a 2020 report, the percentage of public schools that required school uniforms jumped from 12% in the 1999-2000 school year to 20% in the 2017-18 school year. School uniforms were most frequently required by elementary schools (23%), followed by middle (18%), and high schools (10%). (Encyclopedia Britannica)
PRO
School uniforms may deter crime and increase student safety.
School uniforms keep students focused on their education, not their clothes.
School uniforms create a level playing field among students, reducing peer pressure and bullying.
Wearing uniforms enhances school pride, unity, and community spirit.
School uniforms may improve attendance and discipline.
Uniform policies save valuable class time because they are easier to enforce than a standard dress code.
School uniforms prevent the display of gang colors and insignia.
School uniforms make getting ready for school easier, which can improve punctuality.
School uniforms can save parents money.
Most parents and educators support mandatory school uniforms.
Students’ legal right to free expression remains intact even with mandatory school uniforms.
Students dressed in uniform are better perceived by teachers and peers.
Students can express their individuality in school uniforms by introducing variations and adding accessories.
School uniforms restrict students’ freedom of expression.
School uniforms promote conformity over individuality.
School uniforms do not stop bullying and may increase violent attacks.
School uniforms do not improve attendance, academic preparedness, or exam results.
The key findings used to tout the benefits of uniforms are questionable.
School uniforms emphasize the socio-economic divisions they are supposed to eliminate.
Students oppose school uniforms.
Uniforms may have a detrimental effect on students’ self-image.
Focusing on uniforms takes attention away from finding genuine solutions to problems in education.
The push for school uniforms is driven by commercial interests rather than educational ones.
Parents should be free to choose their children’s clothes without government interference.
School uniforms in public schools undermine the promise of a free education by imposing an extra expense on families.
School uniforms may delay the transition into adulthood.
Everyone would basically be 50% happier if everyone dressed a little better. Clothes are everywhere. Everyone doesn’t have to be a clothes hound, but if the girls looked pretty and the guys looked nice, people would be happier and even more optimistic about the future. pic.twitter.com/iQcNPL1cMl
The pomegranate is a significant symbol in Jewish tradition, particularly during Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. Its symbolism is rooted in both its physical characteristics and its cultural and spiritual associations.
Abundance and Fertility: Pomegranates are filled with numerous seeds, which symbolize abundance, fertility, and prosperity. During Rosh Hashanah, a time of renewal and hope for a sweet and bountiful year, eating pomegranates reflects the wish for a year filled with blessings and plenty.
Mitzvot and Righteousness: Jewish tradition often associates the pomegranate’s many seeds—traditionally said to number 613—with the 613 commandments (mitzvot) in the Torah. Consuming pomegranates during Rosh Hashanah expresses the hope that one’s life will be filled with good deeds and adherence to these commandments in the coming year.
Renewal and New Beginnings: Rosh Hashanah marks the start of the Jewish year, a time for introspection, repentance, and setting intentions for personal growth. The pomegranate, as a fruit that ripens around this season in the Mediterranean region, symbolizes renewal and the potential for a fresh start.
Connection to the Land of Israel: Pomegranates are one of the seven species (Shivat Haminim) mentioned in the Torah as special products of the Land of Israel (Deuteronomy 8:8). Their inclusion in Rosh Hashanah celebrations reinforces the connection to the land and its blessings, evoking gratitude and a sense of rootedness in Jewish heritage.
Hope and Sweetness: On Rosh Hashanah, it is customary to eat sweet foods to symbolize the hope for a sweet year. While pomegranates have a tart-sweet flavor, they are often included in the festive meal or ritual foods, accompanied by a blessing such as: “May it be Your will, O Lord our God, that our merits be as numerous as the seeds of a pomegranate.”
During Rosh Hashanah, pomegranates may be eaten fresh, incorporated into dishes, or displayed as part of the festive table. Some communities recite a specific blessing or prayer when eating the pomegranate, emphasizing its symbolic meaning. The fruit’s vibrant red color and seed-filled interior make it a powerful visual and spiritual emblem for the holiday’s themes of hope, abundance, and spiritual growth. This symbolism aligns with the broader themes of Rosh Hashanah: reflection, renewal, and the aspiration for a year filled with goodness and divine favor.
