Amidst the frozen cherry blossom blooms, Elks Grand Exalted Ruler (GER) Michael Zellen arrived in Washington, D.C. This annual trip for the GER is a time to meet with military, administration and congressional leaders on the needs of the military and veterans and the progress of creating a drug-free society. Meeting with senior level meetings may have intimidated some, but not GER Zellen. His confidence was palpable. The goal was clear; he had one question to ask, “How can the Elks help you?” Hosting events to address veterans’ unemployment, increasing awareness among National Guard members and families about the Elks’ programs and engaging parents to actively engage their children on the dangers of drugs were some of the responses received.
“The building of a new partnership”
The Elks are one of the largest nonprofit organizations committed to ensuring military members and veterans are honored, respected and supported. Every day Elks can be found
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Having met with the past few GERs during their visits to Washington, D.C., SMA Dailey was prepared to answer, “How can the Elks help you?” “There is this notion that one must get a four year degree to achieve the American dream. However, that is not always the reality”, shared SMA Dailey. Rather than take on immense debt and increased chances of unemployment, SMA Dailey is encouraging those separating from the service to consider trade school. In today’s economy and the surplus of college educated people, finding a job has proven difficult for many people. Yet, each year hundreds of thousands of trade schools go unfilled. “It would be great if the Elks could create vocational scholarships for veterans as there isn’t as much financial support available for this track”, SMA Dailey requested. GER Zellen assured SMA of the Elks many vocational school scholarships available, but promised to increase the number
The mission statement of the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) is, “To fulfill President Lincoln's promise ‘To care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan’ by serving and honoring the men and women who are America’s vete...
The best chapters in this book were the last two: Prohibition and School Daze. Here the author touches on the underlying effects of this phenomenon and the war on drugs. He can’t believe that after prohibition the country did not learn its lesson the first time. Moskos believes we can learn a lot from the tobacco crusade, which reduced tobacco use by half without jailing any smokers. Moskos offers many suggestions for public policy, officer training, and drug rehabilitation.
Alvarez, Lizette. "Home from the War, Many Veterans Battle Substance Abuse." The New York Times 8 July 2008: n. pag. Web.
Career and technical education courses are intended to prepare high school students to enter the work force in a skilled trade. It equips the students with the experience and education necessary to succeed in an average skill level job while maintaining the student’s interest. In an article that focuses on an aviation CTE program, a “senior policy analyst at the Morrison Institute, said that Career and Technical Education provides another opportunity for students who struggle in high school.” The assumption is that students who struggle in high school presumably do not want another four years of education to attain a bachelor’s degree. Until recently, schools have been excessively geared towards college readiness. The dogma was elementary school, high school, college, without exception. With this “one size fits all” education system in place, a different education course had to evolve. CTE courses offer a break from the tedious grind by introducing career readiness as an alternative. In place of the four years in a college, CTE programs gives student...
In seeking to determine whether the American Legion should open its doors to non-wartime veterans, we must begin with a look at the organization itself:
If more people went to college, and less went the vocational route, jobs will take a momentous hit. Today, companies will not even touch an application that does not include a Bachelor’s Degree; even if the Bachelor’s Degree has nothing to do with the job being applied for. Attention is not given to whether the hopeful applicant qualifies for the job; all that matters is that the applicant has a Bachelor’s degree. Murray best sums up the American job market when he says, “Employers do not value what the student learned, just that the student has a degree” (Murray). However, if less people obtain a Bachelor’s Degree, employers will be forced to base applicants on their skills, and abilities. Furthermore, important vocational jobs that lie vacant will be filled. Good electricians, carpenters, and construction workers will always be in
My Air Force story begins with me searching for a viable way to pay for college. I was brought up in a home with two hard working parents who were great role models that tried to provide every opportunity for me. However, my family was part of the lower-middle class which meant I needed a way to pay for college. I followed suit with my parent’s stringent work ethic and set a goal to pursue a degree in aerospace engineering and have the Air Force fund it. I felt that the Air Force would be a great match as it would allow me to pursue my aviation dream and also serve as a great way to fund my education due to my financial needs. After a challenging process I received an Air Force ROTC scholarship to attend the Georgia Institute of Technology and pursue a degree in Aerospace Engineering. In return for this scholarship I would have to pay the Air Force back with four years of service.
In this paper I will evaluate America's War on Drugs. More specifically, I will outline our nation's general drug history and look critically at how Congress has influenced our current ineffective drug policy. Through this analysis I hope to show that drug prohibition policies in the United States, for the most part, have failed. Additionally, I will highlight and evaluate the influences acting on individual legislators' decisions to continue support for these ineffective policies as a more general demonstration of Congress' role in the formation of our nation's drug policy strategy. Finally, I will conclude this analysis by outlining the changes I feel necessary for future progress to be made. Primary among these changes are a general promotion of drug education and the elimination of our current system's many de-legitimating hypocrisies.
There is an every growing need for college graduates that need government benefits. There are a surplus of able body men and woman looking for a career or a chance to better their life’s using the benefits provide by the Mandatory Military Services Act as a catalyst to improve the standard of living for each citizen. By having experience that will transience to the job market, with the job market being flooded with highly train workers with military background the overall productivity will greatly improve. (Ruschmann
It was once assumed that the government would provide services for veterans, but nonprofit organizations and communities have been picking up the slack to help veterans get back on their feet after returning home. The government is dependent on nonprofit organizations to supply veterans and their families with the necessary goods and services. The Wounded Warrior Project (WWP) is an organization that provides services for veterans and their families. The WWP focuses on mind, body, economic empowerment, and engagement, all things that help veterans through post-war symptoms (The Wounded Warrior Project). The government is recommending giving less housing allowances, limiting pay raises, and having higher fees for health care benefits; other cuts would include stores being unable to give discounts to military families (Nissenbaum and Barnes). The amount of money veterans receive for housing, health care, and retirement is being cut left and right by the government and the money is being used and put towards other departments. In California, The County Veterans Service Officers Inc. plays a very important role in verterans’ lives (California Association of County Veterans Service Officers, Inc.) Many organizations help veterans who are in need of services because our government is not always able to provide...
“While more than seven-in-ten veterans (72%) report, they had an easy time readjusting to civilian life, 27% say re-entry was difficult for them—a proportion that swells to 44% among veterans who served in the ten years since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks (Morin, 2011)”. The military gives many stepping stones to be able to transition from military to civilian life. Many are required to take these stepping stones to ease the process of moving in another direction of their life. TAP or the Transition Assistance Program has helped veterans to better adjust to the challenges of re-entering civilian life by giving classes on skills needed to adjust to the upcoming life events (England,2003). Although the military
Woolley, John T., and Gerhard Peters. "Richard Nixon: Special Message to the Congress on Drug Abuse Prevention and Control." The American Presidency Project. The American Presidency Project, n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2014.
Using the resources and personnel given from the President’s drug policy, we can evaluate the efficiency of this policy. The increase in budget will aid in providing equipment, training, and staff to abolish the drug organizations. The statistical reports on the decrease of young drug-abusers have shown that the success of the President’s drug policy is effective.
Student veterans enter the classroom and the workforce with many concerns and needs but also many skills gained throughout their time in service. Skills in leadership, team work, organization, structured work habits and advance special training specific fields is a broad overview of skills gained. With their skill intact, student veterans must also handle the issues of mental health, disability financial aid, community engagement, and career are among the many needs to be sought after,
Murray, Charles. “What’s Wrong With Vocational School?” Reading for Today. Ed. Gary Goshgarian. New York: Pearson Education Inc., 2008. 269. Print.