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40 years ago today, “The Big Chill,” a movie about a group of U-M grads written and directed by alum Lawrence Kasdan, debuted in theaters. 🎥 pic.twitter.com/fUVDNGXSNW
— Alumni Association of the University of Michigan (@michiganalumni) September 28, 2023
“Ironically, on the 200th anniversary of our Bill of Rights, we find free speech under assault throughout the United States, including on some college campuses. The notion of political correctness has ignited controversy across the land. And although the movement arises from the laudable desire to sweep away the debris of racism and sexism and hatred, it replaces old prejudice with new ones. It declares certain topics off-limits, certain expression off-limits, even certain gestures off-limits.”
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In Federalist No. 2, John Jay [1764 Graduate of King’s College; now Columbia University] argues that a strong union under the Constitution will promote peace and prosperity, which are conducive to the spread of religion and morality:
“Providence has been pleased to give this one connected country to one united people—a people descended from the same ancestors, speaking the same language, professing the same religion, attached to the same principles of government, very similar in their manners and customs… These considerations, and many others that might be mentioned, prove, and experience confirms it, that artificial distinctions and separations of [America’s] land are essentially unnatural; and that they may be eradicated and extirpated by the united and advisable efforts of individuals and communities…”
The Federalist Papers discuss themes of morality, social order, and the importance of a cohesive society, they do not explicitly emphasize the importance of Christian faith to the American constitutional republic. The authors generally focused on principles of governance, political theory, and the structure of the proposed Constitution.
“The experience of the sacred is a universal phenomenon,
found in all human societies, however primitive or complex.”
Harvard’s Memorial Chapel, also known as Memorial Church, was designed by the architectural firm Coolidge, Shepley, Bulfinch, and Abbott. The church was dedicated on Armistice Day, November 11, 1932, as a memorial to Harvard alumni who died in World War I.
John Harvard, the namesake of Harvard University, was a 17th-century English minister lived on campus from 1607 – 1638 and conformed to Puritan ideal of dedicating Sundays to worship, prayer, and rest.
Northern Kentucky University officials broke ground on an expansion of the Dorothy Westerman Herrmann Science Center in a ceremony at the Highland Heights campus on Thursday.https://t.co/Qecc3Lfutt#NorseUppic.twitter.com/ggVpoIAxLa
‘O God Beyond All Praising’ was sung at Winston Churchill’s funeral on January 30, 1965, to the tune Thaxted by Gustav Holst. The hymn, with lyrics by Michael Perry, uses the same melody as ‘I Vow to Thee, My Country’, which was also associated with Churchill’s funeral, contributing to its patriotic resonance.
At the 1853 New York World’s Fair Elisha Otis amazed a crowd when he ordered the only rope holding the platform on which he was standing cut by an axeman. The platform fell only a few inches before coming to a halt; thus proving the safety locking mechanism he had invented will work. These elevators quickly became the type in most common usage and made vertical living possible.
Most large research universities have 100 – 1000 elevators that are highly regulated, maintained by highly regulated service personnel and inspected by highly trained conformance operatives; thus our primary interest in state-specific regulations. We have a secondary interest in innovation in the technology generally. Many sustainability goals urged in academic circles — which include greater population density in smaller areas — are challenged by mobility issues.
From the project prospectus:
“…The main feature of these products is that they are an integral part of industrial, residential or public buildings. Consequently, they should be adaptable to the technical and architectural constraints of such buildings. They must also meet the capacity requirements imposed by the intended use of the building. These products are considered as means of transport and therefore represent an essential component of the functional life of the buildings in which they are installed. Contrary to most public means of transport, they are intended for free use and operation by their passengers, which makes the integration of safety an essential concern…”
We maintain the work products of this committee on the standing agendas of our Mechanical, Elevator and Global colloquia; open to everyone. See our CALENDAR for the next online meeting.
Michigan Stadium — the largest collegiate stadium in the world — has 19 elevators.
New update alert! The 2022 update to the Trademark Assignment Dataset is now available online. Find 1.29 million trademark assignments, involving 2.28 million unique trademark properties issued by the USPTO between March 1952 and January 2023: https://t.co/njrDAbSpwBpic.twitter.com/GkAXrHoQ9T
